From 72534d4f15f326a0f20420d82c56945dd37f01f1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Abizer Lokhandwala Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2017 03:28:36 -0800 Subject: [PATCH 1/3] draft for fixing #56 --- ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md | 26 +++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 25 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md b/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md index aa94460a2..5b1d40cd4 100644 --- a/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md +++ b/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ [[!meta title="Web hosting"]] -All accounts include hosting with a web address at: +All OCF accounts include web hosting with an address at: * **`https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~user`** (canonical version) * **`https://ocf.io/user`** (shorter version) @@ -11,6 +11,30 @@ where `user` is the account name. Group accounts may also request a [[virtual host|doc services/vhost]] for another domain (e.g., group.berkeley.edu). +#### Off-site hosting + +One question that often comes up is if the OCF is able to websites from +services such as Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, Tumblr, etc. Unfortunately +due to logistical considerations and University policy, the OCF is +unable to do so. + +First, University policy prohibits campus DNS from redirection to off-site +hosts without explicit permission from the University. This means the OCF +is not the appropriate point of contact in cases like this where providers +allow you to use custom domains, or other such things - one would have to +[contact the university](https://offsitehosting.berkeley.edu/) directly +to request permission. This is primarily relevant to student groups. + +Second, many website building services like Wix and Weebly make their money +by using a proprietary product to allow users to build their sites, and +subsequently charging users to host those sites. Obviously, the OCF is +unable to access these proprietary backends and is therefore unable to host +sites developed using them. However, the OCF is capable of hosting anything +developed using the free and open-source software we support, including +Wordpress, Django, Ruby on Rails, Node.js, PHP, and others. You may wish +to consider building your website with those if you desire to host with the +OCF. + ## Uploading Files Upload files to your web space the same way you [[upload files to your OCF From a4fb38804923776653886af4f49968599515c1b1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Abizer Lokhandwala Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2017 04:46:03 -0800 Subject: [PATCH 2/3] add details to draft, needs to be condensed --- ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md | 57 +++++++++++++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 38 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-) diff --git a/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md b/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md index 5b1d40cd4..459705168 100644 --- a/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md +++ b/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md @@ -13,27 +13,46 @@ another domain (e.g., group.berkeley.edu). #### Off-site hosting -One question that often comes up is if the OCF is able to websites from -services such as Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, Tumblr, etc. Unfortunately -due to logistical considerations and University policy, the OCF is -unable to do so. - -First, University policy prohibits campus DNS from redirection to off-site -hosts without explicit permission from the University. This means the OCF -is not the appropriate point of contact in cases like this where providers -allow you to use custom domains, or other such things - one would have to +One question that often comes up is if the OCF is able to host websites +from services such as Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, Tumblr, etc. Unfortunately +due to logistical considerations and University policy, the OCF is unable +to do so. + +First, many website building services like Wix and Weebly make their money +by using a proprietary service to allow users to build their sites, and +subsequently charging users to host those sites. This means providing the +servers, storage space, internet connection, and configurations to allow +these sites to show up on the internet. Obviously, the OCF is unable to +access these proprietary backends and is therefore unable to host sites +developed using them. However, the OCF is capable of hosting anything made +using the free and open-source backends we support, including Wordpress, +Django, Ruby on Rails, Node.js, PHP, and others. You may wish to consider +building your website with those if you desire to host with the OCF. + +Second, University policy prohibits campus DNS from redirection to off-site +hosts without explicit permission from the University. This means that, if +you want to host your website with Wix or some other provider, we cannot +give you a URL like group.berkeley.edu that points to that website. At the +very least, the OCF is not the appropriate point of contact in such cases - +one would have to [contact the university](https://offsitehosting.berkeley.edu/) directly to request permission. This is primarily relevant to student groups. - -Second, many website building services like Wix and Weebly make their money -by using a proprietary product to allow users to build their sites, and -subsequently charging users to host those sites. Obviously, the OCF is -unable to access these proprietary backends and is therefore unable to host -sites developed using them. However, the OCF is capable of hosting anything -developed using the free and open-source software we support, including -Wordpress, Django, Ruby on Rails, Node.js, PHP, and others. You may wish -to consider building your website with those if you desire to host with the -OCF. +Similarly, the OCF does not generally allow hosting under custom domain +names. This means we do not support things like "you_or_your_group.com" +pointing to a website whose files are hosted on OCF servers except under +special circumstances, usually with authorization from the University. If +you have your own domain name and would like to host a website under it, +we recommend you get an account with a shared hosting provider. Unfortunately +it is unlikely that this will be free. + +For reference, a typical web hosting scenario involves two things: the domain +name, and the hosting server. The domain name is purchased from a registrar, +and using it involves setting Domain Name System (DNS) records to point to +the address of a hosting server. This server is purchased from any variety +of sources, and must be configured to respond to web requests to the domain +name in question. While the OCF provides both, only a limited subset of their +functionality are available for general use by the campus community due to the +legal, technical, and policy considerations explained above. ## Uploading Files From bddef2a6ea6d410a976c1ce97b6e2cee480a6b78 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Abizer Lokhandwala Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 00:23:34 -0700 Subject: [PATCH 3/3] update off-site hosting draft --- ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md | 39 +++++++++++++++++--------------- 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-) diff --git a/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md b/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md index 459705168..efc06983a 100644 --- a/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md +++ b/ocfweb/docs/docs/services/web.md @@ -16,34 +16,37 @@ another domain (e.g., group.berkeley.edu). One question that often comes up is if the OCF is able to host websites from services such as Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, Tumblr, etc. Unfortunately due to logistical considerations and University policy, the OCF is unable -to do so. +to do so. More specifically, the OCF cannot point .berkeley.edu +domain names to off-campus hosting providers, but it can, however, host +websites exported from such providers. -First, many website building services like Wix and Weebly make their money -by using a proprietary service to allow users to build their sites, and -subsequently charging users to host those sites. This means providing the +Many website building services like Wix and Weebly make their money by +using a proprietary service to allow users to design their websites, and +subsequently charge users to host those sites. This means providing the servers, storage space, internet connection, and configurations to allow these sites to show up on the internet. Obviously, the OCF is unable to -access these proprietary backends and is therefore unable to host sites +access this proprietary software and is therefore unable to host sites developed using them. However, the OCF is capable of hosting anything made using the free and open-source backends we support, including Wordpress, Django, Ruby on Rails, Node.js, PHP, and others. You may wish to consider building your website with those if you desire to host with the OCF. -Second, University policy prohibits campus DNS from redirection to off-site -hosts without explicit permission from the University. This means that, if -you want to host your website with Wix or some other provider, we cannot -give you a URL like group.berkeley.edu that points to that website. At the -very least, the OCF is not the appropriate point of contact in such cases - -one would have to +Furthermore, University policy prohibits campus DNS from redirection to +off-site hosts without explicit permission from the University. This means +that, if you want to host your website with Wix or some other provider, we +cannot give you a URL like group.berkeley.edu that points to that website. +If you would like to host off-site, OCF is not the appropriate point of +contact in such cases - one would have to [contact the university](https://offsitehosting.berkeley.edu/) directly to request permission. This is primarily relevant to student groups. -Similarly, the OCF does not generally allow hosting under custom domain -names. This means we do not support things like "you_or_your_group.com" -pointing to a website whose files are hosted on OCF servers except under -special circumstances, usually with authorization from the University. If -you have your own domain name and would like to host a website under it, -we recommend you get an account with a shared hosting provider. Unfortunately -it is unlikely that this will be free. + +Similarly, the OCF does not generally allow hosting under custom domain names +for student groups. This means we do not usually support things like +"you_or_your_group.com" pointing to a website whose files are hosted on OCF +servers. However, we may agree to host websites under custom domains on a +case-by-case basis, usually for University affiliates such as faculty members, +ASUC/University programs, and others. Please [[contact us|doc contact]] for +more information. For reference, a typical web hosting scenario involves two things: the domain name, and the hosting server. The domain name is purchased from a registrar,