Template for a PhysioNet page

If you are preparing an HTML page to be posted on PhysioNet, please start with a copy of this template, which you can view or download as template.txt. You can also see how this page is rendered by your web browser if you visit

    http://physionet.org/template.shtml

File names

The top-level directory for your project should contain a page called "index.shtml". If your project includes subdirectories, each subdirectory should have its own "index.shtml".

Other pages should normally have names ending in ".shtml". Don't use names that contain embedded spaces or punctuation other than ".-+_" (period, hyphen, plus, underscore), don't begin file names with punctuation, and avoid unnecessarily long names and names that will be difficult to type or to remember.

The Apache web server can construct a list of files in a directory (see this page for an example; scroll to the end of the page to see the file listing). If you wish to use this feature in a directory, do not create an "index.shtml" in that directory; rather, create a file called "HEADER.html". There are three points to remember about HEADER.html files:

• They cannot contain SSI commands. (This is allowed by some versions of Apache, but your page needs to work properly with all versions in use by the PhysioNet mirrors.)
• Because of the previous point, use a command of the form

  .so /home/physionet/html/links-physiobank.html
  

  to include the appropriate banner for your page. This command will be processed before your page is posted on PhysioNet, and again whenever a change is made to the banner.
• They do not require a command to include a page footer (as shown for this page below). Apache inserts both the file listing and the page footer.

If your project's top-level directory or one of its subdirectories does not include "index.shtml" or "HEADER.html", Apache will display a bare file listing without a page header for that directory. This is generally discouraged unless your project contains a large number of subdirectories that do not require individual descriptions (see the subdirectories of the MIMIC II Database for examples).

Hyperlinks

When constructing hyperlinks, keep these points in mind:

• Your page will be served from PhysioNet mirrors as well as from the PhysioNet master server. If you are linking to another PhysioNet page, don't include "http://physionet.org" in your link target, because anyone who visits a copy of your page on a PhysioNet mirror doesn't want to be directed to the PhysioNet master server involuntarily.
• If you are linking to a PhysioNet page that is not part of your project, the link target should begin with "/". For example, here's a link to the WFDB Software Package. The link target should include everything that follows "http://physionet.org" in the URL of the target page.
• If you are linking to the home page for a directory, the link target should end with "/". For example, here's a link to the MIMIC II Database. If you omit the final "/", the link will still work, but it may cause one or more extra disk blocks to be read, and if the server is heavily loaded the difference in speed may be noticeable.
• If you are linking to another page that is part of your project, use a relative link target, one that doesn't begin with "/". (This ensures that your links won't break if your project isn't posted where you expect.) For a page within the same directory, the link target should be the file name (e.g., "more.shtml"). For a page in a subdirectory, use a relative path such as "over/here.shtml". To link from a page in a subdirectory of your project to another page that is one level up, use a path such as "../up.shtml".
• Finally, if you are linking to a page on another web site, include target="other" within your link. For example, here's a link to Wikipedia's article about heart rate. Using target="other" causes most browsers to display the target page in another tab or window, which helps visitors to find their way back to PhysioNet.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome. We encourage you to use our feedback form to comment on this page. If you would like to receive a reply, please send your comments by email to webmaster@physionet.org, or post them to: PhysioNet MIT Room E25-505A 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

Updated Monday, 10-Nov-2008 13:47:06 EST