Free CGI scripts and forms embedded in an intranet web page can be used for everything from internal budget requests and submitting purchase orders to self-service training. Bulletin boards have many applications to enhance internal communication. The better web service providers provide online support that gives you step-by-step instructions on setting up these scripts for their servers.

Excellent sites with free CGI scripts that run on most web servers are Matt's Script Archive and CGI Perl Scripts. In addition, Multi4M, an enhancement to one of Matt's scripts, implements the discussion forum here at Intranet Design Magazine and is available for free download.

There are several free and low-cost web authoring tools. Free options include Homesite 1.2 and Arachnophilia; the full commercial version of Homesite is $79 and offers many niceties for the power user. In addition, the latest versions of standard office software such as Frontpage Express that comes with the full install of IE4.0 web browser. Also, Microsoft Powerpoint97 are capable of exporting decent HTML to a web site.

A somewhat higher-cost authoring tool is Microsoft FrontPage. This application takes some time to master, but is very powerful and the "webbots" integrated into the application allow you to create bulletin boards, feedback forms and search features without CGI programming. To build sites with these interactive functions, you need to make sure your web service provider offers the so-called FrontPage Server Extensions.

The extensions are code that sits on the web server (which can be running Unix or Windows NT) and enables FrontPage's webbots. Many of the better web service providers will install the FrontPage Extensions at no or low additional cost. Keep in mind that by using webbots, you gain convenience but bind your site tightly to Microsoft technology. Version changes between FrontPage 97 and the current FrontPage 98 caused some web sites to stop working, for example.

All employees can use one of the freeware web browsers - Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator (now "Mozilla").

Once you've put together a set of web pages, you'll need file transfer software to upload to your server. An excellent, time-proven piece of shareware for doing this is WS-FTP, from Ipswitch, Inc.

To summarize Option #1:

• Provide each employee with a PC running Windows95/98 (or NT 4.0) and dial-up access to the Internet

• Open a virtual web site with a reputable web site provider

• Create an intranet web site with one of the excellent, free authoring tools like Arachnophilia, HomeSite or buy a commercial product such as Microsoft FrontPage98

• Install one of the freeware browsers: MS Internet Explorer or Netscape on all employee PC's

• Use WS-FTP to upload content to the virtual web server

• Enhance your site using the free tools and templates available at my web site, intranetpublishing.com.

Option 2: A Workgroup Intranet

for a Small or Medium Business with Networked PC's

It is fairly easy to network a group of PC's running Windows95/98 or NT. Excellent sites with information on how to setup a small network with the TCP/IP protocol installed (this is needed for your web browsers and servers to communicate) include:

• Win95/98/NT Networking
  
• Networking Basics
  
• Microsoft Networking Help Info
  

Once your PC's are networked running TCP/IP, there are several low-cost options to setup a web server on a Windows95/98 or NT computer. You don't need to buy expensive hardware for the server. A typical 486 or Pentium PC with Windows95/98 and about 32 meg of RAM will make an excellent "starter" web server. The following are web sites with free web servers that will run on a PC with Windows95/98 or NT:

• Microsoft Personal Web Server
  
• Omnicron (from Harvard University)
  
• Xitami (reliable, easy and free)
  
• Sambar web server (easy to setup and good reviews)

Now you can install Redhat Linux ($50 for Intel Version) which installs by default with the Apache web server. More difficult to install, but a totally free alternative would be to install FreeBSD as your Unix Operating System and download Apache from the Apache Web Site. Remarkably, both options run quite well on an Intel 486 or low-end Pentium PC with 32 meg or more of memory.

You can also add multiple types of interactive functions to your intranet using Apache's ability to run the CGI Scripts that are available on the internet.

There are two Usenet newsgroups that cover common questions to setting up web servers on Windows or Unix, respectively (you must have access to a news server to use the following links):

• comp.infosystems.www.servers.ms-windows
• comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix

These are the steps involved in setting up a Unix-based web server, but your employees can still use their standard PCs running Windows95/98 or NT, both to access the intranet and to publish content to the server using any of the tools discussed in Option #1 above.

Once you have made your PC into a web server, how do your fellow employees find it with their browser? The details depend on how your network is setup, but it may be as easy as finding out the IP address of your web server, and having employees type in the IP address in their browser location window. A more natural option is to give the web server a name, such as intranet.yourcompany.com. To do this you'll need a Domain Name Server (DNS), which your network support people can set up.

An excellent source of online help for questions on topics from technical issues to content management is the Intranet Exchange discussion forum.

In addition to functioning as intranet servers, these low-cost web servers also make excellent test servers that can be used to host pilot intranet projects before moving them over to a production server. They can also be used by a team of web authors that publish to this type of development server during a collaboration phase of authoring and move the project to a more traditional server setup after the project is approved and funded.

A note of political caution is in order here. Making your PC workstation into a web server may well be controversial with your network and PC support staff. Most companies manage servers within a controlled environment, as they must to keep things running smoothly. The grass roots adoption of Web technology is challenging traditional management practices, with the result that "decentralized" web servers are popping up on corporate networks around the globe. While this can be a great way to bring modern technology to end users in slow-moving companies, it's typically a short-term solution.

Use your best judgment to integrate your Intranet server(s) with existing company network policies. Try to get corporate buy-in and, if possible, an executive champion. It's far better to work with the Information Services department from the outset than to operate a successful skunk works that demands more administrative resources than you can commit.

Summary

You can build a modest but fully functional intRAnet without an IS department and without a lot of money using the low-cost, creative tools and services developed for the intERnet.

Eventually, as your company grows and the need to manage information and processes grows with it, you may outgrow the capabilities of the commodity tools described in this article. But it's a great way to get in the game.

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