So you want to build a web site?
Welcome to Basic HTML
I remember years ago when I wanted to build a web site. I had no clue where to start, so I searched the web. I came across a bunch of conflicting information about building a site. It seemed a bit overwhelming, but I kept searching. I did find some sites that were very helpful and I have included some links to their sites.. later on. Finally, I went out and bought a basic html book and tried to build a few of their examples. Using a plain old text editor I typed the tedious code and built my first page. It Worked! Wow that wasn't so difficult, but it did involve a lot of typing weird things like <A></A> and code numbers for different colors, it all seemed a bit time consuming to design a page.
(I do strongly recommend that you purchase a basic html book and learn the very basics there, you will need it anyhow as a reference guide in the future. It can save you hours of frustration over the smallest problems.)
Anyhow Let's Get Started!
First of all.. Bookmark this page!! You will never outgrow the information I provide and it always be useful. I even come here from time to time when I forget things I haven't tried to do in a long time.
"Two sides to every story"
When you create a web page. What you are actually doing is typing a text document. When this text document is viewed through a browser (as you are using to read this page now). It displays what I typed into the text document telling it what to display to the browser.
|
(what you tell the document to display for the browser) Your Web Page <IMG SRC="keys/smiley.gif" HEIGHT=17 WIDTH=17>
|
Viewed through a Browser
(What your visitors see) Your Web Page  |
Those are the crazy codes you would have had to type if you started
learning html just a few years ago. You don't have to remember all the
codes, just understand the basics of what the codes are doing. In
the example above, the left side is the document source. That's the
text page telling the browser what to see (if you want to see the source
code for this entire page... just select View / File Source from the options
in the top toolbar of your browser) In the example, I just
told the browser, I am using "hotsides1.GIF" as my backgroung image, and
I want to insert a smiley picture "smiley.gif" The Right side of
the example is what the browser displays.
Nowadays there are many programs that make building a web site fast and easy. You don't have to type in a bunch of code. The programs available today practically build the site for you.
The Overview (this is what we will be
doing)
Download a HTML Editor:
To Build you web page
Download a FTP Program:
To
Transfer the web pages you create to a web server
You will need web server space to upload your files to (this is a hard drive, usually located at an ISP that is always connected to the Internet) You can get web space from the people who you dialup to the Internet you know, the people you pay each month to get on the Internet - Your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Many ISP's give you 5 megs of space to start out with for free with a dialup account. If yours does not, they suck, but that's something different. Once you build your first site, it's time to upload your pages, return here because we have a links to places where you can get free web space.
Download a HTML Editor
I recommend starting out with Netscape
Gold (Any Version with Composer). Its very easy to use and you can get
it for free on the net! Microsoft front page is easy too.... but it requires
servers with extentions ...ect. Just download Netscape.
Try searching for it by clicking
here, or click here to go straight
to the Netscape Web site.
Download a FTP Program
I recommend WSFTP or CuteFTP. They are
both great! And you can them in a shareware version. You try it out
for a while then you either buy it or let it expire.
You can find either of these programs
by searching here.
Remember, Get a HTML Book!
If you want much more information about HTML try this site Web
Diner
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