Creating Web Pages

Creating Web Pages

You can put web pages online for free. All it takes is time and patience in creating the pages, signing up for a free web page, and the updating that inevitably will be needed.

Many internet sites give free web space for individuals and non-profit organizations. You can do a search for "Free web pages" to find them.

1. To get started, you need to decide how you want your pages to look. Forget about it being on the computer. Just use pencil, plain paper, tape, and scissors to design your page layout. Keep it simple to get started. Look at what others have done to get ideas.

2. Write and save all the text that you want to use on the page using a wordprocessor.

3. Select all the pictures that you want to put on the site and have them scanned. There are many ways to get pictures scanned so you can use it online. Here are a few.

    a. Buy a digital camera that makes PC ready digital images.

    b. Buy a scanner and scan them yourself. Flatbed scanners are easier to use for scanning pictures, textbooks, and magazines.

    c. Go to a store that sells digital cameras and tell the salesperson you are considering buying one and want a test sample pic of yourself to see how it works.

    d. Take a picture to a copy store like Kinko's. Many of them offer scanning service now. They can put a digitized copy of the picture on a diskette. Some stores have self-service, some don't.

    e. If not a copy store, try a computer store. Tell them you are considering buying a scanner and want a test scan of your pic.

    f. Some public libraries have scanning services now.

    g. Find a friend who has a scanner in their office and ask them to do it for you.

    h. Send a picture to an email contact and ask them to scan it for you and email you a copy.

One of those ways should work for you. After you get the digital image, you can then upload a copy of the image file to a web site or attach it to an email message.

4. Select and save any graphic images (clipart) that you want to use. You will need to convert them into GIF or JPG format to use them on your pages.

5. Check to make sure you aren't violating any copyrights for the text or images you've selected.

6. Now, you are ready to start putting the page into HTML format for posting on the web. Here are some ways to do that.

    a. Learn some basic HTML commands. You can either buy a book on HTML from the bookstore, or read the HTML guides posted on the web. To find these guides, do a search for "HTML help guide beginner" or similar words. After you understand a few of the basic commands, you can then create your pages using any text editor. Just be sure you save the pages in text only format and give them the .htm or .html or filename extension. You can view your pages while working on them by loading them as local files in any web browser.

    b. Use one of the many available html editor programs available. You can find some of these available as shareware or demo on the net. Search for "shareware html editor" or "just "html editor" to find them. The more powerful html editors are commercial programs that you have to buy. But, there are free and shareware editors that will do the job adequately for simple pages. The latest version of Netscape (version 4) has an html editor component available for downloading from Netscape.

    c. Pay someone to create the pages. There are many people offering web page design services. You can find them by searching on the net. Some are local, most are not. It really doesn't matter much where they live. They can send you the finished work via email or postal. They can even upload it directly to your site for you. To minimize the cost, you should do as much as possible of the work yourself. Especially writing the text, proofreading the text, designing a general layout concept, etc.

    d. Find someone who is html literate to help you. If you ask someone to volunteer, then you should do as much as possible of the work yourself. Especially writing the text, proofreading the text, designing a general layout concept, etc. If you do most of the work, and the pages aren't too complex and time consuming, people will be more likely to help you. Do some of the basic work before you ask for help.

    e. Find a web page that is layed out the way you want yours to look and copy it. This can be the easiest way to do it, if you first understand some basic html commands. Just save a copy of the source for the pages you like. Open them in any text editor and replace their text with your text, their graphics filenames with yours, their picture filenames with yours, etc. Make sure when you do this that you find and replace all special information that may be in the source code which identifies the author, html editor program, etc. Also, make sure that you make your page unique enough that you aren't violating the original page author's copyrights. This option doesn't work as well if you choose very complex pages or pages that execute forms or scripts.

Well, that should be enough to get you started. Have fun with it!

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