How to START your Home Page
Getting Started
This tutorial will teach you how to write your own web pages by
using HTML. You do not need any special what-you-see-is-what-you-get
HTML editor to use this guide, any old text editor will do just
fine.
By learning HTML, you will have much more control over how your web
pages look, and you'll more easily discover ways to make your web
pages look even better. HTML is platform independent, meaning it can
be written and viewed on any type of computer (Windows, Mac,
UNIX/Linux, whatever!)
Because HTML is platform independent, you'll need to save your HTML
files in standard text format, sometimes known as ASCII. The easiest
way to do this is use a program like notepad.exe in Windows, pico in
Linux, and the like.
If you'd prefer to use a word processor like Word or WordPerfect to
write your HTML code, you can do so, but you need to save your files
as "Text" or "Text Only." You'll see this option in a drop down box
in your "Save As..." screen.
If you use a word processor and forget to save it as Text format,
you'll see only garbled data when you try to view your page with a
web browser.
Getting on the Web (Finding a Host)
You'll need to find a web host for your site unless you run your own
web server 24/7. (Running your own server is very expensive,
complicated, and not recommended).
By choosing a web host, your site will be available to the world all
day every day. Most hosts are only down for a few minutes each
month, if at all.
If you're making a personal web site, you can choose to get a web
site from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), free space at a free
host such as Angelfire, or go straight to the big leagues with a
domain host. (My personal site is on a domain host: http://www.davekristula.com/
)
There are several disadvantages of free hosts:
· Free hosts show banner ads or pop-up windows (or both) to pay for
your service (so it's not really free).
· There is no way to turn off the ads on a free service.
· Free hosts limit the amount of web space you get, usually to about
20 MB.
· Free hosts also limit the number of visitors you can receive in a
month.
· If you exceed their "limit" your site will be "turned off" until
the next month.
Domain hosts on the other hand:
· Often give you 1000 MB (1 GB) or more of web space.
· Do not shut off your account based on number visitors.
· Place no ads on your site. (You can add them yourself if you want
to make money).
So if you're making a personal web site you want to look
professional, or you're making a business web site or a web site for
an organization (church, etc) you'll want to get a domain host. A
domain name ends in a .com, .org, or .net. (For example,
davesite.com is a domain name.) Prices for domain hosts usually
range from $5 a month to $10 a month. Let me say it again, domain
hosts do not show ads, unless you put them up yourself to earn
money. The next chapter contains information on domain hosts.
Once you sign up for a host, you'll get a username and password to
log in and edit your site. On free hosts, your username is also your
directory, so choose wisely. For domains, your username is not as
important.
index.html, the most important HTML file
When you hit davesite.com, and your browser reads http://www.davesite.com/,
what file is loading? On almost all web servers, this file is
index.html. When the web server sees / and no filename, it
automatically looks for index.html.
Imagine a situation where you are making a web site of three HTML
pages, the opening page (index.html), an about me page (aboutme.html)
and a links page (links.html).
If you're on your own domain, the files would look like this once
you upload them on your server.
· http://www.kristula.com/index.html
· http://www.kristula.com/aboutme.html
· http://www.kristula.com/links.html
The first page, http://www.kristula.com/index.html, can also be
loaded by just typing http://www.kristula.com/
The same is true of folders (directories). If I made one called /dave/,
I could put a new index.html in it, and it could be accessed two
ways:
· http://www.kristula.com/dave/index.html
· http://www.kristula.com/dave/
The Two Copy Rule
When you write your web site, you'll need two copies:
· One on your web host
· One on your hard drive
There are two reasons:
1. You need a backup (this is the obvious one).
2. When you're working on your site, you don't work on it live!
Imagine how silly it would look if a page changed every two minutes
while you worked on it!
When you work on the copy of your HTML pages on your hard disk, it's
called "editing the local copy." The copy on the web host is called
the "remote copy." (Kind of like a remote control, controls
something far away!)
Take our previous example with three files...
· index.html
· aboutme.html
· links.html
You'll edit all three of these from a folder in your hard drive, and
once you're down, you'll upload them (Covered in Chapter 10) to your
web host. Then the whole world will see them!
Tip: You can view your files on your hard drive before you upload
them.
1. Open your web browser.
2. Choose File -> Open... File, (Browse).
3. Find the folder with your HTML files.
4. Double-click the one you're working on, and presto! It's in your
web browser.
The Most Common Mistake
The most common mistake for new designers is the urge to put the c:\
in links and images (covered in Chapter 4). When you're on the web,
there is no c:\ to the rest of the world. When you start out, keep
all your HTML files and images in one folder, and don't use c:\ at
all.
Quick example:
<img> loads an image into a web page. If you have a file called
taco.jpg, use the code <img src="taco.jpg"> to load it, not <img src="c:\My
Documents\website\taco.jpg">
In the next chapter there is a 2-minute guide on domains, and after
that you get to learn how to code HTML!
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