Creating a web page

           Building a web page is rather simple if the steps I give are followed. Once the page is complete, it brings a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done and also gives everyone who has internet access the chance to see your creation.
           The first step, deciding what to put on the page, may seem simple but is actually the hardest part and the step at which pages fail. The key to a good page is planning it out. A good idea would be to visit other pages and view what they have. Then you can decide if you want it on your page.
           After determining the setup desired for the page, take out a sheet of paper and draw it. Draw squares or small figures where pictures will be and write what type of pictures they will be. Write larger where the text will be larger and smaller where the text will be smaller.
           The next step is to get on the internet and find the images that are going to be used on the page or create images using a paint program on the computer and save them. Find the image, right click on it, and go down to "save image as." Create a folder for the page, call it webpage, and save each of them in it.
           After the images needed are in the folder the next step is to create the page. This can be done in two different ways. You can either do it yourself with html, a programming language, or use a program which does the html. If you use html to create the page then go to a site which has html tutorials that show you how to do what you want. A good site is HTML Goodies, where he gives the basics of web page creation and instructions on how to do anything that can be done. Type the commands he gives into a notebook window and then save them into the webpage folder with an .html extension. If you choose to use the program, go the Microsoft homepage and download it for free. Open the program and hit "file" and choose "new" or "new file." Then put on the page what is desired and save the file into the Webpage folder.
           After the first page is complete, you may want to create subpages. This is done by following all of the steps again and saving the results in the webpage folder. This can be done as many times as you desire. Most webpages have several subpages in order to organize the information presented.
           The next step is to upload the page. Before that, however, I need to explain how the web works and how to get free space on the internet. The internet gives everything its own URL (Universal Resource Locator). [Which basically means that each file has its own specific spot on the internet where, when a specific combination of words is typed into the locator the file loads in the browser.] In order to get a URL of your choosing, you have to pay money, but, to get space on the internet, simply visit one of the sites that give away free space and sign up. They will send a password and URL where your page will be located. Some popular sites for this are Geocities, Tripod, and Xoom.
           Now the files must be uploaded from the computer to the internet. To do this, you can use one of two methods. Either go into the place where your account is and go into the file manager or use an ftp program. The simpler of the two is the file manager because nothing has to be downloaded onto the computer and most of the work is done for you.
           When you go into the file manager, go to the "upload" section. Click on the button that says "select file" or "file" and then select a file from the Webpage folder to upload. Click on the button that says "upload" and wait. The screen will reload, and the file will be on the internet. Repeat until all the files in the webpage folder are online.
           If an ftp program is chosen, you must find one to download. One can be found easily at a site like Download. See the help file that came with the program, and that will give specific instructions on how to use it. Use the ftp address, member name, and password that the site you got your space from gives.
           After all the files are uploaded, type in the URL the site gave you, and you will see your page on the internet. If what loads is what you wanted, you can rest in satisfaction before proceding to the final step. If not, go back and do the process again.
           The last step, one of the most important and most overlooked, is to tell people about your page. If you tell no one about the page, then no one will visit it. E-mail all your friends and family and give them the URL so that they can visit it. You can also sign up with search engines. Webcrawler and Yahoo are two popular search engines. Doing these will let people know that the page exists, and therefore people will be able to see your wonderful creation.
           After you have completed these, congratulate yourself. Sit back and relax and enjoy looking at your page and knowing that millions of people around the world can view it any time they desire.

written by Jonathan Johnston


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