You want to build a webpage, but have no idea how to do it. You can go and use a pagebuilder like Homestead or Yahoo, but you only have limited options with those. Whereas they are a very good starting point for beginners, you can only do what their builder allows you to do. I have tried Netscape, which is like Microsoft Frontpage. They are both programs which run off your own computer, as opposed to a web-based one like Yahoo and Homestead. These are good if you don't know html, as they do the coding for you. However, they do have bugs which I personally find very annoying which is why I resorted to building webpages using notepad as my html editor.
If you follow this basic tutorial, you will find yourself with a webpage that you have created without the help of a pagebuilder. Although it will be very basic, it is a starting point. Once you learn the principal of building a webpage, you only need to know the commands (<tags>) to manipulate the page however you want it.
You will find that this REALLY gets back to basics. If there's any step that you find obvious and don't think it's necessary to include, I'm not trying to insult your intelligence. There are some people who are unfamiliar with certain functions on the computer, I'm just trying to cover all angles for everyone.
Tools you will need:
- Notepad (or similar text editor)
- Some webspace to host your pages. There are heaps of free servers out there, as a starting point you can search for some here.
- Most importantly, remember to bookmark this page so you can come back to it!
To start with, there is no need to sign up for a website. That can come later. The steps we are going to follow are:
- Step through the basics of a webpage.
- Create the page stored ON YOUR COMPUTER
- When you're happy to show it to the world, I will then show you how to 'upload' or publish your page on the net.
Hang on a minute...ON MY COMPUTER?? I thought I was building a webpage!
Strange as it may seem, the easiest way to build a page in html is by doing it and saving it on your computer, in your document folder. When the page is finished, you then transfer it to a server somewhere, which you are going to sign up for. There is no
cost for the webspace, as the company will put either an ad on your webpage, at the top or the bottom...or they will have a pop-up banner which comes up every time someone opens your page. As they get paid from advertisers for this, the more people who
have a webpage on their server the better!
You will do all of the html coding in notepad. Notepad has a .txt extension, so it won't be a webpage. However, as soon as you change that .txt extension to a .html extension, you have a live html page! When you open that html page on your computer (just double click on it like any other file) it will open up like a webpage...but if you notice the address line in the top of the browser, it will have something like:
'C:\My Documents\yourpage.html'
This is because that is where your page is stored, on your computer.
Once you 'upload' (transfer) this page to a webserver somewhere, the address of your page will then be something like:
'http://www.virtualave.net/yourpage.html'
as this is where your page will be stored.
Ok...clear as mud? Let's get started, hopefully it will all makes some sense as you go along!
Let's get moving with lesson 1!
