The Quick and Easy Guide to Building Web Pages

There are many tools available to authors wanting to create a web page, including FrontPage, Cold Fusion, and DreamWeaver. Unfortunately, most of these "professional" tools aren't simple to learn or use. But we have other easy options available. This guide will help the beginner create a web page using several simple tools.

About the Tools

There are three easy-to-use tools I recommend: HTML, MS Word, and Netscape Composer.

TOOL	ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
HTML	Simple text-based interface; Control over content; Simple file names and paths; Universally read by all browsers and FTP; Free/cheap HTML editors available (e.g. Notepad, SimpleText, etc.); Files easily edited in other tools.	User must know HTML "code"; Inputing/editing takes time and patience; Viewer/browser needed to see changes; Minor errors have significant results
MS Word	Familiar interface; Simple conversion of text or .doc files to web; WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get")tool; Can edit/convert most document types; Most users have tool already.	File and paths names not simple; Automatically creates directories to upload; Files not easily edited in other tools; Less control over content (Documents may look different on-line than in tool); Commercial (not free).
Netscape Composer	WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get") tool; Simple interface; Control over content; Simple file and path names; Files easily edited in other tools; Free.	Users must install Netscape Navigator (no cost download); Can't always access Composer from Internet Explorer (may need to open Netscape separately); Cannot edit/convert non-web documents.

Picking the Right Tool

Which tool to choose really depends on your task and how much time/effort you are willing to put into it. As a web author, I like the control you get with HTML. (All web documents are HTML or related.) HTML isn't really that hard, but it does take a little time to learn the basics. For a tutorial, see the Quick and Easy HTML Guide. For a more thorough guide, see Dave Raggett's Getting Started with HTML.

If speed and ease is more important than control, I'd recommend the other two options. You won't find anything easier to use than Netscape Composer, especially if you want to create text, insert graphics and links, and edit layout from inside the tool. See Netscape's Composer Tutorial for directions. If you are starting your web page "from scratch", use Netscape Composer.

However, if you are starting with an existing document (say a Word or text file), MS Word is probably the tool to use. You can edit the document as you like and then use the easy conversion tool to make the web page. FGCU's Creating Web Pages shows how to save files as web documents in Word 2000. For older versions of Word, see Web Design for the Impatient. Remember, Word creates some directories that must also be uploaded along with the web files.

Creating Content

Actually, this is the hard part. Like any document, authors should consider the purpose of the web page (what do you want it to do?), the audience (what does the viewer want/need from the document?) and the technique (what is the most effective way to deliver this content?) For a discussion of the issues involved in web documents, see the Quick and Easy Guide to Electronics Documents and Geo's Web Corner: A Web-ster's Guide. Remember that your web document is viewed on-line, so watch the size of the web files, graphics, media files, etc. And don't be afraid to "chop up" your document into smaller pieces to be hyperlinked together. (Web viewers like to link!)

Uploading Your Web Pages

Creating your web pages is one thing, but viewers won't be able to see what you've created unless you upload them. You need to house your web pages, image files, and related folders on a server that provides access to Internet viewers. To accomplish this, you need to do some tasks:

1) Find a Web Host. If you have Internet access at home or work, your ISP may provide you with web space to post your files. (Contact your ISP or network administrator to check this.) You can also use a number of free or commercial web hosts. For personal or educational web pages, I recommend trying one of the free Web Hosts, like TopCities or Tripod. You'll find a nice list of free hosts at The Free Site. Of course, you can always set up your own Internet-connected server, but that's a little more work than most of us want to do.

2) Get a FTP Tool. You'll need an application to "send" your web files to the Web Host server. Both Netscape Composer and MS Frontpage have built-in upload tools. Some Web Hosts, like TopCities or Tripod, have their own, on-line upload tools. But many hosts require you to use a tool like WSFTP (WIN) or Fetch (MAC) to upload your files. Geo's Web Corner: Tools of the Trade offers shareware and freeware FTP tools.

3) Upload Your Files. You will need to upload your web (.html) files, your graphic (.jpg or .gif) files, any media files and all folders/directories that are connected to your web pages. (MS Word creates separate directories for graphics and other related files.) These files usually go into a "public_html" directory under your account name with your Web Host. Contact your Web Host (or see their FAQ's) for directions, or see John Pollock's Beginning FTP Tutorial.

4) Note Your URL. Once your web page files are uploaded, they should be viewable on-line. In most cases, your URL or web page address will be something like "http//hostname.com/~youraccountname/filename" This is the location/address your viewers will type in or link to with their browsers.

5) Check Your Web Pages. Sometimes your web pages will look (or act) differently on-line than they do in your tool. (This is especially true of pages created with MS Word.) Are the page elements where you want them? Do the graphics show up? Do the links work? Often you will need to go back to your document, edit the page, and then resend it to the server. (Your new file should automatically replace the old file as long as the name is the same.) Some specific problems to watch for are inaccurate file names, path names and URL's.

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