Web Authoring           

The Basics  

There is nothing more exciting than composing your first webpage and seeing the counter tick over as people visit and leave comments in you guestbook. You feel that you have arrived as an internet identity. I've gone through many stages in the web authoring process from a single page effort that I was most proud of, to today's more elaborate offering that has come after several years of learning experiences. Today, there are two free programmes that can have you on the web in a short time and come with your browsers; Frontpage Express ( Internet Explorer) and  Composer ( Netscape Communicator) I've used both and they are great starting points. However, I will take you through Frontpage Express because I choose to use Internet Explorer. Both have similar formats however. But first here are a few important things to remember :-

1.   All the graphics, sounds and anything else you want on your webpage must be in the same folder. When you have decided on the name of your site create a directory on one of your hard drives. For the sake of argument we will call our imaginary website " Seniors", so your new directory will also be called that.

2.   The first page of your website is always called "index.html " This will be the one that opens when your visitors type in your URL. If you are having just one page it is still "index.html

NOTE Windows XP does not have Frontpage Express. However, Mozilla and Netscape Composer will give you the same results with a similar method.

Helpful Software

The following are some graphic software programmes that will help you with your web authoring. They will let you view and edit graphics so that they fit into your webpage needs. I've also included some websites that I've found very helpful.
Irfanview   - a super free graphics programme.
20-20           - an excellent free graphics editor.
Paint Shop Pro - The very best you can get .

Website Designs
HTML Goodies

The very best "whatyouseeiswhatyouget" web authoring programme is Frontpage ( either version 98 or 2000x ). Sells at around $150 - $200 - Frontpage

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