Make-Your-Own-Web-Page

There are three easy steps which give detail to the concept to making-your-own-web-page. Follow these steps and you will be well on your way.

1. Purchase a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) HTML editor such as Adobe GoLive, Macromedia Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage.
2. Make-your-own-web-pages using your editing/word processor program
3. FTP the files to your web-server.

HTML EDITORS

Top HTML editors for beginners:

1. Adobe GoLive
2. Macromedia Dreamweaver
3. Microsoft FrontPage

All of these editing programs allow beginners to make-your-own- web-pages using templates and WYSIWYG. Simply create or select a pre-made template for making-your-own-web-page, type your content into the page on your screen, and hit the save button. All three of these programs come with instructions that are designed to help even the beginner web user to create a relatively professional looking website.

The only thing you need to take into deliberation is to make sure that if you are using Microsoft FrontPage that you go with a website hosting company that supports FrontPage extensions.

MAKE-YOUR-OWN-WEBPAGES

Exactly how you make-your-own-web-page will depend on the specific editor you use, however the process of all editors is remarkably similar.

1. Select or create a template for your site. With graphic design skills, choose to create something from scratch. Beginners just use one of the many pre-developed templates that come with editing programs.

2. Create pages for your site and type the text directly into the pages. The content will appear on the screen similar to the way it will appear in the final website.

3. Insert any graphics you will use for your site. In general, you should keep these to a minimum because each graphic you put into your page increases the download time. Also, you don't want too many animated gifs or flashy stuff on the page - they make the page appear unprofessional.

4. Test the site as you go. All editors contain a preview capability that will let you see the page in a web browser exactly as your visitors will see it. It is also a good idea to test your pages using multiple browsers since there is some variance as to how different browsers interpret HTML code. You should design your site to work effectively with the top three browsers: Microsoft Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape.

The most important thing in making-your-own-web-pages is to start. Amend your site a number of times before you ever actually post it online; but recognize that it does take time to make-your-own-web-page, especially your first time out. Its part of the learning curve and necessary to making sure you have thoroughly thought out each aspect of your site's navigation and content.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) FILES TO YOUR WEBSITE

When you purchase a web hosting service, the web host will give you FTP credentials consisting of the FTP site, user name and password for your account. Use this information to put the pages you create online.

GoLive, Dreamweaver and FrontPage all come with embedded FTP programs, so you can just enter your FTP credentials into their client and follow your program's instructions to publish your pages.

There are times, however, when you may want to FTP files to your FTP server without using your development environment's embedded FTP functionality. Therefore it's a good idea to go ahead and set up a separate client for uploading things like images, pdfs, or other linked objects. Go online and download a free FTP program. Several free FTP clients you may choose to use:

1. Leach FTP
2. WSFTP
3. Microsoft Explorer.

Type the FTP location into the browser and then enter your credentials into the popup box.

Install the program and then enter your FTP information into the connection screen. Once you have successfully connected to your FTP site, posting your web site is as easy as copying the files from your home computer to your website. That's it and you are on your way to making-your-own-web-page.