If you've created a few pages and you want to get them published on the internet for everyone to see you'll have to think about getting a web host. The host is someone who provides you with a place to upload your files. The service may come free if you want to use something like myspace or blogger. If you want your site to be unique to you and you want to create it with a web editing program then you will have to pay a small amount.
How to find a web host
The best way to find a good web host is by word of mouth. If you know someone who has their own site they may be able to recommend a host. Alternatively you can ask on any of the webmaster forums such as Digital Point. The web host that I use is Orchard Hostings. They are UK based and they give good value for money. To give you an idea of how much they charge a small website will only cost you £9.99 a year. (I don't have shares but I wish I had!)
What to look for
If you are creating your first website and you're just feeling your way the first thing you want to be sure of is good customer support. Check the site to see if there's a support forum as other customers can be extremely helpful. Also see if the site has a support area. If you see something like "We will answer your enquiry within three days," forget it. If you've got problems you want the answer as quickly as possible.
Now have a look at the other features on offer. If you're new to all this the chances are you won't understand all of it, but nevertheless you should be able to glean enough information to compare packages that cost a similar amount of money. Some web hosts offer lots of features such as a webmail address and statistics on your site plus free search engine submission. There may be free scripts that will run programs for you such as a guestbook or a survey and these features can be very useful. You may find a lot more features apart from these but you will have to pay a bit more to get the best package.
Where your website will reside
The computer that you copy your files to is called a server and it runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week. There are different types of server and the one you want to use should be capable of running different scripting languages. If you are using FrontPage it should have something called FrontPage extensions installed. Don't worry about what all this means right now. When you have a look at some of the hosting websites you should see a list of the features on offer and it should say something like "Scripting languages, Perl and CGI, PHP etc."
Before you can put your new website on your host's server you will need to choose a domain name but this will be covered in the next article on Beginners Websites.
Good luck and happy hunting.
Saturday, 10 March 2007
Monday, 5 March 2007
How to create some pages for your site
If you are keen to publish your own website you will need to think about how you are going to create and edit the pages. There are different ways of doing this. I've described a couple of them below.
Content Management Systems
This is basically a simplified way of adding and managing content using pre defined templates. You can add or remove elements from the templates so that eventually you will end up with a website with the style and design you are looking for. The system can usually be set up and administered through your web host and it is particularly useful for large websites. As with all software you need to spend some time learning how to use the system but it is quick and easy to use.
Creating a site from scratch using your own software
Another way to create your website is to get yourself some web editing software and create it from scratch. If you are just beginning to dabble and you want to get a toe in the water this is the way I would recommend. The reason for this is that you will learn how a web page is put together and you will almost certainly learn some HTML. This is short for hyper text markup language and although it sounds grand HTML is simply the code that is used to program your browser.
If you ask a webmaster what software they recommend they will usually say Dreamweaver. This is extremely popular with webmasters and it costs a fortune. If you are dabbling you won't want to spend hundreds of pounds on software like this. It is highly recommended for the experienced webmaster and those who want to make a career out of it but frankly it isn't necessary for a small personal website.
What I would recommend is that first of all you have a look at the software you already have. Some of the Microsoft products such as Publisher will allow you to create some passable pages. There are many other web editing programs available and some of them are free to download from the internet.
The program that I use for my websites is Microsoft FrontPage 2003. This cost me £40 from ebay and it came with an OEM licence. This means that it was perfectly legal for me to buy the software but I can only install it on one computer or a laptop or additional hard drive.
Many web editors look down on FrontPage but I find it perfectly adequate for my site. A cut down version of this is FrontPage Express which used to come free with Internet Explorer. This was the first web editing software I used and it was easy to transfer it to the full version of FrontPage as the site grew larger. You may have FrontPage Express already on your computer but if not then you can download it for free here FrontPage Express.
In the next article I'll be looking at how to get your newly created pages onto the internet. Good luck and happy editing.
Content Management Systems
This is basically a simplified way of adding and managing content using pre defined templates. You can add or remove elements from the templates so that eventually you will end up with a website with the style and design you are looking for. The system can usually be set up and administered through your web host and it is particularly useful for large websites. As with all software you need to spend some time learning how to use the system but it is quick and easy to use.
Creating a site from scratch using your own software
Another way to create your website is to get yourself some web editing software and create it from scratch. If you are just beginning to dabble and you want to get a toe in the water this is the way I would recommend. The reason for this is that you will learn how a web page is put together and you will almost certainly learn some HTML. This is short for hyper text markup language and although it sounds grand HTML is simply the code that is used to program your browser.
If you ask a webmaster what software they recommend they will usually say Dreamweaver. This is extremely popular with webmasters and it costs a fortune. If you are dabbling you won't want to spend hundreds of pounds on software like this. It is highly recommended for the experienced webmaster and those who want to make a career out of it but frankly it isn't necessary for a small personal website.
What I would recommend is that first of all you have a look at the software you already have. Some of the Microsoft products such as Publisher will allow you to create some passable pages. There are many other web editing programs available and some of them are free to download from the internet.
The program that I use for my websites is Microsoft FrontPage 2003. This cost me £40 from ebay and it came with an OEM licence. This means that it was perfectly legal for me to buy the software but I can only install it on one computer or a laptop or additional hard drive.
Many web editors look down on FrontPage but I find it perfectly adequate for my site. A cut down version of this is FrontPage Express which used to come free with Internet Explorer. This was the first web editing software I used and it was easy to transfer it to the full version of FrontPage as the site grew larger. You may have FrontPage Express already on your computer but if not then you can download it for free here FrontPage Express.
In the next article I'll be looking at how to get your newly created pages onto the internet. Good luck and happy editing.
Sunday, 4 March 2007
Your First Website
This blog is for people who have a vague idea that they'd like their own website but have no idea where to begin. It's for complete beginners and people who want to ask very basic questions. I know what this is like. You feel stupid but you do actually want some answers without everyone falling off their chairs laughing and saying,
"Cor, don't you even know that?"
Making your first website
To start with you will need to decide who your audience is going to be. If your site is going to be a personal site about yourself and your family, or is intended for a small audience, then have a look at your Internet Service provider's home page and see if there's anything that says you can make your own site for free. For example I looked at the AOL help pages and typed "build website" into the search box. The first link that came up took me to a page that confirmed that I could build my own website for free and gave me links to the necessary pages and tools that I would need to get started.
Another way to get yourself onto the World Wide Web is to create a blog like this one. All you need to do is to go to the home page of blogger.com and follow the links to create your own blog. It's as easy as falling off a log.
One thing that has always puzzled me is why people climb on logs in the first place. If it's so easy to fall off them there must be health and safety issues involved and Climbing On Logs should really be classified as an extreme sport.....I digress.....I knew I would.
The Cost of Slightly Posher Websites
If you want a website that's aimed at a larger market and you don't think a blog or a freebie space is the right thing for you, then you will need to think about spending a small amount of money. Starting your own site can be incredibly cheap. The most expensive thing you may want to buy is the software to help you to create your site. You will also need to buy a domain name and find someone to host the site. The last two items needn't cost you more than thirty pounds.
So What Do You Do First Then?
For now you just need to work out what your website is going to be about and who is going to look at it. You'll also need some kind of design idea. It's unlikely that at first you'll start with a large number of pages but even so you will want to divide the subject you're writing about into manageble chunks.
Here's an example:
My first website is still up and running and it's all about dog agility. I have an introductory page that tells visitors what the site is all about and I also have a section called "Updates" on the opening page. On the left hand side there are links to all the other sections such as, equipment, classes and shows, breeds etc. In each of these sections there are pages of information all about dogs and dog agility.
Before you start your website you'll need to work out what you want on the opening page or the home page as it's called. You'll also need a rough idea of where your visitors are going to go from there and what they're going to see.
I'll leave you to get on with that before you come back to find out how to go about getting it all up and running. Good luck.
"Cor, don't you even know that?"
Making your first website
To start with you will need to decide who your audience is going to be. If your site is going to be a personal site about yourself and your family, or is intended for a small audience, then have a look at your Internet Service provider's home page and see if there's anything that says you can make your own site for free. For example I looked at the AOL help pages and typed "build website" into the search box. The first link that came up took me to a page that confirmed that I could build my own website for free and gave me links to the necessary pages and tools that I would need to get started.
Another way to get yourself onto the World Wide Web is to create a blog like this one. All you need to do is to go to the home page of blogger.com and follow the links to create your own blog. It's as easy as falling off a log.
One thing that has always puzzled me is why people climb on logs in the first place. If it's so easy to fall off them there must be health and safety issues involved and Climbing On Logs should really be classified as an extreme sport.....I digress.....I knew I would.
The Cost of Slightly Posher Websites
If you want a website that's aimed at a larger market and you don't think a blog or a freebie space is the right thing for you, then you will need to think about spending a small amount of money. Starting your own site can be incredibly cheap. The most expensive thing you may want to buy is the software to help you to create your site. You will also need to buy a domain name and find someone to host the site. The last two items needn't cost you more than thirty pounds.
So What Do You Do First Then?
For now you just need to work out what your website is going to be about and who is going to look at it. You'll also need some kind of design idea. It's unlikely that at first you'll start with a large number of pages but even so you will want to divide the subject you're writing about into manageble chunks.
Here's an example:
My first website is still up and running and it's all about dog agility. I have an introductory page that tells visitors what the site is all about and I also have a section called "Updates" on the opening page. On the left hand side there are links to all the other sections such as, equipment, classes and shows, breeds etc. In each of these sections there are pages of information all about dogs and dog agility.
Before you start your website you'll need to work out what you want on the opening page or the home page as it's called. You'll also need a rough idea of where your visitors are going to go from there and what they're going to see.
I'll leave you to get on with that before you come back to find out how to go about getting it all up and running. Good luck.
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