Writing Web Pages  (made easy)

The simplest and most effective tool to use to write web pages is NETSCAPE COMPOSER

So, to open that, follow STAGE ONE, (Steps One and Two) below.

STEP ONE:
Open the NETSCAPE programme.

STEP TWO:
Click on COMMUNICATOR which is on the top bar of Netscape's Opening Page.  Now, Click on COMPOSER and it will open.
NOTE:  (You can by-pass these last two actions by simply pressing Ctrl+4 when Netscape has opened)


So, now you should be looking at a blank sheet of paper and some tool bars that are reminiscent of any word processing programme you are already familair with.

You now have two options:
WRITE AN ENTIRELY NEW PAGE IMPORT TEXT FROM A WORD PROCESSOR THAT YOU WISH TO HAVE AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET
If you want to write an entirely new page - just set up your fonts and letter size and start typing!

If you want to import text, the easiest way is to open the page you want to import using your word processor.  Block the text you wish to import and COPY it (using the tool bars or simply pressing ctrl+C).  Then go back to the blank page in Composer, position your cursor and PASTE (ctrl + V) the text into Composer.


Once you have written all you want to write, then SAVE the document to a convenient archive.  I suggest that you create a new folder called WEB BUILD or something like that within the MY DOCUMENTS folder.  Give the document a name and add ".html" (without the quotes) to the name.

Basically that is it!  You are now ready to go on to STAGE TWO which is transferring the page you have written to the Web Site you want it to appear on.


HOWEVER: Before we go on to that stage, let us just pause to tell you how to do the MOST IMPORTANT ACTION that changes your page from a dead piece of text into an interactive web page.  In other words, how to add LINKS which take the reader on to other pages or web sites.

OK, so imagine that you have written a great review of a film and now you want the reader to be able to see that great clip from the film that you found while "surfing" recently.

So here is what you do.  Type a line with something like:

See Great Clip from this Film.

Block the words "Great Clip" - while they are blocked, go up to the tool bar above which starts NEW / OPEN etc. See the button marked "LINK"? (Enllace in the Spanish version) - Click on it:  a window should open with the cursor blinking on "Link to what....".  Type in the URL (address) of the page you want to send your reader to - eg: http://hollywood.com/greatfilm/clip.html  - Then click on accept!

What you should now see on your page is this:

See Great Clip from this Film.

Congratulations, you have just added a link to your web page!

Repeat that procedure for all the links you wish to add.  NOTE: A link does not have to be on a separate line.  You could actually block any word, image or object on the page and make it a link using the LINK button above.


NOTE: It is a good idea to have an index, or opening page to your site so that people can see what is available there and the LINKS that will take them to the pages you have posted to your site. This is usually on the first page at your site and will look something like this:
Click to see Biography of Director
Click to see Biography of Main Actress
Click to see Biography of Scriptwriter
Click to see Original Storyboard
(Don't bother clicking on any of these above, they won't take you anywhere - they're just for illustration).

It is always a good idea to add a link at the bottom of each page that takes the reader back to your index page - or - if you have something you want them to read sequentially - on to the next section.... like this:
Back to Home Page
On to the Next Page

Incidentally, adding images to the page is easy using the IMAGE button above.  I won't go into that here - Experiment!  But remember that images take up lots of memory and make a page slower to load! Use them sparingly until the technology catches up with the potential of the Internet ;-)

So now let's go on to STAGE TWO - getting the page off your computer and onto the Web!

This will depend on where you are posting this page.

Log on to the web host  you are with and look for a page called the WEB SHELL - it is here that you can upload, re-name, etc, the files you have on the Web Site.

The most useful thing here is a button marked something like FILE UPLOAD ?

This is what you use to transfer the files from your computer to your host's computer.  Usually it asks you to click on "Browse" and locate the file you want to upload from your computer.  When you have clicked on it -- in the Window that will have already opened up -- then press the "OPEN" button in that new window and the file you have just selected will appear in the space provided on the web shell page. All you have to do now is click on "UPLOAD" and after a few seconds you should see a message saying: "File(s) succesfully uploaded".  If you have a few files to upload many web shells have a button marked  "Multiple File Upload".


NOTE: If you are uploading a new version of a file that already exists don't forget to put a tick in the box marked "overwrite"

As a "beginner" that is basically all you need to know for now.  But I would just like to add one little tip that is very important if you jointly run websites with a freind or two.

It is a good idea to add a line at the bottom of each page saying something like:

"This page last updated by Karen on: 01/01/2002"

This is in order for you, or for your colleagues, to know when the page was added and who added or edited it.  This is especially important if you are running a joint index page.

Before uploading a new version of, say, the Index Page, with the added links to your new material, you should check that nothing has been added by a colleague before you upload. This should help people avoid posting a new version of the index on to the site and inadvertently deleting a version with new links posted by a colleague.  

Hope this has been a useful "lesson" -

BERNI


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Page last updated by Berni on 26th May 2004