Now that you have gotten your feet wet, let's move on to (3) things that will save you a tremendous amount of time. Once you learn them you will move at MACH SPEED and that's a guarantee.

(1) Cut Copy & Paste

(2) Bounce Emails or Posts

(3) Anthony's Transloader

I managed to learn the use of the above much too late and it cost me precious time in typing. I don't want you to make that same mistake. Once mastered, you're on your way.

By now you're probably saying to yourself, "I'd like to create a HOMEPAGE and express myself". We all do it for different reasons, but what's important will be the satisfaction you will attain from its creation. The site will no doubt reflect your personality. So what do I do next? You need to locate a cyberspace server that will fit your needs. There are many, however, I have listed only (3) that are used by most on the internet. Once again I've listed them alphabetically as not to sway your decision. All are excellent, however, all have some problems.

-1- Angelfire

-2- Geocities

-3- Tripod

Now that you have chosen a homepage server, the HTML that you have practicing in your email signature will now begin to take form, but now on a LARGER scale. The first and foremost you need to establish is a THEME for your homepage and a NAME you plan on calling it. This is very important as your homepage will evolve around that theme. Before you begin, jot down on paper a floor plan & decorating ideas you plan on implementing. This is the BRAINSTORMING stage. Once you have set the stage, you are ready to begin.

Venturing on, I have another suggestion. Join a discussion group or at least lurk and listen-in. You will find it extremely helpful. Definitely worth the time. Three outstanding groups come to mind:

news.alt.discuss.html

news.alt.discuss.homepage

news.alt.discuss.homepage.opinions

A wealth of knowledge is passed around each day, either solicited by someone seeking an answer to a problem, or voluntarily given to all as " Hey did you know that Raven at Exotic Corner Creates AWESOME Banners". You get the idea.

Now that you have learned mucho stuff about webtv, what wtv can do, send email, make your signature look attractive or informative thru the use of basic HTML, stopped by a cyberspace provider for your very own piece of the "cyberspace"; now you need the TOOLS to carve your masterpiece.

I want you to know that the tools I will be mentioning have not been created by me , but by some very cleaver individuals who have been around webtv since its inception and have found a way to make things easier for us all. It won't take long before their names will become common knowledge to you as "Tiger Woods" and "Chi Chi Rodriquez" is to GOLF. There's just too many to mention by name but I will mention one who is considered to be the most respected by all and that's DRAAC or DR. GONZO as he is commonly called. Draac has done so much for us, just visit his site and you'll see what I mean. I perceive him as being independently wealthy with NO REAL JOB, always on vacation, but always there to answer even the most trivial question. Now that I have moved off-the-topic-at-hand OT, let's continue.

First I'm going to list the Tools of the Trade that you'll be needing to create your homepage and I'll make them clickable so you can easily access their sites. At first it will seem like an awful lot, but afterwards you'll realize their importance and how all this comes together.

OK you want to make your homepage pleasing to your viewer, so What do I do? Start with a background color or a background gif. Then comes the fonts , gifs which are animated or not, colored or plain text, a banner , maybe a clock or the date , a guestbook , music , maybe an audioscope , a pager , links , a good search engine , a link to webrings that you belong to and a counter to give you an idea how many people have clicked on to your website.

(1) Masonman's ~VAL~

(2) Webtv Domain

(3) Webtv Utility

(4) Webconnect1 Resources

(5) WTV~Tools Sources

Check the above sites out, you won't be sorry. At first you'll be impressed, then thankful that someone has taken the time to organize in catagories, extremely accessible for your use. You'll definitely want a few of them on your hot keys. My suggestion is to place the transloader on F1, use Madrabbit The Source on F2, and then a few of the above on F3 thru F7.

The sidebar to the left will have loads of links I think you will find useful. As all SoulMate's webpages, no doubt we will be updating and improving this site. Enjoy and have a pleasant journey in your webtv endeavors and construction of your HOMEPAGE.