(originally published in The Jerusalem Post, December 2002)

DIY Web Sites

CAN ANYONE MAKE HIS OWN SITE?

Yes! A Web site can be built by anyone with a computer and willingness to learn. All the tools you need are available online -- some for a nominal cost, others completely free. However, since the choice is so great, trying out all the various options is impossible. This article will outline one simple, inexpensive route to designing and publishing a basic site. You can use it as a jumping-off point and then experiment.

To make things even easier, I've prepared a template and some graphics that you can download and experiment with, plus a list of useful links, including those mentioned in this article. You can find all these tools here.

WHAT DO I NEED TO GET STARTED?

There are five basic components:

1. A connection to the Internet.
2. Content. Define what your site will be about, draw up an outline -- including how the pages will link to one another -- and collect the text and pictures you want to use.
3. HTML editor. This is a program that will help transform your text into a format that displays well on the Web. A WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) format is easiest for beginners to use. The program will work behind the scenes, writing the code needed to design the page layouts and style the text. One of the best free editors is Composer, which comes bundled with the Netscape or Mozilla browser. (Even if you already have an early version of Netscape installed, it's worthwhile to upgrade to the much-improved Mozilla.
   Tip: print out the relevant page from the Help file for easy reference as you build your site.
4. Photo editor. Whether scanned or from a digital camera, photos require some processing to make them Web-ready:
   • Enhance the images by removing red-eye, and correcting exposure, contrast, color-balance, etc.
   • Optimize photos by reducing file size, for faster downloads. This program also serves as an illustration tool, enabling you to create buttons, graphic page headers, backgrounds, etc.
   This program also serves as an illustration tool, enabling you to create buttons, graphic page headers, backgrounds, etc.
   Tip: Although Microsoft software packages include rudimentary photo-editing programs, if you plan on doing a considerable amount of this sort of work, you'll get better results from a program such as Photoshop Elements (Download a free trial version). This program is not free, but is an excellent value, with powerful features usually found only in high-end software.
5. Host. This is the computer that will store your files and make them available to Web surfers. One sturdy, still free, host is Yahoo!Geocities. The "price" for this service is that your site pages will be accompanied by popup ads. Sign up here .
   Tip: This free account includes access to lots of lessons, add-on components, and even built-in HTML editing capabilities. Just one caution: don't rush to upgrade to paid hosting from Yahoo!Geocities, until you've compared their package with other hosting options. (This topic will be discussed further in an upcoming article.)

OKAY, I'VE GOT EVERYTHING COLLECTED AND INSTALLED. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START!

Go on a Field Trip, surfing the Web to find sites that are similar in one way or another to what you want to accomplish, and save some of those pages to your hard drive. Then open them in your HTML editor and study how they're constructed. Start with fairly simple layouts.

Now that you have some idea of what you want to achieve, open "My Documents" and make a new folder called "My Site" (File --> New --> Folder). This is where you will save all your site files. Within this folder, make another folder and name this one "images"; here you'll place all photos and illustrations. Open your HTML editor and start building the home page. Save it as "index.html" in the folder "My Site". This page should include basic information about the site and links to the other pages that you'll be creating.
Tip: After you've completed this first page, you can use it as a template for the other pages; just save it under a new name for each page and replace the text and images.

BUT SO FAR THIS IS JUST TEXT AND SOME PHOTOS. HOW CAN I MAKE MY SITE LOOK COOL?

There are lots of freebies that can jazz up the look of your site.

• Check out the Add-Ons at Yahoo!Geocities: arrows, bullets, button, icons, lines, clip art -- all are available with simple copy-and-paste.
• Want animations? Try the Flaming Text site -- countless variations are made for you within seconds.
• Some excellent photos are available from FreeStockPhotos.com.
• Do you want to use new and unusual fonts? Start collecting - which can become highly addictive! -- at About.com 's site.

Tip: When adding special effects to a web page, a little can go a long way. You may want your visitors to say "Wow!" But you don't want them to say, "Wow, where's the aspirin?"

ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW?

On the Web, there's a wealth of freely given instruction and resources for you to use. However, even if your site is noncommercial, be aware of and respect copyright laws. While nearly all Internet content can be easily copied, such copying often constitutes intellectual theft. Sites that permit reuse of their images and code say so explicitly in sections titled something like "Terms of Use."

MY SITE'S FINISHED AND LOOKS FINE ON MY COMPUTER. HOW DO I GET IT ON THE WEB?

Upload the files to your host - using either the "Publish" directions in Netscape Composer, or via the "File Manager" tool in Yahoo!Geocities.

And that's really all there is to the process! Take your time, check your work in your browser to make sure it's displaying as you intend, but above all relax and have fun building your site. After all, nothing on the Web is irrevocable. Even after it's published, you can continue to change your site at will.

Now all that's left is to send the link to your family and friends!

Do you have any questions? Contact me and I'll try to answer them in upcoming articles. Also, you may subscribe for free to the AtarTec newsletter, which consists of new articles as well as notifications of critical Windows updates and relevant virus information.

Request a free estimate for your web site project.

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