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BOOT CAMP 018
CREATING YOUR
OWN WEBSITE PART 2
If you have a reasonably up to
date Windows 95 PC with Internet access and Microsoft Word (preferably versions
7 or 97) you can create your own Internet web site quickly and easily. Graphics
software such as PaintShop Pro, and a scanner or digital camera will come in useful
too, but you can get started without them.
If you were following last
week’s introduction you should have a rough idea of how you want your web site
to look and work, and be ready with the text – if there’s going to be a lot of
it – plus the artwork you want to use. It’s a good idea to assemble all of the
components (text and picture files) in a single folder, it saves time and stops
things getting lost. While you’re at it create a second folder, for finished
web pages.
The subject for our example web
site is a family wedding. The intention would be to set it up well ahead of the
big day, to give friends and family at home and abroad the opportunity to
participate. It will feature a timetable, photos and potted biographies of the
happy couple. There will be a present list, maps of how to get to the church
and reception plus a message board for Email greetings. After the wedding, the
site can be used to feature a gallery of photographs and visitors can order
copies.
We’re using the easiest possible
method, which is to modify a ready-made web page template. This technique is common
to a lot of commercial and shareware web authoring programs and a key feature
in the latest versions of Microsoft Word, which is bundled with a lot of new
PCs; so to keep things simple that’s what we’ll be using. Start with the Web
page Wizard by selecting ‘New’ on the ‘File’ drop-down menu; click on it and
choose a style. Don’t be surprised if they look familiar, countless thousands
of web sites have been based on these and similar templates.
Personal Home Page is one of the
best options for first-timers; it allows you to put everything onto one page
and it’s the ideal layout for our modest ‘Wed Site’. For larger sites with a
lot of text and illustrations it’s better to use multiple pages, to reduce he
download time. Next select a background, choose one of the defaults, even if
you don’t much care for them, you can easily change it later, or create your
own.
Before you go any further it’s a
good idea to spend a few minutes familiarising yourself with how the site works.
Click on the coloured, underlined hypertext links, and see where they lead. Now
you can make a start on the copy by replacing the sample text. Begin with the
banner at the top of the page then move on to a sub-heading and a short
introduction paragraph. You can key it in, straight to the page or import
pre-prepared copy from another file, using the copy and paste facility. If you
wish you can change typefaces and font sizes by highlighting text blocks and
using the appropriate buttons on the toolbar. Don’t get too carried away though,
exotic styles can be difficult to read and you can waste a lot of time fiddling
around, when you should be getting on with the job. When you’re happy with the
first few lines go to the File drop-down menu, select Save As, give your new
web site a name and put it into the web page folder. Get into the habit of
saving your work every fifteen minutes or so, just in case…
Step two is to modify the links.
Work your way down the list, changing the wording of each underlined hyperlink
and inserting the linked text block. Do them one at a time or you could get
into a muddle. When you’ve completed one or two links it’s a good idea to test
the page, to make sure it is working properly. Save the document and click on
the Web Page Preview button on the toolbar or open your Internet browser. (Use
the Open or Open File command on the File menu). What you now see is the actual
page, as it will appear when it has been downloaded from the Internet. Try out
the links and if everything is okay, go back and continue inputting the new copy.
Finish off the by inserting any addresses you might want to include to other
web pages – MS Word should automatically recognise them as web addresses, with
an appropriate colour change and underline. Don’t forget to put in your own
E-mail address and any other essential information. Lastly, delete any unwanted
sample text that has been left behind.
Step three is to drop in the artwork.
If you haven’t already done so, ensure the image files are in the correct
format, JPEG for photographs and GIF for graphics. Decide roughly where you
want an image to go by inserting a flashing cursor with the left mouse button.
Go to the Insert menu, select ‘Picture’ and then ‘From File’ options to open
your first image. Check the ‘Float Over Text’ box -- this will make it easier
to move the picture around on the page -- click on OK and the picture will
appear on your Web page. Unless you have already reduced the size of the image it
will probably need resizing -- use one of the corner squares -- then drag and
drop it into position. Pictures and graphics can make unexpected changes to
your layout, that may not show up on the makeup screen, so check how it is
looking on your browser from time to time.
When the text and pictures are
in place and the page has been saved, you can spend some time playing around
with the design elements. Add borders to pictures and decorative lines to break
up the page (Horizontal Lines on the Insert menu) or try modifying the
background; there’s a good assortment of fill-in colours and textures filed
under ‘Background’ on the Format drop-down menu. You will find even more
patterns, textures, graphics, animations and templates, plus many useful web
page features on Microsoft’s Site Builder Gallery, (http://www.microsoft.com/gallery/default.asp they’re yours for the cost of a download.
Give the spelling and grammar one last run-through, re-check the links and save
your page. It really is that easy!
Next week, how to get your Web site
onto the net
JARGON FILTER
HYPERLINK
Coloured and underlined text, or
graphics that take you to another part of a document, web site or another web
site altogether
JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group
-- picture file format used for storing photographs, data is compressed thus
saving space and reducing download times on Internet pages
SHAREWARE
Software programs that you can
try, before you buy. If you decide to use it you should send a payment to the
author or publisher
TOP TIP
If your hard disc is nearly full
and you quickly want to free up some space you can quickly claw back at least
4.5 megabytes by deleting unused tutorial animations in Windows Help. Open
Windows Explorer, then the Windows folder and double click on Help. Scroll down
the list looking for camcorder icons with names like Paste, Scroll, Sizewin,
Taskswch and Whatson, they should be listed as Video Clips. Highlight each one
in turn and press the delete key (or right click the mouse button and select
delete). Initially they’ll be sent to the Recycle Bin, so the space won’t
become available until the Bin is emptied.
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