You've chosen your web host and are ready to build your first home page. But what about HTML? If you've made email sigs from scratch, then you're way ahead of the game. All the HTML tags you use for making email sigs can be used for pages. However, there are a few things that work great in a sig but awful in a page. If you want the search engines to find your pages, if you're getting nervous whether your HTML stands up to W3C specifications, if you want your page to look good and easy to navigate, then read on.
If you've chosen a free host, usually said host will have two or three options for page building. There is – and hosts such as Tripod, 250free, and 250Free provide these – "EZ Site Builders". Not much for bells 'n' whistles, but the easy builder is perfect for those first-time webmasters who don't know HTML or are unsure of their of their skills. I built my first site with Geocities' canned page builder, but came away dissatisfied with the results. You choose the page colors, backgrounds, text, list of links, attribute alignments, etc. The builder does the rest. The problem is that it defies customization. There is no way to insert music or voice wav files; use of images is limited. If you really want to jazz up your page, and you're comfortable in your HTML skills, go for the advanced editor.
CIY ~ Code It Yourself ~ is just that. Writing out your HTML codes from scratch. This way you can tweak your codes, add sounds and graphics, embellish it with transitions, 'scopes and grad tables. Most free hosts' advanced editors provide the basic HTML markup tags: HTML, HEAD, BODY, and closing tags. Some even include the validator. If you don't know what this is, it looks like this and goes above the HTML tag, at the very top:
To code it yourself means to be diligent about previewing your work before publishing. I didn't get into that habit until a few kind folks pointed out, "Hey, I can't click to your next page." Always check and recheck if links work OK, images are in their right place, there are no spelling errors, if you forgot to close a tag, if it reads through OK, etc.
But what if your HTML skills are bit rusty? Just consult an easy tutorial, like Draac or HTML Goodies, or get a copy of HTML for Dummies or other easy-to-follow resource. I keep both HTML for Dummies: Quick Reference and HTML in Plain English by my computer and WebTV in case I need to refresh my memory. "Just what does 'column span' mean? How do I make a nested ordered list? How do I align an image with text?" And so on...Also, one advantage of using the advanced editor is the ease in adding new code to an existing page. If you're getting counters, joining webrings or banner exchanges, or need to update your pages frequently, you can simply copy and paste whatever code. Can't do that too easily with a canned "EZ" editor. In addition, you'll need to add meta tags between the HEAD tags. This is so search engines can find and index your pages. When someone goes to Google and types in, say "fantasy graphics", you'll want that person to see your page listed, maybe he/she will click the link...Voila! You got another visitor. This is another great advantage of CIY vs. "EZ Site Builder". I'll include my own meta generator in the resources page. Use to your heart's content.
OK, now let's discuss the one thing that made webmasters of thousands of WebTV users...THE TRANSLOADER!
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