|
YOUR PERSONAL HOMEPAGE
Frequently Asked Questions
Which software should I use?
The question of which
software best suits your needs depends on a number of factors, including how
proficient you are with computers and the types of Web pages that you are going
to be creating.
There are several Web authoring programs available for download, ranging from
the ultra user-friendly beginner's software through to professional Web
authoring suites. Some software is available free of charge or for a modest fee,
while others can cost several hundred dollars (but offer extra features, such as
electronic commerce options).
Below is a list of software suitable for novice users interested in creating
their own, basic-to-modest Web pages:
Windows
HotDog Junior - www.sausage.com/
Coffee Cup HTML Express - www.coffeecup.com/
Splash!
Web Author - www.gosplash.com/
Cool Page - www.3dize.com/
WebScrapbook -
www.webprecinct.com/WebScrapbook/Introduction.htm
Macintosh
PageSpinner - www.optima-system.com/pagespinner/
World Wide Web Weaver -
www.miracleinc.com/lakeducts/W4/
Back to Top
How do I create my Web site?
Most Web authoring
programs designed for beginners feature 'Web wizards'. These 'wizards' take
users step-by-step through the process of creating a basic Web page, and do not
require any knowledge of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language - the language used to
'code' Web pages so that they can be properly displayed in Web browsers).
You should refer to your Web authoring software's help menu for detailed
information on how to use the software and its 'wizards'. Alternatively, check
the software vendor's Web site, as many offer online tutorials, complete with
examples and screenshots.
Back to Top
Where can I learn more about Web page design and
HTML?
Try the Intertech Country HTML
tutorial, and Web Graphics tutorial.
If you are looking to learn more about HTML and the ins-and-outs of Web
authoring, you will find some excellent resources and tutorials at these sites:
NCSA HTML Tutorial - www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html
Webmonkey
- www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/teachingtool/
HTML 4 Rookies -
www.htmlprimer.com/
Quadzilla - www.quadzilla.com/
About
HTML - html.about.com/internet/design/html/
About Web Design - Webdesign.about.com/internet/design/webdesign/
Webomatic
Toolkit - www.hotwired.com/surf/special/toolkit/building.html
Bare
Bones Guide to HTML - werbach.com/barebones/
Back
to Top
Do I need special names for my Web page files?
Your
'homepage' (that is, the screen first displayed when someone visits your site)
must be named one of the following: index.html or index.htm,
otherwise it will not load correctly in your visitor's Web browser.
There are no special name requirements for any secondary Web pages that you
create, providing they have the .htm or .html extensions.
For example, if you were creating a 3 page Web site, you might name your
homepage index.html, and include links on that page to two other pages that you
create, called page2.html and page3.html.
Similarly, if you were creating a family Web site, you might name your main
Web page index.htm with links to several Web pages called holidayphotos.htm and
ourpets.htm
Any images you include in your Web page must also be uploaded to your site,
as the Web page simply links to the image file, the image is not included as
part of the Web page file.
Back to Top
How do I publish my homepage?
Click here to see what settings are required to publish
your homepage. After you have created and saved your Web site files, you must
place a copy of the files (or 'upload' them) into your user directory on
Intertech Country's Web server. Once you have done this, your Web site will be
available to all other Internet users.
Some Web authoring programs will also handle the process of uploading your
Web files. If yours cannot, you will need to manually upload the files to the
Web Server, using an FTP program.
In either case, you will need to key in certain information to your FTP or
Web authoring software so that it can upload your files. The order in which you
need to specify this information will vary from software to software, so you may
need to check the software's help menu for further clarification.
Back to Top
More About FTP
The process by which files are
transferred from your local computer to the Web server is called "FTP" (File
Transfer Protocol). You have unlimited access via FTP 24-hours a day. As such,
you can create and maintain your Web pages on your own computer and upload files
to your Web site at your leisure.
Back to
Top
Where can I get FTP software?
There are quite a
number of user-friendly FTP programs available for uploading Web files. Some are
free, others shareware or only available for purchase. All offer online help
that will guide you through the process of configuring the software for
uploading files.
Windows
WS_FTP LE - www.ipswitch.com/cgi/download_eval.pl?product=WL-1000
BulletProof
FTP - www.bpftp.com/
CuteFTP - www.globalscape.com
FTP
Voyager - www.ftpvoyager.com/
Macintosh
Anarchie - www.stairways.com/anarchie/
Fetch - www.dartmouth.edu/pages/softdev/fetch.html
NetFinder - www.ozemail.com.au/pli/netfinder/
Transmit - www.panic.com/transmit/
Back
to Top
What is the address of my homepage?
The address (or
URL) used to access your homepage takes the form of http://home.icisp.net.au
/yourusername/. Eg, Fred Smith with an email address of fred@icisp.net.au
will upload his files to the directory /home/fred/ with the host
home.icisp.net.au and view them on the Web at the URL of
http://home.icisp.net.au /fred/.
Back to
Top
Viewing Web Pages Online
Webmasters often modify
HTML documents and re-upload it to the server. After returning to their Web
browser they click RELOAD only to find the original document unchanged. This is
a common occurrence which happens because of one of two reasons: a) browser
cache - most browsers save information so they don't have to download it
again. It can be remedied, depending on your browser, by clearing your browser's
cache, or deleting the temporary Internet files. The location of this option is
different browsers. Use the help menu in your browser if you do not know where
it is. b) proxy server connection - if your browser is set up to download
material from a proxy server, which 'mirrors' content from Internet sites, it is
not automatically updated. Hold down the Shift key while you click RELOAD and
this should fetch the material directly from the Internet, bypassing the
proxy.
Back to Top |
