This is more directed to the beginner to Internet and HTML. If you are a professional, or at least think you are, you would better jump over this :o)

I have been online for about 7 years and I made my first Homepage on February 8, 1996. Since then I believe I have experienced some valuable points - which I want to share with you, if you are open for some suggestions, some general views on making Homepages. Believe me, I don't even try to make myself important or so, I just want to give you some hints on your way making an excellent Homepage. I also hope to motivate you to program HTML because it isn't that difficult as it seems.

It isn't so hard....after all....

You can say....ahhhhh how do you do this and that... It seems so professional, or at least, it looks great, but how can I make it looking great? There is really no big deal, and you will discover you can make it professional in a while... Certainly there are many so-called html-editors and wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) programs, that you can download and use. I would, however, recommend you to (at least) try to get the basic understanding of pure HTML-programming, because then everything will seem so much easier afterwards. Take an example easy to understand; "it's an advantage to know what really happens in your car engine if it breaks down" or "how changing a wheel if a puncture occurs" etc. get the point?

You don't need miraculous programs!

I still program my Homepage in an "old fashioned" way, because I type all html codes manually and dont get use of any big and fantastic editor programs (yet). I have, however, a html program called "HTML Editor" but this isnt more than a "swedish notepad" software which provide you some short-keys and more pages to work on simultanously. But for me, it's enough, for the time being.

What must a Homepage include?

To understand more about a Homepage composition - you must have the basic and most important html-text, saved in a htm or html file format. Thereafter it's up to you how fancy you want the homepage to look. You can include backgrounds, icons, lines, images and many other cosmetic items, just to make your page look better and professional. I would, however, recommend to not put on too much of those fancy things. In the beginning, it's easy to put on too much of fancy items, just to try them out, but often it results in long loading time and limited enjoyment. There are many Homepages which for example have heavy graphic on their index (first) page, and this makes visitors wait for ages, and sometimes (I do) many just stop the loading and surf on to another site. If you want to have a lot of graphics and images, fine, but make it as morethanless an option for the visitor, as they can click on some text if they want to see it or not. Well, this is just my personal view... Ummmm... I guess I shouldn't say to much about that. Maybe you think I've put to much JavaScript on my page? Heheheh.....

To have a system is sensible

When you have got space on your net-provider server, to transfer your html files, I would recommend you to make different directories for back(grounds), line(s), htm(files), gif(files). This will help you to have a good survey and control on all your files! Remember that you can preview your html files in your browser (for example Netscape) before you transfer the files. This minimize your online time and avoid any mistakes on your homepage.

Some hints about images...

You can download images by clicking the right mouse button. You can either show the image in big size or "save as", then select your local harddisk. When you put on images, they should be either jpeg or gif files. Otherwise, some browsers may have difficulties to display your images. Other formats can certainly work, but I recommend you to stick with these 2 standard and international formats.

But.... How do I start???

Good question!! To understand HTML better and get used to the codes etc. please feel free to try the links in the menu. They can be useful when you get up your masterpiece. Remember that it can be useful to look at other Homepages as well, not to steal anything, but to get some ideas!! In the menu to the left, you will find links to some good sites, where you can download icons, lines, backgrounds etc. all free!! Good luck and Welcome to become an owner of a Homepage in CyberSpace......

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since 971115