Simple, use a WYSIWYG editor. What's with all the letters? WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get . HTML will let you do a greater variety of things, but skip that for now. Just get started on the main thing, page creation.

Where do I get one of those WYSIWYG things? Chances are you already have one on your computer. Do you use Microsoft Internet Express? If so, part of your package should include Front Page. Do you use Netscape Navigator? Then you should have Composer to help you out.

Even better for a beginner, if your free webspace provider has an "easy editor", or whatever they decided to call it, then use that. Why? Using their online editor eliminates the need to upload your web page from your computer to your site. Every step you can eliminate at first will make web page creation easier.

Using That Easy Editor

Almost all easy editors are super simple to use, and have excellent directions and help files. Also, they are all just a bit different, so I will only give you general guidelines to get you going.

Now, have some fun, use that easy editor and make your first page! Do something simple, just put some words on it, save it, and see what you created online. Something to remember, the page that shows up very first when you go to your site will have a file name of index.html or index.htm. Many easy editors even eliminate the need for you to assign file names to your pages, they do it for you.

Rover's Picture On The Web

Do you have an image file of type jpg or gif inside your computer you'd like on that webpage? Again, with that easy editor it is a piece of cake. You will need to get a copy of Rover from your computer to your website somehow.

Probably located in your easy editor's file management area is something called "upload files", and that is where to go. Once Rover's picture is uploaded, go back to your file editing area and slap his picture on the web! Save that file, and check out what your web page looks like now!

About Images

Images are greedy things. They use a lot of file space, and anything that uses so much file space adds significantly to the load time for your page.

Is that a problem? Maybe, maybe not, it all depends on the audience you are targeting. I am guilty of creating one web page that took over 6 minutes to load. Did my viewers object? Not one bit, these were all pictures of a newborn family member, the multiple pictures on this page were fairly large, and were exactly what the relatives wished to see.

I wouldn't dare do such a thing on this site. Any informational or commercial site requires quick loading, and load time should be counted in seconds, not minutes. Would you have waited 6 minutes for this page to fully appear?

Aquiring Images

Web sites need an image or two to be of interest, whether it is something as simple as a logo or as complex as multiple image photo albums, complete with thumbnails.

Remember, too, that they need to be of the file types jpg or gif.

So, how do you get your pictures into computer format?

Three main ways
• Scanners (for older photos you have around the house)
• Digital Cameras (an excellent invention).
• Commercially: in these modern times, you can drop your film off, and request a floppy disc or cd with your pictures on it.

Multiple Page Web Sites

Once you get the hang of creating that web page, you'll be on your way. Of course there is one more thing (isn't there always?). You need to add something called a link to allow easy access to your new pages. Again that easy editor will help you out with this.

Play and Learn

If you get a good site set up, and wish to leave it as is, help yourself. Myself, I cannot resist getting my hands in there and doing a bit of tweaking, sometimes several times a day.

HTML to learn or not? This is up to each person to decide. Now, I normally use HTML to create and edit pages. It is fairly easy to learn, and once you get the hang of it, it will be a lot quicker than using a WYSIWYG tool.

I did not suddenly switch from WYSIWYG to HTML editing. I'd find a simple mistake on a web page, perhaps a word spelled wrong, and found it quicker to correct the spelling through an HTML edit. As time goes on, more HTML knowledge is easily acquired, and if you really want to, you will be a confirmed HTML user.