Back in October of 1994, I wrote up a quick page on creating pages; I had just started creating them myself and I was going to show my friends how to do it. Now, I know a lot more about creating pages, and there is no way that I can cover everything there is to know. So, this is just a few tips on getting started, with links to places where you can find out much more. Note that that is really the whole spirit of the Web; it is not necessary to include everything there is to know about a subject on one page. Instead, you put new information on the page and link to the old information.
The first thing you need to learn is how to write HTML (HyperText Markup Language).
It wouldn't be a web without links. It's fun to read someone's page, but it's even more fun to be able to move around the Web by following links. Note that people have a short attention span - the Web caters to that by allowing them to go away and, hopefully, come back with fresh enthusiasm for your page. Don't try to trap people on your page, and don't try to duplicate information available elsewhere.
As you write your page, make sure to search the Web for interesting links to add. As you discuss a subject, link to other pages that deal with that subject in more depth.
Avoid saying "Click HERE to learn more about something." This is really annoying. It is almost always possible to put the link in the middle of a relevant sentence. For example, above, when I am discussing HTML, I put in a link to a page with more information, rather than disucssing it and then saying "Click HERE to learn more about HTML." Also, if the links are part of the text, they do not interrupt the reading of those people who do not wish to know more about the subject.
Check out my photo album to see uses of some bizarre backgrounds. Or, if you will, examples of what backgrounds not to use.
There are several different HTML viewers out there now. Your pages will look different on each one, so it's a good idea to try them out on different viewers. I like to look at my pages in:
Note that Netscape, in particular, has made non-standard extensions to HTML. Many people will exhort against using these at all, but my philosophy on this is different. I use HTML as much as possible, but if I can only do something that I want to do with a Netscape tag, I use that, and make sure that the page still looks good in other browers.
As I said before, it's good to put in links to other interesting spots on the Web. I got started finding such things by subscribing to the beta version of the Netsurfer Digest, which is a compilation of interesting things that people have found on the net. However, it is spotty.
The first place to look is Yahoo, the subject index of pages.
The best place to look is Alta Vista.
The most relevant places to look are the home pages of your friends. If you want to see how they did something, use the View Source option of the File menu while you're looking at the appropriate page.
Author
Muffy Barkocy
(muffy@things.org)
Last updated: October 23, 1995