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The Transatlantic Education Mega-Site...
We invite you to add ed-u.com to your list of favorites/bookmarks. Internet Explorer users please click here, and others, right click here -> ed-u.com. Also, you can learn how to make any ed-u.com page your start page by clicking here.
Coding your HTML by hand gives much better results than
using a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) program. You can get the layout that you want, and make small adjustments easily.
NotePad comes free with Windows - but a much better text
editor is NoteTab. This has a sidebar with HTML tags -
double-click to enter the tag you want, with a dialog box
for those that have options or preferences, such as size,
colour, placement, etc. There is also a NoteTab mailing
list, where you can ask questions, and exchange tips and
tricks - subscribe to the basic list by sending a blank
e-mail to NoteTab-Subscribe@eGroups.com
When you're used to coding, an award-winning program is
First Page. It runs in easy, normal, expert and hardcore modes - so you can learn to use it and continue to keep up with your web page output. A built-in browser lets you view your pages as you create them, there are buttons or menus for tag creation, JavaScript wizards, HTML reference guides, template facility, and much more. Don't buy an HTML editor until you've tried this freeware!
You'll need to check your pages for errors. I use CSE
Validator Lite. You can
also buy a PRO version, but I've found the free version
enough for my needs. You can correct errors directly in the
main window, and each error is explained as you highlight
it.
Graphics often need a bit of a tweak before you add them to
your pages. Cropping, making the background transparent,
resizing, or just finding that picture that you **know**
you've got somewhere on your hard drive!
Irfan View can carry out all these tasks, and includes a great browser
which loads at the click of a key, and displays thumbnails
for you to choose from. Available from many freeware sites
(see below), you can also download from
Softwarecenter.net
Uploading to your server (the computer where you web site is
stored and accessed from) is done using File Transfer
Protocol, or FTP for short. Two good freeware programs are
FTP Explorer and WS_FTP, available from many freeware sources (see below). Both have graphical interfaces, very similar to using Windows Explorer. You can download a free WS_FTP tutorial in PDF (Adobe Acrobat)
format by Steve MacLellen from my e-book library. If you haven't got Adobe Acrobat reader, use the link on my library page to download a free copy.
Another essential check - dead links. The web is a very
fluid medium - sites arrive, move, and disappear regularly,
and if your site has a link to one that has vanished or
moved, your visitors get a "404 page not found" error
message.
Your reputation and business can suffer, not to
mention your rankings with directories and search engines. I
use Xenu's Link Sleuth - the reports are easy to
understand, and can be saved to read off-line.
Finally, a task that is all too often forgotten, but which
is absolutely essential, - backing up! If the worst happens,
you need to be able to create all or part of your web site
quickly - and the only way is to run regular backups. You
can use the Backup program that comes with Windows, but I
find the Swedish program MyOwnBackup much easier to use, and
more flexible.
Create different sets to back up your web
site(s), important data, e-mail, or whatever you want to
keep secure. You can create new archives or add new or
changed files to a current archive, restore complete sets or
individual files, zip archives, and span diskettes. The help
includes '9 Steps to a Complete Backup' to guide beginners.
Download from the main site in
Sweden or the mirror site in the USA.
Some of my favourite freeware sites:
Article by Dianne Reuby, co-author of the e-book "First Website Builder". Dianne created and runs the Free Site Builder web site and ezine, dedicated to helping newbies create web sites with free tools, services and resources. Visit FSB.
Please click here to report inappropriate or "broken" links.
Seven Free Tools to Create your Web Site
By guest writer Dianne Reuby
Do you intend to or already use frames on your site? Click here to find out why frames are maybe not such a great idea...
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