| Web Site Design For Photographers by Crimson Star |
Do you need a web site? Can you afford a web site? Can you create a web site yourself? Can you attract photobuyers and other prospective clients to your web site? Yes, you can! Contrary to what you may have heard, setting up a web site is easy and does not require any special or expensive resources. I'm going to show you how it's done. What Is A Web Site? A web site is a collection of files located on a computer's hard disk, and accessible by a web browser program. You can develop, test and run a web site on your own computer, right now, without spending any money! When you are satisfied that the web site is ready for the public, you will need a modem and an Internet account, in order to move your web site off of your computer and onto a web server. A web server is just another computer, but it is accessible by everyone in the world who has access to the Internet. Let's get started. The first thing you need is a web browser, which allows you to view web sites. There are hundreds of browsers available, including these three that I use: Netscape Navigator, Netcom NetCruiser, and CompuServe's Spry Mosaic. You don't even have to pay for a web browser, since most are available for "free." If you purchased a modem recently, you probably received free copies of the Netscape, Netcom, and CompuServe web browsers. If you have already signed up with an Internet Service Provider (ISP), they have most likely provided you with a free web browser. If you are on any computer-related mailing lists, you may have received free web browser software in the mail. Vendors give you their web browser software, hoping that you will sign up for whatever services they offer. TIP: Make sure your web browser is Netscape-compatible, or it will not properly display most web sites. If you already have a modem, but do not have a web browser, use your modem to dial into a local BBS, then download a web browser. If you do not have a modem yet, just find a friend who already has an Internet account and ask him/her to download a free web browser for you. Of course, if you are ready to surf the Internet at this point, buy a modem and sign up with an ISP. It is not necessary, but it is fun and might inspire you while you are developing your own web site. Once you have installed your web browser, you are ready to build your web site! Create Your Own Web Site! A web browser reads files that conform to the Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML) standard. Although these files are standard text files, they are usually called HTML files and often have a filename extension of htm or html. You can create HTML files with any editor or word processor that saves files in standard ASCII or text format. I created my web site using the Notepad program that is included in MS Windows. Do not buy an HTML editor - you don't need one! When a web browser reads an HTML file, it displays all of the text from that file on your screen, one page at a time (hence the term web page). Each HTML file will also contain some special formatting commands that the web browser will use to format the text on your screen, or even to display photographs or other graphic images. Yes, you will need to learn the basics of HTML. No, it is not hard. No, it won't cost you a penny. Actually, it will be great fun. There are thousands of HTML tutorial materials available for free. Since you could waste the rest of your life trying to decide which one to get, PC users should just get the one that I used when I first learned HTML: The Only Web Publishing Tutorial You'll Ever Need!, I recommend Version 1, which is available on CompuServe, in the Internet Resources Forum, Library 9 (WWW/Hypertext Tools), as file HTMTUT10.ZIP. If you do not have access to CompuServe or the Internet, have a friend get one of these versions for you. NOTE: This tutorial is shareware. You may obtain it and try it out for free, but if you plan to use it on a continuing basis, you are obligated to register it for a small fee. Install the tutorial and follow the examples. Pay particular attention to the section where the author tells you how to set up your HTML files on your own hard disk, and how to point your web browser to those files. Did your Panic Index just shoot through the roof? Why is it that when you tell someone to pay particular attention to something, they immediately assume that it will be really difficult to understand? Relax. Here's a preview of the subject. Every resource available on the Internet has a unique address, including each web site. You instruct a web browser to connect to a web site by identifying the address of that web site. If the address starts with http, the browser knows that it must connect to the Internet in order to find that web site. If the address starts with file, the browser knows that the web site is on your own computer, and it will not even try to log on to the Internet. Now, was that so difficult? Keep It Simple Do not try to do everything at once. Concentrate on text displays. As you learn the basics, focus on general design. Next time, I will review some design ideas and tell you how to complete your test web site.
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