Most homepage creation guides appear to assume that you know what is a homepage. I don't. So, I hope you will find this guide useful.
A homepage is nothing more than a file or series of files stored at a server that is connected to the world-wide web most of the time, if not all of the time. This has to be the case in order that the homepage can be accessed by anyone in the world at all times. The homepage does not reside in your computer.
Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) will provide you with several MB of storage space on their server to store your homepage, as part of their package. You can also obtain free homepage storage space from companies like Yahoo!Geocities, which is very popular. The only catch is that you have to tolerate their advertisements.
Homepage files are written in the HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) language. HTML files have the .html or .htm extension, just as MS Word files have .doc and WordPerfect files have .wpd. The HTML file may contain graphics, and these are usually .jpg or .gif files.You need to take the photographs using a digital camera, or scan your photographs into .jpg files. GIF files can be animated i.e., they move. Sound files can also be embedded, and these are usually .mid or .wav files.
HTML codes are very similar to those used in some wordprocessors. The start of a HTML file must contain the <HTML> command. The file must end with a corresponding </HTML> command. In the body of the file, you fill in all the text and graphics. Such HTML commands do not show up when the file is viewed in a browser. Your browser is the program you use to view homepages. Most likely, it is Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator or Communicator.
To make a word appear in bold, you type: This word is <b>Bold</b>, and you get this: This word is Bold.
Type: How about <i>Italic</i> and you get: How about Italic.
To centre text, type <center>Center</center> (notice the american
spelling), and you get this:
You can combine commands and type: <b> <i> <center> Bold, italicised and centered </center> </i> </b>, and you will get
Note that HTML ignores spaces exceeding one space, and return keys. The text will wrap around until it encounters
a HTML command. To start a new line,
you type <br>,
And this new line starts here. To start a new paragraph, type <p>,
And this new paragraph starts here.
Many colourful pages contain graphics. The graphics file is not actually
embedded in the file. The graphic file, say new.gif, is simply uploaded to
the server like any other HTML file. A command is then inserted into the HTML
file to load the graphics file in the appropriate location. For example, you
type: Here's the blinking NEW image you are looking for: <img src="new.gif">,
and you will get:
Here's the blinking NEW image you are looking for: 
The main page should be named index.html. You can name your other pages as you like, such as family.html. To provide a link to the family page from your main page, use this command: This is the <a href="family.html">Family Page</a> and you will get this: This is the Family Page. By default, links are always underlined and of a different colour. When the links have been visited before, the colour changes. Such properties can be changed.
A complete discussion of all HTML codes is beyond the scope of this page. A good place to find out more about HTML is The "Home Page" Home Page. Due to differences between Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) and Netscape, some HTML codes work only in MSIE and not Netscape and vice-versa. That is why many homepages are optimised for only one of them.
If you like a particular homepage, you can view the HTML codes by going to View/Source in your browser. You can view the source of many of my pages, but it is probably a bit confusing to view the source of this particular page. Reason: HTML codes do not appear when the file is viewed in a browser. For the purpose of this tutorial, I had to make some HTML codes appear for you, so I had to use special commands.
You can create a homepage on your hard disk using the Notepad or Wordpad that comes with Windows 95/98. But you must have sufficient knowledge of HTML to do this. Otherwise, you will need to use a homepage creator like Microsoft FrontPage or Netscape Composer (comes with Netscape Communicator).
After creating the homepage, you can save it in your hard disk and use your browser to view it first. If it appears alright, the next step is to transfer it to your homepage location. To do this, you need to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software. Most ISPs give terrible instructions on how to FTP your files to the web server. To FTP your files, follow my instructions below.
You can create a homepage at Yahoo!Geocities without any knowledge of HTML or FTP. Using the Yahoo!Geocities basic homepage editor, you can create your page on-line, by just filling in the blanks. The editor does all the rest, putting in all the HTML codes for you. After you are familiar with HTML, you can use the advanced editor to customise your homepage. This is when you start adding your own graphics, counter, guestbook etc.
If you decide to create your page off-line and then transfer it to Yahoo!Geocities, it's easy. All you need is a browser that supports Yahoo!Geocities' EZ upload utility, such as Netscape 2.0+ or MSIE 4.0+. Choose the file you want to upload to Yahoo!Geocities and click just one button to upload it. You can also use this EZ upload utility to upload your customised graphics and sound files.
All you need to join Yahoo!Geocities is an email account. This email account can be your office account, so long as Yahoo!Geocities can contact you. This is necessary for Yahoo!Geocities to send you your password, which is required every time you want to edit your homepage.
So, what are you waiting for? Join Yahoo!Geocities now! Click here. I'm assuming that you are an absolute novice, and may have difficulty finding your way to Yahoo!Geocities Join Page, hence the link for your convenience. Remember to follow instructions. If you can't remember the instructions, print it!
First, you must have created your page or pages and saved them in your hard disk. Remember that most web servers require the start page to be named index.html. Also remember that no spaces are allowed. Instead of bad boy.html, you have to use bad_boy.html.
Next, you need an FTP software to transfer your files from the hard disk to the web server. You can obtain FTP freeware from many sites including Tucows. Go to the Network Tools section and choose FTP applications. There are many FTP freeware listed but I use WS-FTP LE.
Download WS-FTP LE and you should get a file named ws_ftp32.zip. Unzip this file using PKZIP or other unzip software you will get ws_ftp32.exe. Double-clicking the zip file in Windows Explorer will normally automatically launch your unzip software. If you do not have any unzip software, you can get one at the TUCOWS site under General Tools / Compression Utilities.
Run ws_ftp32.exe and it will install WS_FTP LE. Run WS-FTP LE and you will first see a Session Properties dialog box. Select a New Profile Name and type in the following:
Profile Name: This is the name you give to identify the session. If you are
ftp-ing to the PostOne web server, you might want to call it "PostOne".
Host Name/Address: This will usually be ftp.[your host], such as ftp.post1.com,
ftp.swiftech.net.sg or ftp.geocities.com. Details are usually given in your
web server's homepage.
Host Type: Select Automatic detect
User id: Type in your userid for access to your webserver.
Password: Type in your password for access to your webserver.
Account: Leave blank
Comment: Leave blank
Deselect Anonymous
Select Save Password if you do not want to type your password each time
you start a new FTP session
Click OK and you are on the way. If you are not already connected to the internet, you will be asked to connect to the internet. Once you are connected, two boxes will appear. The left box shows the files on your Local System, while the right box shows the files on your Remote System. Most of the time, it brings you right to your webpage directory. If it does not, you may have to change to the proper directory by following your webhost's instructions. To ftp, just highlight the file/s in the Local System and click "-->". That's all!
If you need any help, you can email me.
Please direct all queries and comments to [email protected]
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