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OK! WHAT DO I DO BEFORE I START BUILDING A SITE?
Nothing much! You just need to get settled and know where to find what you need.

HOW DO I PREPARE?

1. Get a free web hosting server and register your subdomain. Check the resources section for a list of some free web hosts.
2. Flesh Out Your Design. Try to really flesh out your idea as much as possible. Put your ideas on paper first.
3. Line Up Your Resources. You will have to organise a list of the resources you have. You might want to include graphics, sounds, videos, animation, etc. on your site and you have to use certain software to create them. You can find a list of software in the resources section.

WHAT AM I GOING TO NEED AND USE?
Well, you should have a recent version of Windows, probably Windows 98 SE, and you will probably only need graphics and sound software. But if you want to use What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) Editors - these cost a lot - no problem. The whole process is just a lot easier using them.

You can also use Microsoft® Word. For more information, check the Online Help.

You can use Windows Notepad or Wordpad, but you have to learn the basics of coding in HTML. Check the Resources section for more information.

In Notepad, after you have finished typing the code, save the file as "[filename].htm" or "[filename].html" where [filename] can be anything.

In Wordpad, from the File menu, select Save As. Type in "[filename].htm" or "[filename].html" and then select "Text Document" from the Save as type section.

WHAT DO I DO WHEN I'M DONE?
Test and verify all links and files, and make sure they are all intact.

View the HTML file in two or more browsers. This will enable you to see how the page will appear to people who are using other browsers. Definitely, not everyone in the world uses only one Internet browser.

Three major browsers that you can use are
Microsoft® Internet Explorer from http://www.microsoft.com/ie
Netscape Navigator from http://www.netscape.com
HotJava from http://java.sun.com
and they are all free.

Upload the files to the host. You may need some utilities to upload your site files to the host. One very good one is CuteFTP which you can download from http://www.cuteftp.com

Some web site hosts also provide a browser-based uploading service which is for free. You can check their help documents for more information.

DESIGN TIPS
It's not good learning HTML if you're going to produce the sort of page that nobody will want to read. The design of a Web site is often directly related to it's success or failure. Follow these handy tips if you want to get ahead in the Web design stakes.

• Be sensible with the colours that you use. Don't go mad with reds and yellows!
• Don't be tempted to fill the page with huge images - nobody likes a site that takes ages to load.
• Do not include MIDI files on your Web site (for your site's good) - too many people do it already! What this means is that when the Web page loads, it will play an awful plinky-plonky little tune through your soundcard. This is absolutely maddening, and many people refuse to re-visit sites that contain such annoyances. You have been warned!
• Use frames wisely. Many people use too many frames, and it gets confusing.
• When linking to an external site within a frame, make sure that the link opens a new browser window for the link (you can do this by including "target=_blank" within the < a href > tag) - don't let the external site load into one of your frames - that's very annoying.
• Use small text. A page full of huge text is very hard on the eyes! If you use a background image, try to find or create one that's in greyscale, andmake sure the brightness of the image is turned up, and the contrast is turned down. That way it can still be seen, but it is never darker than the text, and exhibits a very nice 'watermark' effect - rather than making your eyes hurt.
• Transparent gifs are often used to good effect. They are like normal pictures, but one of the colours (usually the background colour) is see-through. This means that you could have a photo of an object, but the space around the picture shows the background image instead of white.
• Don't go overboard on the amount of fonts you use when creating images for your site. Two different fonts are usually more than enough.

GENERAL TIPS

• If you think your site is worth it, then submit it to as many search engines as you an. Go to the homepage of each search engine and try to find out how to add your stie to it. This is the only way you're going to get any hits! Particularly important is to add your site to both AltaVista - www.altavista.com and Yahoo - www.yahoo.com.
• Make sure your site is going to interest people. Too many people put up a dull stie which lists their friends, hobbies and their pet's names. Nobody will want to read that stuff, unless they're stalking you.
• Be careful about breaking copyright laws. Several companies, including Sony and 20th Century Fox have proven their ability to bully Web site owners into removing things such as song lyrics and pictures form their Web sites - or else. This may not be commendable behavior on the part of the companies involved, but unfortunately if it came to a court case, they'd probably win.
• Don't link to anything that contains something which is illegal. It's been proven in court that linking to an illegal Web site can be considered to be the same as 'publishing' the material! This may be outrageous, but that's the way it goes.
• Don't fall into the trap of including endless amounts of gimmicky Java. It can really slow down a Web site.
• Including a guestbook can often help you out. People can leave feedback, be it either encouragement of constructive criticism. You can get a free Guestbook from www.alxbook.com. In a similar vein, try and encourage people to email you with their comments.
• Starting a small mailing list can help to keep your visitors updated on the latest news. Go to www.listbot.com for a free solution.

RESOURCES
Tutorials
Go to a search engine, eg, Google, About, and then type HTML tutorials in the Search text box. You will find a list of tutorials which will help you understand the coding and syntax better (if you are going to be using Windows Notepad).

Web Site Hosts
http://www.bravenet.com
http://www.freeservers.com
http://www.freewebpages.com
http://www.freewebsites.com
http://www.geocities.com

Site Tools
http://www.builder.com
http://www.webmaster.com
http://www.freetools.com

Software
WYSIWYG Editors
HotDog Pro from www.sausage.com.au
Microsoft® Frontpage from www.microsoft.com
HoTMetaLPRO from www.softsquad.com/i
Macromedia Dreamweaver from www.macromedia.com

Graphics & Animation
Deluxe Paint IIe
Deluxe Animator
Autodesk Animator

Sound/Audio
GoldWave
WinJammerPro

DISCLAIMER!!!
MY ADVICE GIVEN HERE IS NOT LEGAL IN ANY WAY, I AM NOT A LAWYER. ALL OF THIS ADVICE IS GIVEN TO YOU AS IS AND IS NOT MEANT TO COVER EVERY ISSUE AND HEREFORE USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. I TAKE NO PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS. I DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY OF THE PRODUCTS MENTIONED ABOVE AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED COMPENSATION FOR LISTING THEM AND TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR USE. HAVE A NICE DAY ;)