Your First Page

I am going to go with the assumption that you are using Netscape's Composer to make your web site. Please refer to Composer's help file for basic instructions. You can do this by pressing the F1 key on your keyboard while Composer is open, or click Help and select Help Contents.

Most of what I have to say about web sites here will apply no matter what sort of editor you are using. As I've already pointed out, fabulous sites exist that can help you learn all you need to know about making web pages (see Guides). My focus here is on information that is largely specific to KORRnet. What follow are brief overviews of web page creation and definitions that will help you use KORRnet.

Definitions

Let's start with some basic terms that you'll see on every page on this site. 

Layout

The layout of the page is a pretty straightforward idea. I like to put a banner at the top of a page, an index on the left side, contact information, and a date at the bottom. I try to keep the same layout on each page so that it's easy to navigate and you can get to every page on my site from any other page. Layout, to me, also refers to set up of the whole site. That is, I like to have a page that tells what the site is about, who is responsible for it, and give a map to every page on the site. So, right away, when I create a site I know that I'll be making at least three pages: 

1. an introductory home page, 
2. an index page for the whole site, and 
3. the content page(s) on the topic of the site.

I usually create a fourth page that I use as scratch paper. It's usually a sort of template where I keep copies of all the little features that I've created in making a site. For example, I made an extra copy of the index bar on the left so that I can paste it into any new page I make. You can see the template / scratch paper for this site here: template.html If you scroll down the page you'll see elements of all the pages on this site. It's like a palette that I can use to keep track of what I'm doing, and I can copy any element I need.

If you're using Composer to edit your web pages, you can look at any web page on the internet to see how it is made. This can be really handy if you see a page that you really like. Click Fileon Netscape's menu bar and select Edit Page. Composer will open a copy of the page on your computer that you can save, alter, and edit to your liking. This is how you may use the templates that are on this site.

Tables

If you click File on Netscape's menu bar and select Edit Page, you can see how this page is laid out. You'll notice right away that it is separated into several cells formed with dashed lines that allow me to line text up in columns. Also, the banner at the top of the page and the KORRnet logo at the bottom of the page are in cells with solid lines that make them appear to be in little picture frames. 
 

Tables in Composer - A view of this page

All of these cells are tables. You can make tables for holding data, text, images, or even other tables. This is a really good way to format your page so that it looks nice and everything lines up as you like it.

Composer is a little quirky in the way it handles tables. For example, I found out that the best way to copy or cut a table to use somewhere else on your site is to make sure that the table contains something and you enter one or two dummy characters before and after the table you want to copy. I suggest playing around with them until you see how all the options work. 

At the bottom of each of these pages I put a small table with one row and five columns for navigating back and forth between pages. Since it's on each page, I copied it and pasted it wherever I needed it. To accommodate Composer's quirks, I put an x on the lines above and below the table. Then, I highlighted the text and the table. I pressed Ctrl + c to copy the selection (you can also click Edit and select Copy). I moved to the place where I wanted to paste the table and pressed Ctrl + v to paste it in (or click Edit and select Paste).
 

an x above and below the table

Composer Tip: The best way to copy or cut a table to use somewhere else on your site is to make sure that the table contains something and you enter one or two dummy characters before and after the table you want to copy.

highlighted text and table

Once I have the new table where I like it, I delete the dummy characters.

Art

I have put the art I used to make this site on a separate page. You can use any of it you want. See the Images Index. 

The most important art on this site are the logos for KORRnet and Covenant Health. Since your page will be hosted by KORRnet, you should include the logo and a link to KORRnet somewhere on your site. Also, if you have used this page or my help, I'd appreciate it if you do the same for Covenant Health as they made my work here possible. See below for link instructions.

Links 

Links take your browser to other places on the web. Text and images may serve as a link on your web page. You can link to other places on the web or places on any page on your site. Please see the Composer help file for basic instruction. 

Please use the following addresses when you link to KORRnet or Covenant Health:

KORRnet

http://www.korrnet.org

This is the address for KORRnet's homepage.

Covenant Health

/sponsorship/covenant

This is a special code that allows Covenant to count how many times someone goes to the Covenant homepage from your site.

Composer Help

As I already mentioned above, you can get help from within Composer any time by pressing the F1 key on your keyboard, or click Help and select Help Contents. Further help is available on line at Netscape's homepage. 

Netscape's Homepage
http://home.netscape.com/

Netscape Web Page Templates
http://home.netscape. com/browsers/templates/index.html

You can also get to this page by clicking File and selecting New / Page From Template... , then by clicking the Netscape Templates button.

My Webpage (create your own webpage)
http://mywebpage.netscape.com

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