Creating Web Sites on KORRnet

I view making a web site as a three stage process: writing the pages, transferring the pages to your server (KORRnet's computer), and viewing your work in a browser. In each stage you will use some program to do the work for you. You will need some kind of editor to write your web pages with, another program to transfer your pages to the KORRnet server so that they may be seen on the internet, and another program to see the pages once you have placed them on the server. 

Writing web pages

Web pages are written in a language referred to as HTML, or simply as hypertext. Hypertext Markup Language is a set of instructions that work behind the scenes on a web site, telling the web browser how to read the pages. A lot of information is available on how to design and publish a web site. My intention is to provide you with some direction on how to do that. I'll give you some basic recommendations for setting up a simple site on KORRnet's web server. Then, I'll show you step by step how I put this site together and some examples of simple sites I have made following my step by step process.

Use an HTML Editor

[Click Here for a Short Editorial]

I like simple and inexpensive. My favorite choice of editor that falls into both categories is easy to use and free: Netscape. (This site was made with the Netscape editor.) Netscape has two HTML editors you can download from the Netscape site. The editors come with Netscape Navigator as part of the browser. This is how it breaks down:

If you are running a Mac, use Communicator.
If you use Windows 95 or above, use Communicator.
If you use Windows 3.1 use Navigator Gold.

You can download the latest versions of Netscape Communicator for Mac or Windows from this site:

http://home.netscape.com/computing/download/index.html

If you need or want the earlier versions of Netscape go to:

http://home.netscape.com/download/archive/index.html

The latest version of Netscape is Communicator 7.0. There are many good versions of Netscape, however. The best version of Navigator Gold is version 3.04.

If you choose not to use the Netscape editor to compose your pages, several other options are available to you. Several other editors exist that also produce excellent web pages. Here is a link to a large list of HTML editors:

WWW FAQ: HTML editors
http://www.boutell.com/faq/oldfaq/ht edit.htm

Below is a list of some of the I editors have tried, starting with free editors and moving on to commercially available editors:

Microsoft FrontPage Express

Note:KORRnet does not support Front Page extensions

To install FrontPage, insert the Windows 98 CD into your machine. A screen should come up automatically. Click on Add Software. 

(NOTE: If the screen does not come up by itself, do this: Click the Start button and select Settings. When the Control Panel opens, double click the Add / Remove Programs icon. Click the Windows tab at the top of the window. The rest of the instructions are the same.) 

Select Internet Tools and click the Details button. Click the checkbox next to FrontPage Express and click OK. Click OK again and FrontPage Express should install.

If you no longer have the Windows 98 CD, you can download this lite version of FrontPage. Click your Start button and select Update. When you get to Microsoft's page, click the link to Updates. The program will download and install on your computer right from Microsoft's page. Free HTML Tag Editors

HTML Writer
http://cws.internet.com/text-htmlwriter.html

This is a nice, basic editor. It features pull down menus that allow you to select the HTML tags you want to insert into your document. It's a small program that runs easily in any version of Windows, and it makes learning HTML easy. This is a shareware program that you may use for free. If you really like and find yourself using it a lot, the author asks for $10. The program is available for download from the site above . . . you will need a program to unzip the file, which is also available through a link on the page. (See the comments about unzipping files below.)

SiteAid
http://www.amiasoft.com/freeware/download.html

Another nice editor, which I have only just become familiar with. This one has more features than HTML Writer. With this editor you can also insert code for image maps and frames. This editor is totally free. You need to be running Windows 95 or 98 to use it. It's available form the site above . . . you will need a program to unzip the file. (See the comments about unzipping files below.)

WYSIWYG*Editors for Sale

Adobe GoLive 
http://www.adobe.com/products/golive/main.html

This is a very nice editor that has many features beyond the capabilities of what's available in Netscape. It will make pages with frames and allows a view of all the pages on your site. You can download a trial copy from the site linked above or purchase a copy. It costs about $400 in any computer software store. It is a good program and works in Windows and on Macintosh.

Microsoft FrontPage
http://www.microsoft.com/catalog/display.asp?subid=22&site=10875&x=34&y=16

Note:KORRnet does not support Front Page extensions

Frontpage is available for Mac or Windows. It is a rather complicated program with a great many features. It allows for whole site management as well as creation of complex pages. It features wizards that allow you to choose from ready made templates that allow consistent colors, fonts, and graphics across a site with many pages. It's available for download from Microsoft, or you can buy it in any software store. It costs about $150.

Dreamweaver
http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/

Dreamweaver is another high end editor much like FrontPage and GoLive. It claims to be more of a professional development tool that supports online commerce in addition to the other features offered in both FrontPage and GoLive. It can be downloaded from their website, linked above. It Costs about $300.

The commercially available editors are much like the Netscape editor that I have recommended. They usually offer more features and allow a greater ease of use for managing large web sites. The free editors require one to be more familiar with the HTML that goes on behind the scenes. These editors have menus where you can select and insert the codes, or tags, into a web document. In the long run, I find that I use both types of editors to trouble shoot my pages and to add special features. Learning basic HTML is not really difficult, and being able to read the code allows you to borrow from the pages you like on the internet. If you learn HTML, you can make a page from any word processing program.

Unzipping Files

Often, when you download a file from the internet, it comes to your computer in a compressed form. This saves time when transmitting files, and it saves space on the network computers. Several utility programs are available to decompress downloaded files. Go to the pages below for some good programs you can use to unzip files that you download.

If you use a IBM style PC, go here - http://www.winzip.com/

Winzip is a good decompression utility for Windows. 

If you are using a Mac, go here:
http://www.stuffit.com/expander/index.html

Actually, the Mac decompression utility will work for PC's too, including DOS.
 

* WYSIWYG, means What You See Is What You Get.
 

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