Have you ever wanted to learn to build a website or simply understand more about them. But, when you tried to learn how they are built it looked like the instructions had been written in some kind of hieroglyphics left by ancient space aliens?

The truth is most tutorials written on how to build a website are written by computer programmers and software engineers who are using the best computers and software that money can buy. They tend to forget that the people who will be reading the tutorials are just ordinary folks, like you, sitting in their living rooms, using a simple home computer system. They forget you want simple explanations in layman's terms.

The following is a basic "overview" on how to build a website. No big words. Just simple common sense explanations.

Because many of you are using different types of computers, and different software programs, I can't teach each of you the exact steps to use on your computer. So instead, I am going to try to teach you, the basics, so that you can understand the website building software that's right for you, and for your computer.

WHAT IS A WEBSITE

Many of you have visited a website, but have you ever wondered exactly what it is? A website is actually a computer file. When you access a website, your computer "visits" another computer and downloads "a copy" of that website into your computer. You don't actually see the other persons website. You see a copy of it that is downloaded into your computer.

WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG TO GET TO SOME WEBSITES

Have you ever gone to a website, and wondered why it seems to take forever for the pictures to appear on your computer? This is because the website you are visiting has a lot of pictures (in computer terminology we call them graphics), and perhaps even sounds that your computer has to download (make a copy of) to your computer. If the website was only text the site would load onto your computer very quickly because text takes up a very little file space. On the other had, graphics and sounds can take up a huge amount of file space, and load into your computer very slowly.

So, to make it perfectly clear, if you were to click on this link Knights Of Kindness, your computer would look for the URL (address) for my website. It would contact the computer where website (a set of computer files) is stored (in this case AOL's computer) and ask it to download a copy of the homepage (index page) of my website. Because I have a lot of pictures on my website, it would take a minute or two to download. Then you would see a "copy" of my website on your computer.

WHERE ARE THE WEBSITES STORED ON YOUR COMPUTER

When you visit a website, a copy of the website is downloaded onto your computer. The website files are downloaded to a directory on your computer called Temporary Internet Files   C:\Windows\Temporary Internet File). And your computer shows you these files that are now stored in your computer.

WHAT IS THE INTERNET

The Internet (and world wide web) is simply a series of computers owned by the government, businesses and organizations that store computer files. These files can be used by people all over the world. In order to make it easier to access files the Internet was set up so that each person storing information would have a specific location where their files could be accessed by other users. These locations are called websites.

WEBSITE ADDRESSES

Each person that has a website has a specific website address. It's kind of like how each of us lives in a home, and that each of us has a unique home address. This probably explains why the primary page of a website is called the homepage.

URL

Website addresses in computer terms are called URL's. You can go to a website by visiting the URL. Many ISP's (Internet Service Providers) allow you to use a hyperlink to visit a website. These hyperlinks are little blue words that you click and they take you to a specific URL (website address)

For instance, the following website can be accessed by clicking on the hyperlink or by visiting it's URL.

Knights of Kindness
www.knightsofkindness.com

UNDERSTANDING WEBSITE ADDRESSES

The key to understanding website addresses is that "you don't need to know how they work", just that they do. For instance, when you send a letter through the mail, the post office requires you to put a zip code on it. All you have to know to mail a letter is the address and the zip code. You don't go into the post office and ask them to explain the specific route your letter will take to get there. It's the same with the Internet. Type the address and don't worry about how the computer finds the information.

WEB ADDRESS BASICS

This part is just for fun. You don't have to understand it. You just have to know how to use it.

All website address start with either http:// or www. You don't have to understand it, you just have to know the address.

http://     <----this indicates the files are stored on the Internet
or
www       <----this indicates the files are stored on the world wide web

The second part of the website address generally indicates who owns that website or their domain name.

For instance:

www.baddteddy   <-- This indicates that this website is owned by "baddteddy"

Most websites have an extension indicating the "purpose" of the website
.com     <---commercial
.gov      <---government
.edu      <---education
.org      <---organization

For instance:
www. baddteddy.com <----Indicates this is a commercial website used for business.

When you add pages you need to give them a name followed by an ending such as .htm or html to tell the computers what language to use.  I highly recommend using .htm, rather than .html, simply .html is an older langauge and computers are moving more towards using .htm

Example:  The page name below is "default" and the extention is .htm

www.baddteddy.com/default.htm

Just like a book, websites can be devided into chapters with individual pages within the chapters.  Chapters are usually indicated by the word 'index.htm

For instance:

www.baddteddy.com/tutorials/index.htm

would most likely indicate that the chapter of the book (section of the website) refers to tutorials, and the word index means that it will most likely be an index (listing) of the available tutorials.

Or:

www.baddteddy.com/tutorials/websites.htm

www                = World Wide Web

BaddTeddy   = Domain or Owner

.com                = commercial

tutorials          = most likely a section (chapter) of the website devoted to tutorials

websites        = indicates the page name is websites (a tutorial about websites)

.htm                 = extention indicating type of page

Someday you may want to have a website.  You could start out with something small and free from www.yahoo.com or www.geocities.com.  These free websites are small, advertise for the ISP, have long addresses including the ISP's name, etc. but they are still FREE.

A website that has lots of room from tons of graphics, hundreds of pages and tons of cool stuff.  For that you will want to buy your own domain name, provide your own webspace thru an (ISP) Internet Service Provider, etc... when you are ready.. your new site can have a short name that is much easier for people to find.  For example:

www.baddteddy.com

When it comes to url's, shorter is better... For that kind of information you will need to search the web very carefully to find the best deal.  I am preparing a list of web site companies, but it is not complete yet.  :-(

WEBSITE ADDRESSES ARE CASE SENSITIVE

Website addresses are case sensitive. Two words spelled exactly the same, yet with a few of the letters in a different tense could take you someplace completely different. Most people when looking for a website generally type the whole address in small letters. For that reason, to make it easier for people to find your website, I recommend that when you create a website that you avoid using any capital letters. :-)

I'M AN AOL USER, WHAT'S MY WEBSITE ADDRESS?

Users of America Online get 2 Megs of free Web Space with each of their 5 screen names. To know your website address for each of those screen names, simply type your screen name in the ______ below...

http://members.aol.com/__________/homepage.htm

WEBSITE VERSUS WEBPAGE

While some people put up a single web page. Others create a website. A website is a collection of web pages that are connected to each other (kind of like how the pages in a book are bound together). 

WHAT'S IN THE WEBSITE INDEX?

Depending on how the owner of the website originally set up their website, the index could be simply used as their homepage (In which case you just found their website) or it could be an actual listing of the files that were used to create the website.

YOU CAN COPY PICTURES

See a cool picture on a website? Want a copy for later use? Simply go to the website, RIGHT CLICK on the .JPG or .GIF file and then choose save. This will save a copy of the picture on your computer.

Note: I suggest asking being courteous to the person who owns the website by asking permission before using pictures from their website on your website or email.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?

So far you have learned that the Internet is a network of computers all over the world where owners of websites can save their files for other people on the Internet to visit them. You've learned a little bit about website addresses and how to copy (download) pictures (etc.) from a website. So now, you have a basic understanding of how the Internet and websites work.

HOW DO I BUILD A WEBSITE?

There are hundreds of programs that teach you how to build a website. While most of these programs are interchangeable, still it's best to select a program that works good with the ISP you are using and your goals.

For instance, there are free programs to help you build a website, but these programs don't have the quality and options to build a "professional business website." Some programs are designed to work with only IBM computers, and others are primarily to be used with Macintosh computers. The best way to find the program that will work for you is often to just ask your friends that use similar computers and use the same ISP.

AOL users can download two free programs to use to build websites on AOL. These programs are rather basic, but their free. AOL users can go to KEYWORD AOLPRESS and download the "AOL PRESS" website building program. Or they can go to KEYWORDPERSONAL PUBLISHER and download the AOL Personal Publisher program for building websites.  Better yet, most computers bought at chain stores come with pre-installed programs such as FRONT PAGE
(I love FRONT PAGE), etc... that are very easy to use.

No matter what programs you use. They will have certain things in common. This tutorial is not going to teach you specific steps for any particular program. Instead, I'm going to teach you some things that all of these programs will have in common so that you will understand how these programs work. Believe me, if you understand what I write here. You will be able to use "any" of the website building programs.

BUILDING YOUR OWN WEBSITE

The first step in building your own website is knowing what the website address is going to be. 

AOL Members website addresses will be
http://members.aol.com/______/homepage.htm

The blank is your AOL screen name. 

If you buy your own domain

www._________.___

You also know that you should not use capital letters in your website address, because this could make it hard for many people to find your website. This page will be the primary page for your website.

WHAT ADDRESS DO I USE FOR ADDITIONAL WEBPAGES?

OK, now you know the website address of your homepage, now you need to know the address of the other pages on your website. My suggestion is name them something that will be easy to remember. For instance I use things like the following

www.baddteddy.com                                       <---home page

www.baddteddy.com/abuse/index.htm      <---an index of abuse pages

www.baddteddy.com/abuse/shelters.htm   <-- a listing of abuse shelters 

For other servers you will simply need to look at the directions or a couple of the websites on that server to see how they are set up. By now you have a basic idea how website addresses work.

BUILDING A WEBPAGE

Let's pretend... Pretend for a minute you are writing an email. The first step is to open a "Compose Mail" (in computer this is also known as opening a NEW FILE). Once you have opened the Compose Mail you generally type something (you enter information into the file). Once you are done writing the email, you send it (This is the compose mail to an email address (email addresses work on the same principle basically ... saving as website addresses).

So, if you can write an email and send it to someone, you already know how to create a piece of information and send (save) it to a new location.

Easy huh...

Well, a website works pretty much the same. You start by downloading a program that allows you to make a website (just like when you bought your computer and you downloaded a program before you could start sending emails).

Then you create a new file (like opening a Compose Mail). Generally this is done by opening the program, clicking on the word FILE, and then clicking on the word NEW. A file opens up (just like a compose mail opens up to create an email).

TEXT

Once you have a NEW FILE open, you can enter text. This works almost like writing an email. You can type regular, large, small, bold, Italic and even in color. And so you simply type a letter or the information you want on your website. All the information is being typed on your computer (it is not on the Internet yet)

TEST FILES

If you have a poem, letter, story or any other type of text file saved on your computer, you might want to put it on one of your webpages. Having to retype the whole file by hand would take a long time. What you need is an easy way to copy this file onto the website you are creating. Transferring a copy of a text file into a program is called 'importing.' To import a text file onto the website file you are creating, click on the word FILE, then Click on the word IMPORT. Select the text file from the directory and click OK. A copy of the text file should now appear in the webpage you are building.

PICTURES

Now that you have a website full of words you probably want some pictures to make it look good. No matter what program you are using, the principal for adding pictures is just about the same. First Click on the word FILE, and then click on the word IMPORT. This will bring up a directory of all your files, folders and pictures. Tab through these until you find the picture you want to import and click OK.

The word IMPORT simply means to add a copy of the picture onto the website.

Now you have a page covered with text and pictures. How do you save it to the web?

HOW DO I SAVE MY PAGE TO THE WEB?

OK, lets say you have a web page publishing program, such as AOLPRESS, Personal Publisher, Front Page or one of a million others. With it, you have created a webpage on your computer. You have pictures and you have written words on the page. How do you save the website to the web?

Actually it's simpler than you would believe.

Click FILE

Click SAVE

Type the website address where you want to save the website to:

For instance:
http://members.aol.com/________/homepage.html

or

www._______.___

And click OK. For the next several minutes your computer will copy the information that you just created on your computer and copy it onto the Internet. The information can now be accessed by others from the website address you saved it to.

Note: You have to be online in order to save your webpage onto the web.

BACKUP

You will also want to save a copy of the website on your computer as a back up. Anytime that you want to update your website you can OPEN this file on your computer, make the changes, and then save it to your website address again.

LINKING YOUR PAGES TOGETHER

After you have built several webpages you will need a way for people to go from one of your pages to another. This is called "linking" the pages. You can do this by using a feature of the website building software to create a hyperlink. The hyperlink should have the website address of the page you want the link to go to. You can use links to connect all of your pages.

SUMMING IT ALL UP

The Internet/World Wide Web is actually a system of electronic addresses where you can download computer files (known as websites) from computer users all over the world. You can also upload your files to these computers, and by using your Internet address other users can download your files onto their computers. These files can show pictures, play sounds, download other types of programs and shows text. So the key to understanding the Internet is to know that is simply a system of transferring computer files, and that in order to use these files you simply need to know the address where they are located.

WHERE IS THE EASIEST PLACE TO START?

For someone just starting to build their very first webpage I recommend going to our web page listing companies that offer FREE WEBSITE HOSTING.  Many even offer easy to use tutorials on how to build a web page.

For more free tutorials please email BaddTeddy@aol.com