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Build Your Own Web Page

 

Boy Working at Computer

Step 1: Be Safe Online!

When you make a Web site everyone who has a connection to the Internet has access to the information that you put on your page. Here are a few guidelines for sharing information with other people while staying safe.

NEVER post your last name, address, or telephone number on your Web page!
Everyone has access to your Web site once you put it online. There are a lot of strange people in the world and we only want them to visit your Web site and not you in person. This is the most important thing to remember. Many people even choose nicknames for their Web sites.

BE CAUTIOUS when e-mailing or chatting with people.
A great way to talk to people without giving out your address and telephone number is through e-mail or online. You can post your e-mail address on your Web site. If somebody e-mail's you something inappropriate, it is very important to tell an adult immediately. You should never give out your address or phone number online and you should never send someone them in the mail either.

BE APPROPRIATE with what you say.
There are many Web sites that have inappropriate information. People want to read about interesting things and not inappropriate information.

DON'T STEAL graphics, music, or text.
Viewing other Web sites can be a great way to learn. If you find a graphic or music on somebody else's Web site, it doesn't belong to you. You may either ask for the graphic or go to the many "free" graphic sites. If you like any of the graphics on the Girl Power! Web site, feel free to take them.

Use COMMON SENSE!
If you ever think that you or somebody else is doing something wrong, tell an adult immediately.

Check out Disney's CyberNetiquette to learn more about safety

Step 2: What Is my Web Site Going To Be About?

There are endless possibilities for your Web site. Here are a few to get you started.

  • Favorite sport
  • \Hobbies
  • Stories that you have written
  • Links to other cool sites you have found
  • Opinions on books, music, or movies
  • Favorite jokes
  • Artwork
  • Pets
  • Invention ideas
  • Recipies
  • Traveling and cool places you have been

Step 3: Creating a Text Document

To begin, you need to create a text document. Most word processing programs will work fine, as long as you give your document a name ending in .html (or .htm if you're working on a PC) and save the document as "Text Only."


Save As Screen

Step 4: Learning Basic HTML

Now you need to begin writing in a language called HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. You will need to insert some formatting tags that will tell an Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape) how to view your words and pictures on the screen.

Your basic page looks like this:
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of Page</title>
</head>
<body>
Text of page...
</body>
</html>

Each formatting tag appears between "less than" (<) and "greater than" (>) signs, and tags often appear in pairs, with the second tag in the pair beginning with a "slash" (/). This is a way to basically turn the formatting on and off. For example, <B> turns the bold on and </B> turns the bold off.

Here's a list of some of the basic formatting tags in HTML:

<h1>...</h1>
header, level 1 (the largest size type for a header, usually used at the beginning of a page or the start of a new section). Smaller headers are tagged with <h2>...</h2>, <h3>...</h3>, etc.

<b>...</b>
boldface text

<i>...</i>
italic text

<center>...</center>
centered text

<p>
paragraph return (inserts a blank line between paragraphs)
Note: Any paragraph returns that you insert in your document by simply hitting the Return key on your keyboard will be ignored by a Web browser. You must use the tag <p> to create a paragraph break on the screen.

<br>
line break (no extra space)

<hr>
horizontal rule (a line running left-to-right across the page, to separate one section from the next)

<ol>...</ol>
ordered, or numbered, list. Each list item begins with the tag <li>, which means list item, and falls somewhere between the <ol>...</ol> tags.

<ul>...</ul>
unordered, or bulleted, list. Again, each list item begins with the tag <li>.

<a href="filename.html">...</a>
a hotlink to another file in the same folder

<a href="http://URL">...</a>
a hotlink to another site. You will have to know the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or Web address, of any site to which you want to link your page.

<img src="image.gif">
This tag would insert an image with the filename "image.gif" on the far left side of your page.

Step 5: See What You Have Done!

Now it's time to see what you have done. Save your text document (Remember: "Text Only," and the file name should end in .html or .htm) and go back to the browser. Under the File menu, select "Open File..." or "Open Local...." From there you should be able to find your document's name and click on "Open." Your document will appear in your window, looking like a real live Web page!

Open Screen

Don't be discouraged if there are some problems at first. HTML formatting requires a lot of attention to tiny details. If something doesn't look the way you expected, make a note of it and go back to your text document to adjust it. Then save the document again, go back to the browser, and click on "Reload." You'll probably have to go back and forth like this many times before your page looks perfect to you.

Step 6: Using Images

There are plenty of ways to get cool images for your Web page. Make sure to go to sites that say free images. You are more than welcome to take any images that you see on the Girl Power! Web site. There are two types of images. (.gif, .jpg) Only these types of images will work on the Web.

Here is how you save an image that you like:

  1. Use your mouse to position the pointer over the image.
  2. MacIntosh—Hold down the button on the mouse until you see a menu. PC—Right click and hold until you see the menu. Keep the button down and move the pointer to "Save this image as...."
  3. Let go of the button, and you'll see a dialog box that lets you choose where you want to put the image and what you want to call it. If you decide to change the name of the file, make sure your new name ends in .gif or .jpg (This will be important if you use the image in your own Web page.)
  4. Click on "Save" (or hit the return key), and the image will be downloaded onto your hard drive. While you're searching for images, don't download every one you see.

Don't add too many images to your pages because it takes longer to load the page. Just remind yourself how much you hate going to a page that takes 10 minutes to download.

Here are some great Web sites to get free images:
The Clip Art Universe
Free Clip Art
Icon Bazaar

Step 7: Going Public

Your school may or may not have an account with an Internet provider that allows you to put your Web page on a server so that other people can read it. If not, you can just keep practicing with documents on your computer's hard drive. Or, you might look into getting some free Web space for yourself or your school through an Internet service provider.

If you are able to put your page up on a server, how will anyone find it? Unless they know about your page already—and know the exact URL! (example:"http://www.health.org/gpower")—they won't be able to visit it. Here are three ways you can give people a roadmap to your location on the information superhighway:

Find some other Web sites that are related to your page in some way. They might be sites that deal with the same topic or are published by students your age. Write to the people who maintain these pages and ask them to check out your site. If they like it, they might add a link to your page on theirs.

Register your site with a search engine such as Alta Vista, Lycos, WebCrawler, or Yahoo. Once you've added your URL to one of these databases, people who are interested in the general topic of your page will get a listing of your site when they do a search. For example, in Yahoo, navigate through their categories until you get to the one that best suits your page, and then click on "Add URL." You'll be asked to provide the title of your page, its URL, and a comment or short sentence that describes what's on the page. In your comment, try to include words that you think an interested person might type in as key words when doing a Yahoo search. "Jupiter facts and images" or "Book reviews by middle school students" are examples of good comments.

Step 8: Getting Funky—The Advanced Stuff

Once you have mastered basic HTML there is all kinds of cool stuff that you can do. You can create your own graphics, program more advanced stuff with JavaScripts, or even create your own forms. We are not going to go into that here, but here are some links to check out for the experienced.

Webmonkey for Kids—learn how to do JavaScripts, CGI-bins and more.
Andy's Art—learn how to make your own graphics and make more advanced tables

 
  
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