What should I use to write my page?
There is a plethora of HTML editors out there. WordPerfect and Word both have HTML
capabilities now. HoTMetaL has been around a while.
As for choosing one, don't necessarily look for the one with the most gadgets. Look
for the one that suits you best. Some have every possible command available from
menus. Others allow you to make the command list.
Personally, I use Notepad. Yes, Notepad. I never found an editor which does what I
want and is easy to use. I find it easier to just cut and paste rather than
fiddle with some editor's command list.
How do I get my the files I create to the web?
First of all, you need to know a little about how the web works. What you're doing
when you view a web page is telling your browser to fetch a document and
display it. The documents that your browser fetches are located in people's and
company's personal accounts. Those people and companies have given permission for
their web pages to read by anyone. Normally, only you can access files in your
account, unless you specify otherwise.
So, getting your files on the web just means putting them somewhere in one of
your accounts, and setting the permission to allow others to view those files.
You can put them in your account using any FTP software you want. Your sysadmin
(system administrator) can help you set the permissions.
How do I "view source?"
To view the source of a page, go to the View pull-down menu on the menu bar. Choose Source... from that pull-down. Netscape will then show you the HTML code used to create the page.
How do I use a picture from someone else's page?
There are two ways to "borrow" a picture from someone else's page. You can link directly to their image (not recommended), or you can copy their picture for your own use.
NOTE: Please be respectful and courteous when borrowing images. By convention, an artist's work is copyrighted as soon as it's finished. So, you would be breaking copyright laws by just "stealing" someone's images. Most pages will have a way to send mail to the page's author. Most people will be glad to let you use their work, but you should always ask first!
To link to someone else's image, view the source and find the IMG SRC=" " statement
for that image. The address for the image is the path to the page you're currently
on plus the stuff between the quotes.
So, right now you're viewing http://www.nashville.net/~templedf/crash/HowTo.html.
Pretend there was an image here you wanted. You'd view the source and find the
place where I linked to the image. Let's say that it looks like
To copy an image, view the source and find the IMG SRC=" " statement for that
image. Copy the stuff between the quotes (CTRL-C in Windows). Now go to the
Location bar at the top on your Netscape window (right under the Back, Forward,
etc. buttons). Highlight just the name of the page you're viewing. (right now that
is HowTo.html.) Then just do a paste (CTRL-V in Windows). Finally, press ENTER.
What you've just done is visit the image itself, without the page. Now go to the
File menu and select Save. You should now have a copy of the image
saved on your harddrive.
It's not recommended that you link to someone else's image for two reasons. First,
it slows things down quite a bit to have to go hunting across the net for an image
as opposed to just getting it off the server.
Second, if the person moves or deletes the image, you're stuck.
How do I use a background from someone else's page?
Using someone else's background is essentially the same as borrowing a picture from someone else's page. The only difference is that instead of looking for the IMG SRC=" " reference to the image, you're looking for the BACKGROUND=" " tag in the body declaration (the <BODY ... > tag).