For Thursday, August 17, 2000                            Drummer Column, Gibbs, 740 words

 

 

Free easy lesson

 

 

     I'm in the woods, escaping technology. Before I left, I wrote this technology column for those who are in the woods regarding technology. It's one of my tech lessons simplified to the barest bones. I want to see if I can explain it in one column, succinctly, concisely, tersely, pithily, and without redundancy. Here goes.

 

     How to build a Web Page of your very own, at home, for free:  [Special note: to provide the clearest examples, I will use specific software, services, and options. You are welcome to extrapolate.] Let's begin the steps:

 

 1. Nearly all Internet Service Providers give customers Web space. The amount varies (beware, some charge if you go over your limit). To use your own ISP Web space, either log onto its Web site or call and get two things: The FTP and URL addresses of your personal Web space. [Special notes: FTP means File Transfer Protocol, a.k.a. uploading and downloading; some ISPs require users to have Web logins and passwords that are different from those used for email; if that's the case with your ISP, get your Web login and password, too.] Skip to Step 3.

2. If step 1 sounds too complicated, forget it and start here: Many places offer free Web space. The sites www.tripod.com and xoom.com are good. I'll use Tripod for this lesson.  Tripod gives 50 megs. Go to the sight. Join for free. Pick a cool username and password. Reject all offers for free emails of their products. Get the FTP and URL addresses of your Web space. (Your ftp site will be ftp.tripod.com and your URL will be members.tripod.com/username/  Here is my URL: members.tripod.com/gibb0/)

 

3. To get the FTP program, go to www.download.com, type in the acronym "FTP," and click Search. The third option is for WS_FTP Light Edition. It's free. Download it, install it, run it. In the left box is your hard drive. In the right box is your remote hard drive, once you're connected. In the pop-up Session Window do four things: Click New, enter Profile Name as Tripod, Host Name as ftp.tripod.com,  your personal login ID name (no password yet), and Click OK. A new window wants your password. Give it, Click OK, and you're in. You are officially uplinked. Online, baby!

     Pause to compare left and right windows. You will see that your remote site looks just like your own hard drive. From here on, you will build all your Web pages on your home machine. When you like them, upload them. I suggest you make a special folder and subfolders for Web pages on your hard drive so you can mirror the server's folder structure; then all your links will work.) Close your FTP connection, but leave WS_FTP open for later.

 

4. Making the Page: Many programs offer the option to "Save as a web page." I will use Word2000 for this lesson. Open a blank document. Type whatever you like, "Hi, this is my first web page." That's all you need, but it's useless.

     My suggestion for this lesson is that you create your own Personal Web Portal where you list all your favorite links; then you can access them anywhere.

     In Word, when you type a Web address beginning with www. and hit Space or Enter, it automatically turns blue and becomes a hyperlink. So, making this list is easy.

      (Advanced Hint: To make any word or words into hyperlinks, sweep the words black, Right Click, select Hyperlink, type in the URL, Click OK, and you've done it manually.)

     OK, type a short list of your favorite Web sites. Make sure they all turn into underlined-blue hyperlinks. The same trick works for email addresses. When finished -- Click File and Save As A Web Page. For this lesson, save wherever you like, but I suggest you create a separate folder for your Web pages for the purposes of mirroring your server as your site grows. Naming is important. Name this file INDEX.HTML, the default name for a primary Homepage. Close the file from Word. (You can name subsequent HTML files anything you like, but stick to all lowercase and use no spaces.)

 

5. Turn on WS_FTP. Connect to your Tripod server. On the left, surf to the folder that holds your INDEX.HTML file and select it. (Make sure it's closed in Word) Click on the center Arrow that points to the right. Bada-boom! You've uploaded to the Net. Tell all your friends.

To test your site, turn on your browser and go to members.tripod.com/username/ (put in your own user name) You should see your Web page. If not, try clicking REFRESH in the browser. Bada-bing! That's it.