Web Tools

 PUTTING YOUR OWN PAGES ON THE INTERNET

One of the problems we have been running into is our people need to be able to write web pages in order to express themselves and publish it on the web.

So I was "cogitating" on how to get people "up to speed" in doing html.  I was trying to think of THE EASIEST possible programs for people to use.  

Then it hit me:  Good ole Netscape Gold version 3 for creating webpages.  It is the grandmother of all WSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) html editors.  Doesn't easily do fonts. Doesn't do frames, but who really cares? It absolutely does not edit across a local LAN (which is the number one reason I had to quit using it). It does about everything else easily.  It even has the ability to FTP, although it is very poor at that.

So if you need to acquire HTML skills (which is a handy skill nowadays) good ole Netscape is easy to learn how to use.  For most webpage writing use, it is about all you ever need.

I also put the older ACE FTP version 2.4 install on.  I like it a LOT better than the newer versions.

ACE FTP is very easy-to-use program to UPLOAD your pages to the server on the internet.  FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol", in case you were wondering.  Likewise, HTTP stands for "HyperText Markup Language".

I also played with FTP Explorer some time ago and liked it too.

Happy Learning Curve!

Netscape Gold 3.01 (5.7 Meg download) The original WYSISYG html editor. Great for learning how to do web pages. Runs great on old computers but does just about anything you would want to do.

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.Ace FTP Version 2.4 (861K download) I like it better than the new versions.  Lots smaller too (861K download) This is the one I use, so if you use it too, that will make it LOTS easier for me to help you

So WHERE on the web do you put your pages?

FREE HOSTS

• A lot of people like Homestead.com.  Homestead has online editing tools, so you don't have to mess with any of the above.  
  
• I really like Freeservers.com but they are getting worse with the popup ads.  
  
• Another REALLY GOOD free host is MegaOne.com  They are excellent because their banner ads go at the BOTTOM of your page.  
  
• And of course, the grandmother of all free webhosts is Geocities (now Yahoo-Geocities)  

There are a lot more to choose from.  All you have to do is do a web search for "free web hosting".

And of course, if you want to do any kind of news or features column at Parent News, we will host it for you for free!

And of course there is Odyssey Hosting, owned by AFRA Member Michelle Potter

The Basics If you know nothing about HTML, this is where you start This is about the real, underlying Programming Language of HTML. It is handy to know some of it. A good starter primer for curious people who REALLY WANT TO KNOW.  For people who think they want to learn computer programming, HTML is a super-easy introduction to how a real programming language works.