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Seven_Free_Tools_to_Create_your_Web_Site
| Seven Free Tools to Create your Web Site
Coding your HTML by hand gives much better results than using a
WYSIWYG program. You can get the layout that you want, and make
small adjustments easily.
NotePad comes free with Windows - but a much better text editor
is NoteTab Light. This has a sidebar with HTML tags -
double-click to enter the tag you want, with a dialog box for
those that have options or preferences, such as size, colour,
placement, etc. Download it from http://www.notetab.com/ . There
is also a NoteTab mailing list, where you can ask questions, and
exchange tips and tricks - subscribe to the basic list by
sending a blank e-mail to mailto:NoteTab-Subscribe@eGroups.com
When you're used to coding, an award-winning program is First
Page from http://www.evrsoft.com/ . It runs in easy, normal,
expert and hardcore modes - so you can learn to use it and
continue to keep up with your web page output. Version 3 is due
out any day. A built-in browser lets you view your pages as you
create them, there are buttons or menus for tag creation,
JavaScript wizards, HTML reference guides, template facility,
and much more. Don't buy an HTML editor until you've tried this
freeware!
You'll need to check your pages for errors. I use CSE Validator
Lite from http://www.htmlvalidator.com/ You can also buy a PRO
version, but I've found the free version enough for my needs.
You can correct errors directly in the main window, and each
error is explained as you highlight it.
Graphics often need a bit of a tweak before you add them to your
pages. Cropping, making the background transparent, resizing, or
just finding that picture that you **know** you've got somewhere
on your hard drive! Irfan View can carry out all these tasks,
and includes a great browser which loads at the click of a key,
and displays thumbnails for you to choose from. Available from
many freeware sites (see below), you can also download from
http://softwarecenter.net/irfanview/
Uploading to your server (the computer where you web site is
stored and accessed from) is done using File Transfer Protocol,
or FTP for short. Two good freeware programs are FTP Explorer
from http://www.ftpx.com/ and WS_FTP, available from many
freeware sources (see below). Both have graphical interfaces,
very similar to using Windows Explorer. You can download a free
WS_FTP tutorial in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format by Steve MacLellen
from my e-book library at
http://www.freesitebuilder.co.uk/library/library.html If you
haven't got Adobe Acrobat reader, use the link on my library
page to download a free copy.
Another essential check - dead links. The web is a very fluid
medium - sites arrive, move, and disappear regularly, and if
your site has a link to one that has vanished or moved, your
visitors get a "404 page not found" error message. Your
reputation and business can suffer, not to mention your rankings
with directories and search engines. I use Xenu's Link Sleuth,
from http://completelyfreesoftware.com/ - the reports are easy
to understand, and can be saved to read off-line.
Finally, a task that is all too often forgotten, but which is
absolutely essential, - backing up! If the worst happens, you
need to be able to create all or part of your web site quickly -
and the only way is to run regular backups. You can use the
Backup program that comes with Windows, but I find the Swedish
program MyOwnBackup much easier to use, and more flexible.
Create different sets to back up your web site(s), important
data, e-mail, or whatever you want to keep secure. You can
create new archives or add new or changed files to a current
archive, restore complete sets or individual files, zip
archives, and span diskettes. The help includes *9 Steps to a
Complete Backup* to guide beginners. Download from the main site
http://home4.swipnet.se/~w-42000/MOB/ (Sweden) or the mirror
site http://www.nt-eng.com/mob/ (USA).
Some of my favourite freeware sites:
http://www.completelyfreesoftware.com/ http://www.webattack.com/
http://www.jumbo.com/ http://www.moochers.com/
About the author:
Dianne Reuby is co-author of the e-book "First Website Builder",
http://newbieclub.com/builder/?pramclub Dianne created and runs
the Free Site Builder web site and ezine, dedicated to helping
newbies create web sites with free tools, services and
resources. Visit FSB at http://freesitebuilder.co.uk/ Send for a
complete list of free articles and lessons by e- mail :
mailto:fsb-lessons@getresponse.com
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