Weave a Web Part I - by John Wolf
This is the first installment of a series to make
the author more network savvy and to weave his or her own web site. The
basics are not that hard and most of the jazzy stuff isn't that much
harder to learn. Like all foul tasting medicine, we will take one dose
at a time.
This month the topic concerns what goes into the kit to
get a web site well lubricated to run and maintained. If you have someone
else build the site for you, you probably don't have a clue what it
takes to be an independent code slinger. You're already and "indy"
author, why not break the bonds of a costly web site construction
company. To broach the threshold requires the few things I will list
here. If you don't want to commit to these basics, then you better stick
with having a network presents via the checkbook.
- Reserve a place to store your files - MyWebs folder
- Get some form of a HTML editor
- Get a ftp file-moving program
- Talk to your Internet provider about server space
- Rummage through your current site
- Learn to add pages and links
- Learn style sheets
- Get ziggy with design
I now want to walk through these items and let you know what the hidden
secrets are. This is not unlike laying out a novel. We are going to
storyboard the plot, select our protagonist and antagonist
carefully. Notice these critical terms used in writing have the word
<tag> down inside. Coincidence - I don't think so.
If you are using a Windows based machine, you probably
already have a folder labeled "MyWebs." Now you have something that
should go in there. It best to use this folder, because a lot of web
applications default to that folder when looking for things or
saving things having to do with web pages. So what goes inside? Here's the thing - web pages
collect in a group, usually a folder, but how does the browser know
which one is the home page? There is a convention here to use the
label "index.html" has the name of your home file. The browser looks
for that file first. This is nice, because you don't have to include
that name in your URL, i.e. "www.birdseed.com." If I didn't use this approach, I would have to
use "www.birdseed.com/homepage.html" or the person trying to reach
your site wouldn't get there. Homepage here, could be any name down
inside your folder that is the real name of your top page. URL is
the techy name given to the little address block at the top of most
everything now days. I will list a few references later that you can
look stuff like that up in - when you're really bored.
Next item - the HTML editor. Hypertext Markup Langauge
or HTML is a code in itself. Hypertext is a fancy name given to the
process of highlighting a word, phrase, or picture, when clicked on,
will transfer the browser to another URL or simply to another page
file or another location on a page. There are various ways to move
around. From this simple idea came a whole set of commands that the
browser knows how to use that makes the web page concept come to
life.
Here's one now. Click on this: next column
Wine, wires, and women, you can't get better than that.
Voilą - you arrived at a new location.
To be able to write out HTML code and manipulate it easily, it is best
to have an editor. Just like in writing, editors help you get the job
done without faux pas. The handiest feature is switching back and forth
to view what code looks like on a page, organizing hypertext jumps,
working with images, and slapping templated groups of tags onto a page
like setting up tables. Enter stage right - our protagonist. In fact,
all of our tags are main characters - and they rock. More about them in
the next installment.
FTP is not to be confused with FTD. It's not a way to
send flowers over the Internet. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the way
you get your page files from your computer to your provider's computer,
which they insist on calling a server. Why is this a separate thing?
Well, it's not email and its not files going to a printer. Each separate
activity type in the digital world uses its own protocol to work.
Getting files to stream onto a remote server, uses ftp - that's just the
way it is. There is just one program to have and that one is called
WS_FTP from a company called Ipswitch. I know, the whole thing sounds
flaky, but it was named by nerds. You can find them at
www.ipswitch.com. Look for WS_FTP
Home version. It cost $39. You can go under the table an use their free
version, which moves files great, but it is like someone xeroxing your
book and giving it to someone else. That's just sleazy. If you actually
buy the product, you get a super interface that makes using it a breeze.
I'll do a segment just on file transfer in another installment.
You can actually use an email slot to upload a website
to. I do all the time to provide family photos to friends and relatives.
It's always at the same URL, so I send an email to tell the world to go
look at the vacation pics, and they know how to get there. That way you
can have nice clear pictures and captions on a nice background instead
of jammed up in an email that limits your pictures or makes them so big
they look stupid. Or - you can buy more service from your provider an
get a block of space you can really swing a cat in. You probably already
have said space, especially if you have a domain name. Your domain name
is assigned to this space. If that's true, then ask your tech support
dude how to reach it using your newly purchased WS-FTP program. You need
their server's address basically. It has its own special way to get to
it. And you need a password to let you in. When you get there you will
see a folder or two that has to do with monitoring your space and the
folder or files that the dude that built your site placed there. He ftp'd
them there. This is the fertile ground we will plow in upcoming
installments.
The next three items on my list have to do with fun and
games before uploading files to the server. We have that wonderful
browser on our machines that can read HTML like a sex crazed guru reads
the Kamasutra. We simple build a fake site in that folder in step one
and let the browser feed on it. Once everything is running well, we
upload the whole mess and check it out in the real world.
The last step is up to you. You have imagination -
you're a writer. Get creative with your web site. Steal ideas. Not
literally, but look around on the Internet, when you see a clever idea,
see how the designer did it and duplicate the effort in your own way.
Most great novels were written using the same technique.
See you next month to continue the fun.
Thanks to Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the Web...
© 2007 John Wolf, all rights reserved
