Before you begin work on your first web page, you must become familiar with the software necessary to create, view, and send your pages.

Text Editor

You will need a very basic text editor in which to write and edit your HTML code. Examples of editors already existing on your computer are listed below:

Windows 3.1+	Write or Notepad
Windows 95+	WordPad or Notepad
Macintosh	SimpleText

It is very important to save all files as text only with no formatting options and with the extension .html or .htm. This allows web browsers to recognize your files as HTML and display them accordingly.

If you choose to use a web page creation software package you will probably still want to become familiar with writing code directly using a text editor. This will enable you to fine tune your code and find errors.

Browsers such as Netscape Navigator ^TM and Microsoft Internet Explorer ^TM have built in tools that aid in html document construction. The ability to view an html document on a local (not networked) floppy or hard disk and the view source command speed the creation and editing of Web documents.

Open Location

The Open Location command under the File section of the menu bar is the starting point for Web exploration. The URL (uniform resource locator) address typed into the dialog box that pops up when this command is used is the Web page you want to connect to.

Open File

The Open File (Page) command under the File section of the menu bar allows you to open and view an html file on your local floppy or hard disk. If this file contains hypertext links, and you are connected to the Internet via a network connection or through a modem (through a SLIP or PPP connection), the links are active. The Open File command is used to preview an html file before it is shipped to the server. Usually keeping a text editor and Netscape open at the same time allows the writer to "toggle" between writing and viewing the files.

Page Source

The (Page) Source command under the View section of the menu bar allows the user to see the "source code" or text of the document that is displayed in the browser. This command is very helpful for determining how a certain mark up feature is written. When using source code or text created by others, pay particular attention to whether the material is copyrighted. You may have to get permission to use it!

Downloading Files

Many files on the Internet are public domain and can therefore be downloaded to your computer for further viewing, manipulation, and incorporation into your pages. In addition to using pieces of source code, with the Page Source command, entire files can be saved by selecting Save As from the File menu. Uncopyrighted graphics can be downloaded by clicking on the image with the right mouse button (Windows) or clicking and holding down (Macintosh). A pop-up menu will appear; choose to save the file to your disk. Again, be sure you know if files are copyrighted!

Reload

Once you have made changes to a page simply press Reload (Refresh) to view the updated version of the file. This button is located at the top of the browser's viewing window. NOTE: Make sure you save the text file before pressing reload in your browser; otherwise, your changes will not be read. Become familiar with this button as you will use it often. Viewing pages at various stages of completion allows you to make changes or verify code during the writing process.

FTP Utility

After creating pages, you must transfer the files to the server where they will be housed, i.e. webtutor.tamu.edu. This is done using a file transfer application (ftp) such as WS_FTP or Fetch. The file is placed in your designated directory or folder on the server, i.e. /students/myname/.

If the file is your homepage, you will need to name it index.html to be served over the Web. You will then be able to call up your file over the Web at your address, i.e.

http://webtutor.tamu.edu/students/myname/

NOTE: The filename index.html is selected by default if no other file is specifically requested.

If you are viewing files other than index.html you must type the file's name following any subdirectories. For example after transferring the file mypage.html to webtutor.tamu.edu/students/myname/ the web address for that file would be:

http://webtutor.tamu.edu/students/myname/mypage.html

For detailed instructions on file transfer using WS_FTP click here

LESSON 3

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WebMasters was created and is taught by Dr. Dan Lineberger, WebMaster of Aggie Horticulture, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843.