Creating a Personal Web Page
Last modified: July 20, 1997
FOUR SIMPLE STEPS
Create an HTML file with a text editor or HTML web authoring tool.
View the document with a web browser such as Netscape, Mosaic, or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Continue to edit and view your document until the product is complete.
Obtain space on your school, company, or ISP Web Server to post your Web Page.
ONE: Any text editor will do. Be sure to save the file with the htm or html extension. Some popular web authoring tools include Microsoft FrontPage, Corel Web Designer, Hot Dog, and Adobe PageMill for Macs. Be sure to follow the HTML standards and avoid proprietary add-ons of specific browsers. You want your page to be presentable to a wide assortment of browsers and not just the one you used to create it. If you get get careless with the opening or closing HTML tags, some of the older browsers will become confused and may display the tags as part of the text.
TWO: View the document in several different browsers if possible and check all links.
THREE: Check spelling and grammar carefully. Use the editor to make changes and corrections. Always go back to the browser to see how your changes are interpreted there. It is a good habit to display the date of the last time the page was edited.
FOUR: You are now ready to put your page on a Web Server to be visible to the rest of the world. Most colleges allow students space for a personal web page. Be sure you follow any guidelines set by the school. If you are a student at East Stroudsburg University, check out ESU Policy & Operational Guidelines. Most schools have similar rules and procedures posted on their home page. Perhaps your employer has a Web Server that allocates space for personal web pages. Or contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Some ISPs include space for a personal web page in their monthly access charge. Others may charge an additional fee for the service.
You may want to begin with a template and add changes to it. Templates are available at the ESU page. Look at web page 1, web page 2, web page 3 and web page 4 to get some ideas from existing personal web pages. It is really just a matter of how much time you are able to invest in designing and maintaining your site.
In designing your personal web page, consider the following advice:
DO
Take the time to organize and outline your page before you begin.
Keep focused to a particular topic.
Make your site interesting.
A well-organized list of valuable links will make people visit your page again and again.
If your page has large graphics files, make their download optional and label their sizes.
Keep the site up-to-date and list the date that it was last edited.
DON'T
Don't create a web page with various unrelated information and graphics that contains nothing of interest to anyone but your closest friends.
Don't use bad grammar and poor spelling. If you don't take the time to make corrections, people will think you have nothing worthwhile to say.
Don't use copyrighted material unless you have permission to do so.