Creating Your Web Pages
Once your domain name resolves, you will be ready to start creating and publishing your web pages to your site. There are many ways to create your web pages:
Use a text editor, such as Notepad, and hand code your HTML into a text file.
Use an HTML tool such as FrontPage, DreamWeaver, LiquidFX, etc.
Use a Content Management System, (CMS), such as Php-Nuke, PostNuke, PhpWebsite, Mambo, etc.
When you use a CMS, all of your website development is done directly on our servers and from within the CMS program you have decided to use. Because each CMS is different, we will not cover creating your site with a CMS in this tutorial.
Hand Coding Your Web Pages
This method is not suggested for inexperienced users. Not only is it time consuming, but it requires that you have a very solid understanding of HTML coding. If you are an experienced programmer and want to hand code your pages, HTML is quite easy to learn. You can find a pretty comprehensive list of acceptable HTML Codes and their uses on WebMonkey
The advantage to hand coding your web pages is that all of the HTML tools, such as FrontPage, add additional coding to your pages. This results in pages that take longer to load and are not always compatible with all browsers.
Using an HTML Program
By far the most frequently used HTML program is Microsoft FrontPage. It is among the easiest for novices to learn and understand. Other programs include Macrodmedia's DreamWeaver, and LiquidFX. But there are hundreds of programs out there - many of them are free.
We provide a 20 day free trial of LiquidFX Pro and LiquidFX Express here for downloading. We have provided these for your convenience because LiquidFX is fairly easy to learn and very inexpensive. LiquidFX Express is only $20 to purchase, and LiquidFX Pro is only $65. After your 20 day free trial, if you wish to continue using the program, you can purchase a license on the LiquidFX website. Once you complete your purchase, you will be e-mailed a key to unlock the program for continued use.
Publishing Your Web Pages
Most of the HTML programs come complete with automatic publishing. Once you point them to your web server, they will automatically copy your web pages into the correct directories. LiquidFX utilizes the Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard to publish your web pages. That program is also available for on our site for downloading.
Utilizing the Help feature in your HTML program will give you details on how to publish your web pages. For information on publishing your web pages with Microsoft FrontPage or FTP, please see our tutorial on that subject
Important Information on Naming and Placing Web Pages
Your home page MUST be named index.htm or index.html in order to display automatically when your site is viewed.
ALL web pages must have a .htm or .html extension. Either will work, though we advise you to BE consistent - choose one or the other.
Your index.htm or index.html MUST be placed in the public_html folder of your site.
ALL web pages must reside either in the public_html folder OR in a sub-folder in order for web browsers to correctly find them.