How Do You Make a Website?
Newbie Notes

Newbie is an internet term for a person who has very little internet experience.

Some may have very little computer related experience.

It should be noted that we were all at one time newbies. There is no shame in being referred to as a newbie.

Our website, its owner and techs are dedicated to the task of helping newbies learn how to make a website for business or personal use.

We provide simple tutorials to help.

Below you will find a list of questions that cover the subject of website design and web page building. Answers are provided with the least amount of technical jargon we can muster.

 

 

What is a web page?

A web page is a file saved with a .html extension that can be viewed with a browser. A web page is made using HTML code. It can be built with an HTML editor or a simple text editor like Notepad.

Ultra Newbie Note What is an extension? Extensions are the letters after the period in a filename. Extensions give information about what kind of file is being accessed. A music file might have the extension.mp3 or .wav. A text file might have the extension .doc, .dat or .txt. A picture or graphic file might have the extension .gif, .jpg, .bmp or .png to name a few.

An HTML page or web page should be saved with the .html extension.

The basic code for a simple HTML page or web page can be viewed in our HTML tutorial Here.
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What is a browser?

A browser is a tool used for viewing web pages. The most common example of a browser for Windows users is Internet Explorer. A browser can also be used to view other types of pages and can even be used to view pictures or images.

A browser can be used to surf the internet or it can be used to look at pages on your PC.

The most popular browsers are Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. They can all be downloaded and installed for free.

What do I need to build web pages on my PC?

You can make a web page with the simple text editor, Notepad that is provided by Windows. You will of course need to learn a little HTML, which is the mark up language web pages are built with.

When using Notepad you would build the page using HTML code, save it with a .html extension and then look at the page with your IE browser.
Ultra Newbie Note To save a file in Notepad with a .html extension, use the Save As function and the All Files filter.

What is an HTML editor?

An HTML editor is a text editor with added features for placing HTML code on a web page. Many have built in features for viewing web pages. Some are simple and some are very complex.

There are even HTML editors that generate code for you. These are called WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editors. They work like word processors. Just type words on the screen, drag and drop pictures to desired locations, save the page and the code is generated for you.

We recommend that newbies start out with the simplest HTML editor they can find and learn at least a little code. As you progress in your knowledge of building web pages you can advance to a more complex editor with more sophisticated features.

Your site talks about using a localhost server. Do I need it?

You don't need a localhost server for building simple HTML pages. The server is only needed when you start building forms and interactive web pages that you want to test on your PC before uploading to your webspace on the internet.
Ultra Newbie Note What are forms? HTML forms are things like registration forms that you've filled out on the net. They can be used on a website to collect information from website visitors. They often take the form of guestbooks or applications for a newsletter. HTML forms are processed using CGI related tools like PHP or PERL. We recommend that newbies get well grounded in HTML before attempting to learn forms and the development of interactive websites.

Can you create a website for free?

Yes you can. Websites can be created on your PC using a simple HTML editor. After the site is completed and tested it can be uploaded to the internet on free webspace. We don't recommend any free web hosting services for serious ventures.

If you just want a place on the web to hang out and chat with other people, share your photos and music you really don't need a website. You need a web page on a social network or web community.

Ultra Newbie Note What is uploading? Uploading is the process of moving web pages and images from your PC to your storage space on the internet. You can use the Free FTP tool that we provide on our website, but most web hosts offer built in software for moving your pages.

Is there more than one way to build a website?

There are many methods and different media that can be used when making a website. We recommend that beginners start out with simple HTML sites, learn the basics and then progess to interactive and dynamic websites after they have some experience. There are many affordable options for building these simple HTML sites.

Websites can be built or your PC and then transferred to the internet or they can be built online using the facilities provided by a web host. We recommend building your website on your PC and then uploading to your web space. This gives you more control of your website and you can keep a back up copy of the entire website in case of server disasters.

Website Building on your PC

Download a free copy of NoteTab Light. This is a very simple HTML editor, designed for beginners. This editor includes tutorials and HTML code can be added to your pages using point and click methodology.

Website Building with a Template

A template is a prebuilt web page or several linked web pages which can be altered using an HTML editor. Most include images or pictures and built in linking features. They can be found for free or they can be purchased for as little as $5. Many web hosts provide free templates to their users.

Website Building Online

Many web hosts provide online HTML editors for building your website online. There are online website builders that require no knowledge of HTML or programming skills. We've provided several of these on our website that can be tried out for free.

How do you put a website on the internet?

First you need a web host. A web host will sell you storage space on a server that is connected to the internet. You can pay anywhere from $4 to $150 a month for this service. You can also find free web hosts, but these should only be considered if your website isn't being built for a serious purpose.

Once you have a web host , you can build your website online using their software or you can make it on your PC and upload it to your web storage space using what's called FTP. (File Transfer Protocol)

Sounds confusing but sometimes it's as easy as punching a button that says Publish Website. This is all included in your web hosting package.

We sell web hosting for as little as $3.25 a month. This is the same web hosting that we use. This website is running on it. We've tried the big boys. Ours is better!! Free domain name, free set up, 15 minute response on trouble tickets, unlimited pages - They charge $8 to $25 - we charge $3.25.

What's a domain name?

Simply speaking a domain name is your web address.
If you wanted to go to Microsoft's website you would type microsoft.com into your web browser.
Our domain name is createafreewebsite.net. If you sell italian sausage, your domain name might be italian-sausage.com.

Domain names can be purchased for a little as $8 a year from places like godaddy.com. Most web hosts these days will give you one for free, as long as you remain on their service.