Where did you learn to make web pages?
Can you tell me how to get started building my own site?

  
Believe it or not, this is one of the most frequently asked questions I get!    I learned HTML by trial and error, actually.   I started, eight years ago, by reading a magazine article about making your own website:  a magazine special issue called PC NOVICE: Guide to Building Web Sites.  I don't know if there is a recent version, but I bought it for about $6 back in 1997.

I can't stress enough: if you want control over the look and function of your website, you have to learn how HTML works.  You don't have to go back to school or buy an expensive software program to build a good website.  But you will have to invest a lot of time and energy into studying the free information available online or studying the inexpensive HTML guidebooks.   Also, plan for learning by trial and error.   Well, at least that's how I learned.  Read on ...
  
My first attempt at a web page was using program called AOL PRESS, simply because it was free and claimed to require no knowledge of HTML.   Programs like AOL Press are often referred to as WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get). My initial experience with WYSIWYG programs was sheer frustration and a lot of sloppy pages!  Similiar products would be: Adobe PageMill, Microsoft Front Page, & Macromedia Dreamweaver.   These are good programs that can save you a lot of keystrokes, but you'll be frustrated if you don't learn HTML first.

I currently use Macromedia Dreamweaver/Fireworks Studio, in combination with Allaire Homesite and Jasc PaintShop Pro 8 and Adobe Photoshop.   But if I hadn't learned HTML basics first, these programs would be driving me friggin' crazy.
  
After about a month of frustration back in 1997, when I first started with AOL press, I realized that I really needed to learn the underlying rules that make things appear where intended.  I tracked down some free tutorials on the internet that gave step by step instructions on HTML basics.  You can find links to all the programs, tutorials, and webtools I found particularly useful on the Neat Free Stuff page.  Most of the links you will find on this page are free or almost free. There are abundant HTML lessons on the internet. You've got to study the free stuff on the internet and/or get some good basic books on HTML coding.  My suggestion is to save yourself the time, and buy a $20 book . Another fantastic resource is www.Lynda.com ... you can sign up for her online video learning library for only $25 a month ... no long term contracts... it is a wonderful resource that is well worth the monthly fee.

I bought lots of books about HTML and referred to them everytime I ran into a problem. My favorite books on HTML are:

• HTML for the World Wide Web - Visual Quickstart Guide
  by Elizabeth Castro.   Actually, I highly recommend the entire series of QuickStart Guides put out by PeachPit Press.   Anytime I get a new program, I buy the "Visual Quick Start Guide" for it.   It's a great quick reference guide, always better than the manual that came with the program! Very easy to understand and great illustrations. It costs about $18.   These books are fantastic. Short, sweet and right to the point. Very easy to understand. If you are going to invest in a suplimental book to your manual ... get a Visual Quick Start Guide!!!
• HTML Publishing on the Internet by Brent Heslop and David Holzgang
  Much more in depth, complicated, but packed with info. It's a big thick reference book and runs about $40.
• Bible Series by IDG books.
  Another thick book but packed with lots of great information. About $40
  I think it's usually titled about a certain software program.  I bought "Dreamweaver 3 Bible" by Joseph W. Lowery and the "Fireworks 3 Bible" by Joseph W. Lowery. Each book was $40 and well worth the money. The books saved me immeasurable frustration and wasted time.

 

A few years ago, my very favorite free web tool was Arachnophilia, a text-based HTML editor.  The author is an earthy-sort, who markets this program as "careware."  Which means as payment for this great program, all he asks is that you take a moment to enjoy the richness of life and/or do something good for someone else.  I like him already, don't you?   This program was the basis for my understanding HTML.

Later, I purchased Allaire Homesite, another text based editor.  Once I had a good grasp of HTML, I bought Macromedia Dreamweaver Studio for about $350. It's a fantastic powerful program, but it would have been worthless to me if I didn't know HTML first.   I know several people who bought this program, thinking it would make them a webmaster without any HTML.   They never use it, or they call me for help all the time.  I can't teach them web design in a 20 minute phone call. Neither can a $350 program do it.   The sad fact is, you've got to study your books. You need to make sloppy pages and then learn how to fix them by reading your books and figuring out what caused the problem.

I'm opinionated, but hey... you asked, right?   You've got to know your abc's first ... you've got to understand a little HTML first.. it's really pretty simple, ... and then you are on your way!

Good Luck with your website!

Michelle Mc