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There are many ways to get started with a website. If you’re interested in exploring all the variety of ways,
check out your local public library. “Creating webpages” are the best keywords I’ve found to find books that
cover the whole range of general webpage lessons and tips. As an advanced beginner myself, I’m only going to
speak to things I have some personal experience with. And especially if you’re looking to get on the web NOW,
and don’t have any money to spend, you can just keep reading. You’re my target audience, though I hope this
will be interesting and useful to others as well.
BRIEF Internet Lesson
This will be short. You want your own website now. What’s the bare minimum you need to know?
The internet is a collection of computers that can talk to each other over phone lines or some other cable
(We call any of these cables, a connection, and any computer that is using one is “connected” to the internet.
This is also called being “online”.) When you surf the internet, you’re jumping from one computer to another,
and seeing the different information that’s been posted on each. There is only one important difference
between a computer that has webpages on it and your computer. When you are done looking at webpages or sending
email, you probably disconnect. Computers with webpages remain online all the time. This is why you can find
them even at 3am, because they are on computers that are always connected.
That means if you post your webpages on your own computer, no one will be able to see them except when you
dial up. (Note: This is a simplified view, you also have to set up your own internet network, and be ready
to buy routers, other networking hardware, cables, etc., etc. If you’re doing that, you will probably learn
nothing new from this guide, but good luck to you!)
Since we don’t stay online all the time, or want to buy hundreds of dollars of equipment, we need a host.
A host is someone who will let us borrow or buy space on their computer in order that we can save our
webpages. This person or company will then “host” our webpages, where everyone can see them all the time. Enter…
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