Making a website

[sirjasalot]

Hi all. I want to make a website but i have the following question/problems/comments:

1.Does windows xp have program to make websites? If not, which one could i use that is free and downloadable?
2.I would like the program (if it is a dl) to be easy to use.
3.If it is impossible to find one that is downlooadable and free, then which program should i buy?


Thanks.

 

[sirjasalot]

would apache do the job? i've read something about it.

 

[Darthfett]

Apache lets you put files in a folder, and have people be able to access that folder by typing in your ip address into their browser. That means that it will be on your computer.

You have to set up a static IP Address for your computer, so that your router can forward the connection to your computer.

If you don't know how to set up a static IP, follow the instructions on this site:
http://portforward.com/

Once you have set up your static IP, you have to go into your router/modem and set up port forwarding. Go to your router page (the local ip address of your modem is usually 192.168.0.1 just type it into your browser, and go to it). Then look somewhere on your browser page for "port forwarding." Go to that, and type in "80" for the port to forward. This is the port that people use to access files in your Apache server. For the IP Address, type in the static IP you created.

Then, save all the settings for the port forwarding. This is step one.

The next thing you need to do, is find a domain name, so people don't have to type in your ip address to access your computer. I use something called No-IP (google it). It let me register the domainname.hopto.org . It also has a program that runs in the background on my computer, automatically updating the IP Address on their site, so that when people type in the domain, it redirects to the correct IP Address.

Websites can be made from scratch, in HTML, or you can probably find HTML builders which are limited, but can give you a decent look for your website. I am personally building mine from HTML, and using CSS for the styles.

Basically, I ran you through the steps to create a Server on your own computer. This is free, but if you want to buy a server, it will cost you, since the company has to pay for the bandwidth. It will probably cost you to get a good address as well. Name.hopto.org probably isn't something all that great to you, but it works. There are lots of others to choose from, but none of the free ones are www.name.com.

 

[TriggerHappy]

Its easier to just find a webhost and download some website software ( like www.phpbb.com ) .


Try www.ulmb.com lets u have 500gb of bandwitdth and 5gb of space

 

[Polak]

If you have Microsoft Office, you can use Microsoft Publisher to make websites and put them on the web.

 

[sirjasalot]

Man. THis looks complicated. I thoguht it would be easier. Actually All i want to do is create a website so people can go see it on the internet. I use windows xp. But i don't quite get the html thing. And trigger happy. What's that website of yours? It lets you download stuff so you can make your own websites? And what's the GB thing? Thanks for explaining.

 

[MeRcChRiS]

If you dont know html. I would suggest you not to create your own website yet until you learn that. You also must have good internet connection and leave your computer on 24/7 if you are planning to run the site off your computer. You must have a static IP and alot of other things.

 

[sirjasalot]

I would have to keep my compter open 24/7! Wow. But about that html thing. Could someone tell me what it is? It seems like the best way to make a website.

 

[UndeadDragon]

Have a look HERE

It's not too hard to learn and is best combined with CSS for styles.

 

[Zurtrogx]

Adobe Dreamweaver is a good program to use. It is rather expensive, though. You could, however, download the free trial.

 

[UndeadDragon]

If you are thinking of learning HTML, I would recommend HTML-kit from personal experience. I find it a very useful program whilst making a website and it's free.

 

[MeRcChRiS]

I would have to keep my compter open 24/7! Wow. But about that html thing. Could someone tell me what it is? It seems like the best way to make a website.

You would have to leave it on, not open.

 

[sirjasalot]

OMG! Thanks for the link undead dragon. The website tells how to make a website in a very simple way. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Darthfett]

I started following that website's tutorial, but it led me down a wrong road. Don't go down the same road I did. Use an external CSS stylesheet to make all of your styles. Don't do it all inside the html document.

Look at the source code of my old website's front page: http://darthfett.hopto.org/indexold.html

And compare how messy that is to my under construction one, starting from scratch using CSS:
http://darthfett.hopto.org/ConstructionZone/

You might be able to get some ideas from my second page. I'm trying to make it very well organized, as well as easy to change, since I'm not using any programming languages (yet) to make dynamic pages. I plan on using perl later on, though.

 

[UndeadDragon]

External CSS styles are much better because:

1. You can easily load the CSS into multiple pages by simply using:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
href="style.css" />

2. It is quicker to load the page than if it is made with tables. I think it is also quicker than if it is an internal CSS, because the browser will not have to keep loading what may be different styles, it will just load the one external style.

3. It makes your source code much more organized and easier to read.

 

[duyen]

I know HTML, PHP ("know" is an exaggeration, still learning PHP.), JavaScript and CSS.

Ask me if you need help.
______________

I recommend to start writing your website in notepad, then when it's finished, upload it to a site like http://x10hosting.com

 

[phyrex1an]

External CSS styles are much better because:
...

Lets not forget that it is utterly boring to change half of the <font color=yellow> to <font color=red> when you have more than a handful of pages. With an external css document it's easier to think about what your content is rather than what it should look like. The look changes frequently but what the content is rarely changes, if ever. And when the look changes you only have to change a few lines in one css document

But that is obviously a pipe dream that rarely is true in the reality...

 

[sevin]

Get some ideas at W3schools.com.

 

[TFlan]

http://www.tizag.com/

Where I learned the basics of web programming.

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials.html

Where I learned the basics of Photoshop to create the design.

----

Don't host a website from your own computer unless its completely remote from your own personal computer. And I mean completely separated. If someone gets bored and decides to have some evil fun, and your the target... 9/10 you will have a hole in your system that lets him/her go at it.

At least don't host it and make it public. You can make a shell environment for development purposes, many do, but never public.