How do I make a web page ?

[Peter L]

I'm not a complete computer nerd - but just never had a need to create a web page before.

I cant write in HTML but would love to create a simple site - pictures and captions diary - preferably updateable at internet cafes.

Can anyone tell me how to do it or guide me to a good (free) "build a simple web page" site ? Thanks.

[Robboxrv]

Hey mate, I am in the same boat as you, not to handy on computers, well thats me any way. I went to blogspot.com and created a free account there, its all explained and after a bit of playing around its quite easy to use and update where ever you are.

Mines www.hardwayhome.blogspot.com if yuo want to check it out as a bit of a sample

good luck

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[Peter L]

Brilliant ! Exactly what I needed.

Took a look at your site and your plans - sounds fantastic. When are you leaving and how long do you think it will take ?

Christ I am jealous. I want to take a year out to do similar route - and back again. Just not sure when. I'm divorced with 2 daughters i'm very close to. At first I thought I'd wait 5 years till the younger one is 18 - but i know i cant wait that long. Toying with the idea of leaving this summer - but they'd break my legs if I tried - lol. Bless em. Shall keep pondering that one ..........

Best of luck and I'll keep an eye on your site.

Cheers
Peter

[beddhist]

Why not have your story right here? Ask Grant & Susan for a blog.

[maria41]

Hi Peter,

A good book to get started is the "Building a website for dummies" Full of very useful info, internet addresses etc.
Then depend what you want to do.
Do you plan to buy you domain name? Yahoo.geocities sells a package from as little as $9 a month. For that you get you own website name (like peter.me.com) + web space, various email addresses + you can download for free their own WYSYWYG software (What You See Is What You Get) so no need for programming! No clue how that software is though. It seems like a good deal to me and I'm tempted to go through them! At least you can hope they won't go burst by the time you start your travel!

If you want to keep you trip diary there, I think the best thing to do is create a blog somewhere like ballofdirt.com or whatever, and link your blog to your website. That way you do not need to take a laptop with you in your trip. Just find an internet cafe and type you diary in the blog + load photos....

[Ekke]

I agree with Beddhist, the easiest thing to do is click on "Traveller's Stories" on the left side menu bar. Have a look at some of the stories and see if you like the format. At the top of the page you'll see something about putting on your own BLOG.

What we did is create our own website using a WYSIWYG editor called Trellix that came with Word Perfect 2000 Suite. You need to find a place to host your website though and either it is really cheap with loads of advertising or it is a bit of cash. If memory serves we paid $100 for 2 years and our own domain name. Check it out at www.ekke-audrey.ca. Have fun!



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Ekke Kok
Redwood Meadows, AB
'89 R100GS
'03 R1150GS Adventure

[Peter L]

Thanks all ! Plenty for me to work on.

[Matt Cartney]

Robbo,
Where'd you get you're route maps from? Am building my own blog using blogspot and could do with a map.
Cheers, Matt

[Frank Warner]

Originally posted by Matt Cartney:
Where'd you get you're route maps from?

Try http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world.html

[Robboxrv]

Matt
Got my maps from this site http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm, there is some funny little logos on the maps I used, you will see them when if you have a look at this site but just copy and paste some color squares to delete them from the map, this will make alot more sense when you see the maps. Frank Warners site recommendation looks like a good one also.

Anyway hope this helps, any other questions don't hesitate to give me an email

Cheers
Robbo

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www.hardwayhome.blogspot.com

[Matt Cartney]

Thanks guys, will check these out.
Matt

[Grant Johnson]

Tip: one of the nicest things about the HU Travellers Stories blogs is that you will have an entry posted in your first 5 minutes -(after I set it up!)

The other nice thing is that you will get lots more traffic to your site than you are likely to any other way! Thousands of people read our blogs.

[sunflowers]

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the reference site for the maps at www.lib.utexas.edu/maps. I had been wondering where to get a map without any copy right issues.

Does anyone know how to edit the map so that if you click on certain parts it will go to difference areas of your website? (Though just getting a map to draw my itinerary on is a bonus).

Thanks,
Annette

[Stephano]

Those are called 'hot spots' or 'image maps'. Do a google search and you should find numerous articles on how to do it.
E.g. http://www.developingwebs.net/frontpage/imagemap2.php
I don't know what software you use so I can't recommend a specific site.
Stephan

[Wheelie]

One of the easiest ways to get on the internet is to use one of the many free web publishing sites out there. They are super simple to use and a beginer can have a good looking site in just a couple of hours. If you want your own domain you can always buy one and have it routed to the site. Check out http://www.freewebs.com . MSN also has a blog publishing site called Spaces which is even quicker, but is more limited.

If you want to get really serious, then you want to get your hands on a web publishing software like Frontpage, Dream Weaver or Flash. I've used all of these options, inccluding freewebs and several other. Dreamweaver will take you further and offers great integration with other macro Media Ssoftware, but Frontpage is easier to use and will still allow you to create advanced stuff. Unless you plan to do this for a living I'd suggest going for Microsoft's frontpage. Allthough Flash seems cool, it is crap to work with and you should stear clear (for professionals only!). The great thing about all of these tols is that you don't need to know a single html code to use them, but they do provide you with the opportunity if you prefer to do it this way.

If going for the publishing software solution, I greatly suggest that you purchase the "Dummies" book for that particular software, i.e. "Frontpage For Dummies". It is easy but time consuming.

The greatest mistake most novices do when building their first web site is that they become too ambitious (too many planned pages, too many effects, etc). What seems like asimple straight forward task is more demading than you might think, atleast until you get the hang of it. By the time you get the hang of it you have made so many discoveries that you will opt to redo your whole site anyways.

Start off simple, one page at a time, completing each before adding another. Add functionality and effects at later stages.

I'd start off with one page as your blog with links on the left to your different photo albums. Once this is up and running, you can add pages, move your published material to different pages, redo your desigm add effects such as hot spots, etc.

I used to have a fairly advanced and large website which I had made using a combination of Dream Weaver, Flash, Fireworks and other. It became too much work just to keep it up tp date. After spending hundreds of hours on it i ended up just deleting the whole thing and start all over. This time arround I have decided to keep EVERYTHING virtually as simple as possible. I will probably change the design and add more advanced stuff to the site after I have lived with the site for a while. It is kind of like moving into a new house. Better to live there for a while and get a feel for the place before you start any major redocorating work. Here is the website I am currently constructing using Front Page, real basic stuff. Keep in mind that it is in the very early stages of its construction (total work so far, probably 20 hours). http://www.gjolberg.com/wheelie_hjem.htm