Computer Help for Vulcraft Employees
By Patrick A. Levell
Q: How do I create a web page?
As more and more of us make our way on to the Internet, it is becoming commonplace to exchange World Wide Web addresses in much the same manner as exchanging telephone numbers. In this issue, I will show you how to build a web page. To create a web page, you need access to the Internet, personal web-space, and a file transfer program. These days, most reputable Internet Service Providers include these as part of your service plan.
Web pages are written in plain text, using a language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Web pages can be created using an HTML editor like Netscape Composer or Microsoft FrontPage, but there are a lot of people who still write HTML by hand using simple text editors like Windows Notepad. Even if you don't intend to directly edit HTML, this article will give you a basic understanding of web pages.
This article will show you how to start with a title, add headings and paragraphs, change how text is displayed, add pictures, and add links to other pages. Give your web page a title by adding text similar to that shown in Listing 2. The actual title appears between the matching <TITLE> and </TITLE> tags. Web pages can have up to six different heading styles or levels, named H1 through H6, with H1 being the most important. To add an important heading, add a heading similar to Listing 2.
Each paragraph should start with a <P> tag. The </P> tag is optional. You can add emphasis to your text with the <EM> tag. Listing 3 illustrates the use of the <P> and <EM> tags.
Pictures (or images) can make your web page much more interesting. Images are defined with the <IMG> tag (see Listing 4). The SRC attribute specifies the file name of the picture. The ALT attribute specifies text that will appear if the picture can not be viewed.
Perhaps the most useful feature of a web page is the ability to create hyper-links between pages. Links are defined with the <A> tag. Listing 5 defines a link to Vulcraft's web-site.
Finally, save your web page with an HTM or HTML extension (i.e. MyWebPage.htm). That's it! You've made your first web page. There are an incredible number of places to get more information on creating web pages and authoring HTML. One of my favorites it http://www.www/w3c.org.
Please send your computer questions and comments to DoctorPC@vulcraft-sc.com, or leave them in my mailbox, near the reception area. I will try to answer your questions in the following issue of Nucor News & Views