All of us who surf the web have seen various types of web pages on a myriad subjects. Each web page is unique and has something completely new to offer. But how many of us actually dream of making our own identity on the web and add to this collection. Many just dismiss this as to tedious, or say there's no use. But actually, it's a great feeling to have your own presence on the web, so that people can know you and your interests. I remember when I made my first web page, even though it was pretty ordinary, I loved to tell everyone about it. So now the question is from where do you start?

Some basics first:
A web page is nothing but a document that can be viewed on the Internet by people everywhere. It can contain texts and graphics and loads of other elements. But not all types of files can be viewed on the web. This type of file common to all web pages is called a HTML file, and it has an extension of .html or .htm.

Even the file you are viewing right now is an HTML file. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and it an easy programming language. I know many of you may say that programming is not something you want to learn. But that's okay because you don't need to learn HTML. You can use a software program, which converts your content to HTML as you keep typing or adding pictures. It's very easy!

So now the next question: which software to use? There are many software packages that serve this purpose. A few easy ones are Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Word. Slightly more difficult ones are Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia Dream weaver, and a host of others. These programs, especially Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, require no knowledge of HTML. There are many software programs like this available on the Internet for you to download free of charge (see our computer section for help: http://www.kidkountry.com/computers/computer.php). But, start with what you have on your computer already.

The easiest software to start with if you're an absolute beginner is Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word, a part of the Microsoft Office package, has a very easy interface. I bet most of you already know something about Word and know how to use it to write some text or documents.

Next Question : Where to start with in Word?
All versions of Word after Word '97 allow you to save your document as an HTML file. PowerPoint 2000 allows you to save your document as a web page also.

To start, click on Microsoft Word, from your Program Files menu. Open a new document clicking on 'File' and selecting New. A window opens where select Web page as your type of document. A blank page opens. You can also select from the web page presets and have a fixed format for your web page.

You can also make your very own design and use it on all the pages, by making a design and saving it as a template or a .dot file.

How do you save as a web page or as a template file? It's very easy to do that. Open the Save as… box from File menu. Type a name and select a destination. Then you can select the type of file from the drop down menu and choose either web page or document template. See the Picture below:

If you save as a template Word puts it into the New file dialog box so that next time you can use that template. So basically to create a page all you have to do is put a background write some stuff, put a picture or two (make sure it is a GIF, JPEG, or PNG format picture because the internet supports only these formats), and save the file as a web page. And you're ready to make your mark on the web!

Making one page is as easy as that, but too much information on one page isn't a good format, and hence we need at least two pages or more in a good web design. But how does a user know how many pages there are on your site? For this reason, we have hyperlinks. They are the texts or pictures that are linked to the other html files. When you put your cursor over a hyperlink it changes into a hand sign. Upon clicking this lick we reach another page that can be anywhere on the Internet, or to another of your files.

So how does one make a hyperlink in Word?
Suppose you are working on a file "web.doc" and want to link it to an already made HTML file called 'my_page.html', then you follow these steps. · First select the text that you want the user to click so as to reach the my page.html document. · Then from the Menu bar select Insert hyperlink from the Insert drop down menu. A dialog box opens. (picture below)

· Where it says 'Test to Display' that's the text the user on your web page will click to reach the document called my_page.html. The file name is typed in the second box saying, "Type the file or web page name" You can also link to an already existing site on the Internet, by typing the name. For example: to link to KidKountry type www.kidkountry.com in that box. · Similarly you can link to a place in your document. Suppose your page is long and you want a link to take the user back to the top of the page. Then, as seen in the picture, click on the button on the side, "Place in this document' and follow the same procedure as you did before. · You can also link to an e-mail address. If you link to an e-mail id your e-mail client (eg: Outlook Express) will open with the e-mail written in he send to: line.

This way you can link various pages in a document and have an interconnected web page.

Isn't it easy! It's very simple and anyone can become an expert at it. Once the web page is made all you have to do is upload it on to your site, and you're ready.

If you are a KidKountry.com STARmember you have the ability to design and post your own web pages on the KidKountry server. Individual KidKountry.com Web page capability is not like a typical web server. You are giving space within the KidKountry server but the only access (for security and a host of other reasons) is through the KidKountry Web Site Manager. (http://www.kidkountry.com/member/memlogin.php)

You will need to login to that area and then use the UPLOAD button on that page to place the html files that you have created (or revised). It's very important to make your first file titled "index.html" as this is what servers looks to load first.

Using Microsoft Word (as discussed above) or another web publishing program will allow you to name your file anything you want. You just want your first (starting page) to be titled "index.html"

When you are in the KidKountry.com web page management center, you can then use the UPLOAD button and move this file you have created to your area on KidKountry.com server.

Any "link" pages that you create and want part of your total web page will also need to be created and uploaded in this manner.

So let's say that you have three "areas" to your Web page. The first one is the Main Page (we'll of course call this "index.html"). We also want an Events page (let's call it "events.html") and last we want a Friends page (which we'll call "friends.html"). You will need to UPLOAD using the KidKountry.com Site Manager Upload Button those three pages. Your "index.html" must have the HTML links to the "events.html" and the "friends.html" in order for your visitors to get to and see those two separate pages.

Any separate graphics (.jpg or .gif or .png) files that you reference in your HTML code must also be uploaded in the same manner as your html files.

You are not able to use any other software to upload your files.

Once you have all of your elements uploaded to the KidKountry.com server you can type in http://www.kidkountry.com/ps/s/1/sarababy/index.html

Have fun creating your web page and remember you can change it and revise it every single day if you want.

This help article is written for everyone who needs to get started with web page making. I, Ridhi Kashyap, am myself into web-designing. So in case you need any help or need to contact me please e-mail to : ridhi_kash@msn.com with Web page help as the subject