This
is my tutorial on how to make your own website. I am no expert but I
have been making sites for quite a while now and I could say that I have
some experience regarding this topic. The main goal of this
tutorial is to guide newbies into making their own personal website.
This will be in constant update so watch out. So, Let's get to it!
Last Update: 05-28-03
There
are 6 things you must consider in making a website:
PAMHAS - Purpose . Appearance . Method . Hosting . Advertising . Shorter
Name
P-
Purpose
1.
Think of what you want your site to be about.
(jokes, sports, personal site, celebrities, music
etc.) If you do this later, you might have a hard time signing up for
a host, because before you sign up, you should have a category.
If for
example, you are still undecided, focus on a portion of your site that
dominates. (either you like it very much, it is more appealing to
other people, or it simply is the majority content of your site)
2.
Think of your target audience.
Think of it this way: It would be
inappropriate for a doctor to use slang terms and misspelled words on his
online resume. Neither would it be right to use complicated terms and
jargons on a site made for children. This goes to show that it would
be best to evaluate your targeted audience. Again, if you are
undecided, make the text on your site somewhere in between. Neither too
simple that you would appear unprofessional nor too complicated that young
readers would have a hard time understanding your message.
Another importance of knowing your audience is the
ability to choose a suitable design for your site. Again, I
don't think an animated picture of Bart Simpson farting would be appropriate in a
physician's resume site. Nor would it be appropriate to use graphic
images of violence and profanity on a site for kids.
3.
Think of your main purpose.
This is somewhat tied-in with #1. By purpose, I
mean to argue, inform, comment etc. Whatever your purpose is, you must
make it clear on your site. There are lots of people who do research
on the web. Some may take your comments as factual bits of
information.
A-
Appearance
I find this the hardest part of making websites. There is virtually no
end to the combinations you can make.
1.
Think of a theme.
2.
Think of a color theme.
3.
Beauty vs. Accessibility.
*under
construction
M- Method
1.
What is your level of expertise?
2.
How much time are you willing to spend?
*under
construction
H-
Hosting
A webhost
is where your site would be. This is where you would constantly log
into to update/change your site. Think of it as a community where your
house (website) would be located.
There are
several factors you must consider in choosing an appropriate Host for you.
1. Cost
2. Reliability
3. Features/ Uploading Procedures
4. Space
5. Bandwidth
6. Banners/Advertisements
7. Additional Features/ Tech Support
*under
construction
A-
Advertise
Ok, on
this part, I may not be the best person to tell you what this is
about. At the time this tutorial was made, I have less than 300
visitors to my site. But here it goes anyway...
So why
exactly do you need to advertise? You need to advertise to let other
people that your site exists. Unless you want your site to be viewed
only by you and a couple of friends, you might want to skip this part.
All others can try the following methods.
For a more
thorough discussion regarding this topic, and a lot more tips (29, last time
I checked) go to this site.
S-
Shorter URL
I like
this part the best. I am such a sucker for URL forwarding. In
case you're wondering, URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator.
And according to my trusty WordWeb Thesaurus, it is "An address giving the location of something on the Internet, consisting of a protocol, computer name, and file location"
In a
nutshell, when you sign up for some free hosts, you will be given a long
name. (Tripod, Geocities and Angelfire) Something like: "http://www.hostname.com/freesite/~mysite"
That's pretty hard to remember. And pretty hard to give away to
friends (what do you call this -> ~ <- anyway? mail me.) So the
best solution is to sign up for a URL forwarding service that would give you
a shorter name. This site, for example, has "www.demiguin.tk"
as its forwarded name instead of "http://demiguin.tripod.com"
Here are
some of the URL forwarders.
1. www.dot.tk -
example: www.demiguin.tk
This
is such a great service. For one thing, you get a really short name,
plus it's free. You also get to help the people of Tokelau (just go visit
their site) The catch is, you must have at least 25 visitors in 90
days or else, you would have to pay for it to get the name back. (btw,
you have the choice of putting their ads on your site or not) *note-
Big favor here, when you sign up please put my num 18406
as ambassador. It would help me own demiguin.tk
2. www.freedomain.co.nr
- example: www.melcruz.co.nr
This is also a great
service with a really nice community and support. The catch is, you
have to sign up for three advertisers to keep the service free and ad-free.
3. www.dot.nu
- example: www.demiguin.dot.nu
I think this is cute, although longer than the first two. (try
dictating it to your friends dotdotdot nu) Just try it.
4. the
free site listing -
They don't provide the service themselves but they've got a listing of
several sites that do.
You see a
lot of sites that ends with .com, .net, .org, .tv etc. These are
domain names and they cost money. And since I try to stay away from
anything that costs money, I don't know much about these.
(contributions are welcome though. just mail me) This part is
still a bit vague. I am open to corrections. Please contact me.