Web Maker
A short course in designing and bulding a web site.
Step 3: Prepare the Elements
What are its parts?
Your Home Page will contain several elements: some text, some pictures, some titles, maybe even a sound clip or a piece of video. It's time to get each of these elements ready.
Follow these steps carefully and to the letter; even the slightest deviation in filename or folder placement will make your site unworkable.
1. Set up your folder.
On your desktop, create a new folder. Name it with your last name, using lower-case letters, no spaces, and no punctuation. The folder should look like this.
2. Put pictures and videos in your folder.
Save into this folder any images, sounds, or movies that you plan to use in your web site. Images can be in PICT or GIF format. Sounds and movies must be in QuickTime format. Sounds and movies must be renamed with a single-word format, all lower-case letters, with the extension .mov. They must look like this.
As you save the pages and pictures for your site, be sure to save them into the folder with your last name. Use simple filenames, with all lowercase letters, no spaces, and no punctuation. Web pages must be named such as myfile.html. Images should be myimage.gif or myimage.jpg.
Here's how to prepare each type of element:
Text:
Use a word processor such as ClarisWorks to type the words that will appear in your home page. When writing for a Home Page, keep the sentences short and the verbs active. Separate your ideas into paragraphs. Write a new document for the text of each page of your web site. When you are finished writing, run the spell-checker. Save the document on your hard disk, then print a copy of your text on paper, read it, and show it to your teachers for their comments.
Pictures:
Pictures can come from many sources. You can scan them from photographs or books or magazines. You can draw them. You can find them on the internet. You can copy them from clip art collections or from CD-ROMs. You can snap them with a QuickTake digital camera. No matter what the source, you should get each of the pictures for your home page ready now.
Don't make the pictures too big. Large pictures take a long time to travel over the Internet. Most pictures should be 320x240 pixels or smaller.
When your picture is the size you want, save it as a PICT file. Save your pictures into the folder on the desktop with your last name. Give each picture a name that says what it is, such as "chessboard." (Don't use names like "Picture #1" or "Photo for Home Page," because these do not tell you what's in the picture.) You may also paste the pictures into your Scrapbook, which is under the Apple menu on your computer.
Titles:
You should make a list of all your titles at this time, exactly as they will appear on your Home Page. Keep the titles short, so that they will fit on one line when displayed in 36-point type. It's not necessary to save your titles on the disk.
Sounds:
Sounds must be saved in QuickTime format. If necessary, open the sound file with MoviePlayer, then save it as a self-contained movie, playable on non-Apple computers. Keep sounds short, otherwise they will never make it across the internet. Give each sound a filename that ends with .mov, such as trumpet.mov. And save it into the folder with your last name.
Video:
Save your video clips as QuickTime movies. Keep them very short, and small, so that they will download quickly to the people who will view your Home Page. Movies should be 160x120 pixels, and last no longer than 10 seconds. Use MoviePlayer to save the video as a self-contained movie, playable on non-Apple computers. Save the movies into the folder with your last name, with filenames that end with .mov, such as parade.mov.
What can you copy legally?
That depends on where you plan to publish your Home Page. If your home page is being used for a school or family project that will not be published on the Internet for all the world to see, then you are allowed to use pictures, sounds, movies, and text without asking for permission from the owners of these items. But if you plan to publish your Home Page on the Internet, and make it available to the world, then you can only include items that you have permission to use. If you have any questions about what kinds of items need permission, see your school librarian, who can help you figure this out.
Now you have all the elements ready to assemble into your Home Page. You are ready for the next step.
Copyright © by James G.
Lengel 1997.