Learn to create your own website

Learn to create Create your own web site

HTML Tutorial

Introduction - Free HTML Tutorial

 

People often think it is extremely difficult to make a website. That is not the case! Everyone can learn how to make a website. And if you read on, you will have made one in just one hour.

 

Others believe - just as mistakenly - that expensive and advanced software is needed to make websites. It is true that there are lots of different programs that claim they can create a website for you. Some come closer than others. But if you want it done right, you must do it yourself. Fortunately, it is simple and free and you already have all the software you need.

 

The aim of this tutorial is to give you an easy, yet thorough and correct introduction to how to make websites. The tutorial starts from scratch and requires absolutely no prior knowledge of programming.

 

The tutorial cannot show you everything. So some engagement and a will to experiment are required. But don't worry - learning how to make websites is a lot of fun and gives a tremendous amount of satisfaction when you get it right.

 

How you choose to use the tutorial is up to you. But we suggest you read only two or three lessons a day and take time to experiment with the new things you learn in each lesson.

Okay, enough talk. Let's get started!

Lesson 1: Let's get started

 

In this first lesson, you will get a brief presentation of the tools you need to make a website.

What is needed?

 

Most likely you already have everything you need.

 

You have a "browser". A browser is the program that makes it possible to browse and open websites. Right now you are looking at this page in your browser.

 

It is not important which browser you use. The most common is Microsoft Internet Explorer. But there are others such as Opera and Mozilla Firefox and they can all be used.

 

You might have heard about, or even used, programs such as Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia Dreamweaver or even Microsoft Word, which can - or claim that they can - create websites for you. Forget these programs for now! They are not of any help to you when learning how to code your own website.

 

Instead, you need a simple text editor. If you are using Windows you can use Notepad, which is usually found in the start menu under Programs in Accessories:

 

 

If you are not using Windows, you can use a similar simple text editor. For example, Pico (Linux) or TextEdit (Mac).

 

Notepad is a very basic text editing program which is excellent for coding because it does not interfere with what you are typing. It gives you complete control. The problem with many of the programs that claim they can create websites is that they have a lot of standard functions, which you can choose from. The downside is that, everything needs to fit into these standard functions. Thus, this type of programs often cannot create a website exactly as you want it. Or - even more annoyingly - they make changes to your hand-written code. With Notepad or other simple text editors, you only have yourself to thank for your successes and errors.

 

A browser and Notepad (or a similar simple text editor) are all you need to go through this tutorial and make your own websites.

Do I need to be online?

 

You do not need to be connected to the Internet - neither while reading this tutorial, nor while making your websites.

 

If you want to avoid being online while reading this tutorial, you can either print it out or simply disconnect from the Internet while reading on screen. You can make the website on your computer's hard disk and upload it to the Internet when it is finished.

What's next?

 

Go to the next lesson and read about HTML before the fun really starts in Lesson 3.