Okay this article is for people new to the internet or without any HTML/CSS experience. It will guide you through the different processes of setting up your very own website. First I will explain a few basic things. Your website will be made up of a design - images and layouts - coding - HTML and CSS or other coding languages used to show the images and layouts correctly - and finally hosting - used to broadcast your site over the internet to the public. This guide is for a generic website using a template rather than a blog. It will create a simple ¡°static¡± website with a small number of pages.

Finding a suitable template

First step is to get the template for your website. This is a generic website design which you can edit. You can alter images if you know how and change the content of the template to create different pages for your site. Below is a list of good places to download free templates:

There are many more sites but this list should be suffice. If you have a site you think should be added please leave a comment. So just go to these websites and find one which you like the look of and download it.

Editing the template

You will use the template by editing its contents and saving it as a page for your website. To edit the template you will need an editor. This is a piece of software which you can download. Here is a link to a list of editors which you can download: WYSIWIG editors.

Once you have downloaded and installed an editor open up the .html/.htm page of your template. You can edit the content on the page quite simply depending on the software which you downloaded. The first page to create is the index.html. This is the very front page of your website. So open up the html page in your editor and save as index.html. Then edit the contents until you are satisfied.

Sub-pages and page linking

By now you should have your front page filled with the content which you want. This step is to link your homepage (index.html) to any other pages which you want. This shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. Simply open up the template file and edit its contents for the subpage and save it. For example purposes, lets say you are setting up a business site and you want a services page to show to the public the different services which you offer. To link to that page edit the links on the index file so that there is a link with title Services and which links to services.html. There should be tips on your editor to help you do this. One big thing to remember. When you add a link to the index.html file you must also edit all subpages and add that link in their also.

Getting the site online

So far you have been editing your template on your computer and it is not available on the internet for anyone else to see. The way you achieve this is to us a web host. Most hosting is paid but there are loads of free hosting available for you. Some sites which offer free hosting are below:

• Yurx Hosting
  
• Jamroll Hosting

I find these two to be the most reliable. To get the site online sign up for an account at one of the two hosts above. You will get a free domain with the hosting (this is where your site will be displayed, eg the address to your site). Once your account is set up you need to upload your site to the host. This can be done via a control panel on your hosting account or through FTP. Since FTP is quicker I prefer to use this method.

On your account you should have ftp details which you will connect to your hosting account through. To find these go to your control panel. You should be able to find it there. Your control panel will probably be available at www.yourdomaingiven.yourhost.com/cpanel. Basically it should be the address given to you when you signed up for an account with /cpanel added to the end.

Once you have found out your FTP details you will need to download some software to connect to your host and upload the files needed for the website. Here is the software I use: CoffeeCup Direct FTP.

Once you have installed it open it up and click ¡°servers¡±. You can set up the connection to your hosting account by filling in the details you were given. Once you have filled in all the details click connect. The root folder for your website (base folder which will hold all your files) is the public_html folder. Navigate to this folder on your host and upload all the files from your template folder. This should include all the pages you created and any images and css files included with the template.

You should now be able to go to the address of your host and view your website which you created in the editor. Test out the links on your page to make sure they work. If anything doesn¡¯t appear like you wanted simply edit the copy you have on your computer and upload that file.

This article is written for people new to the internet but some of the details could change depending on your host or software which you choose so if you have any problems or question leave a comment and I will try to help you. Also if you have a free hosting site, free template site or a resource which might be of internet simple leave a comment or email me and I will try to get back to you.

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