Web Site Authoring - Dancing on the Web

Website Authoring
Dancing on the Web

PROCESS ISSUES
	Get Organizational Support
	Clarify Your Goals
	Define Your Audience
	Assess Your Resources
	Design Your Site
	Publish Your Site
	Maintain Your Site
TECHNICAL ISSUES
	Website Authoring
	Design Tips
	Icons and Images
	Hosting Your Site
	Site Promotion
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
	10 Commandments of Web Design
	10 Ideas to Get Started
	Church Website Template
	Related Links
ADMINISTRATION
	Main Index
	About this Site
	Contact Information

Learning HTML

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the language you use to write the home page. To see what it looks like, use the "View Source" command in your browser to see what it looks like (In Netscape and MSIE, look under the View menu). Although it's pretty complex-looking stuff, it's worth understanding. It's much easier to work with web pages, even if you're using sophisticated HTML editing software, when you understand at least the basics of HTML.

A good place to start learning HTML is the A Beginner's Guide to HTML. It comes in several formats: you can read it page by page online, or you can print our one big document (it's a handy reference to keep next to your computer).

Working with HTML Files

Some people, especially those who worked with HTML files from the beginning of the world wide web, edit all their HTML files with plain text editors. There are now some very nice HTML editors that allow you to use some shortcuts but still require you to know HTML in detail.

Most people use web design software packages that provide a more user-friendly WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) interface. These packages have come a long way and are well worth exploring. The least expensive of them is probably the Page Composer that comes with the Netscape Communicator package.

Another popular package is Microsoft FrontPage (for Windows and Macintosh systems), which is the software we've used to create this site.

Here are some lists of HTML editors you can visit to find out more specific information about particular features of HTML editing software currently available:

Templates

An even easier solution is to download and use the standard templates we've provided here for you. We explain how to use these templates with a number of editing tools and how to customize them for your particular congregation.

All content in Dancing on the Web is made available by United Methodist Communications for United Methodist Church use. All Rights Reserved. Copyright Š2001 by United Methodist Communications. Please direct comments to websupport@umcom.umc.org