JOMC 50/EIS: Making a Web Page....
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
JOMC 50/EIS Research Initiative
This site last updated April 7, 1997.
How to Make a Web Page Out of Nothing
Note: When using a background which you have found on the Web, you should be sure to copy it to the same server which houses your web page. That is to say, it is a bad idea to use backgrounds (and other images) which are resident on another server. The other server may go down (crash) or the file may be somehow erased, thus being lost to you forever. If you are going to use it, then copy it.
How to copy images from web pages: When you find an image you would like to use as a background (or any other use), then you should follow these instructions.
Remember: Not all images are good background images. To be a good background image, the image must fit the following characteristics:
- It must be large enough (at least 3 inches by 3 inches).
- It must not conflict with the text. That is, if your text is dark, the background should be light, and conversely, if the text is light, the background should be dark. The background should not make the text hard to read.
- It should be as simple as possible, so as to not interfere with the page's main content.
Where to find good background images (which are free).
Another kind of background is a solid-color backgound. To make your background a solid color, all you have to do is change the <body
> tag to say
<body bgcolor="#hexnum"
> or <body bgcolor="colorname"
>
- Notice the way to call a background color is to use "bgcolor."
- The "hexnum" represents any six-digit hexadecimel code. Netscape identifies most colors by their hexadecimal codes. For example, "ffffff" is white and "336699" is Carolina blue. So you will need to first find out the hexadecimal code for the color you want as your background. Look at these sites to pick out the hexadecimal number that is right for you:
- Remember: To use hexadecimal codes, you must always place a # in front of the number in the "body bgcolor" tag.
Even with the best Internet authoring assistant program, you can't make good pages until you know HTML for yourself. It is well worth it to take the time to understand and learn at least the most common HTML tags.
Here are some good online resources which will teach you more about HTML:
Also, to learn more about HTML, visit your favorite sites, then select "Document Source" from Netscape's "View" menu. This will provide you with the HTML code which was used to create the page. You can compare this code to the page it creates to figure out more about how HTML works.
There are three important concepts you need to know when using pictures, so pick the question to learn its answer.
- How do I steal pictures for my page?
- How do I make my own pictures for my page?
- What sort of formatting can I with my pictures?
Once you learn how to do tables, you will find them to be truely addictive because they can help you to do almost anything with your web page. A few of the things tables will let you do include:
- Design handy "page navigator" boxes.
- Arrange text in multiple columns
- Aligh pictures exactly.
- Create pages with one small column and one large column. (Such as The Fifth Estate)
- and much more....
Essentially, a table can have as many columns and rows as you wish. Tables can also have a border (meaning that you can see the table) or could have no border (the text or graphics are arranged in an invisible table).
For as much information about tables as you may ever need, click here
A page created with frames will appear as two or more windows within the Netscape browser. This is achieved by creating a small web page which calls up two or more other pages and places them in defined frames.
Some examples
Nintendo's Home Page
The UNC School of Journalism Home Page
UNC Shareware Home Page
This best way to learn frames is to print and read the following pages:
Javascript is a programming language which allows you to make many wonderful things happen on your web site. You can have javascript programs which create messages in the bottom of the Netscape window, customized search engines, special multimedia effects, clocks and more.
Javascript programs are generally placed in the Head portion of HTML code within a set of <script
> tags. Another set of these "script" tags are generally placed in the Body of an HTML document which activate the javascript.
For examples of Javascript, visist Gamelan's web site (Don't confuse Javascript with Java, which is another WWW programming language. Java programmers create small applications, called "applets," which can be called to a web page in a similiar fashion as a graphic would be called)
To learn more about using Javascript, visit these sites:
This web site maintained by Eric Chernoff especially for students of the UNC's School of Journalism and Mass Communication's JOMC 50 class. For more information, please contact one of the following:
Eric Chernoff, student coordinator
echernof@email.unc.edu