DLTK's Crafts for Kids
How to Build a Content Website – Part 3

YOUR FIRST WEBPAGE:

Before you have to worry about advertising or domain names or hosting, you have to have something to put on the internet.  And it all starts with the first page.

I build my site backwards from how a viewer views it.  If you come to visit the site, you start with the index page, then go to a Sub-index, then an instructions page and then a template.  But when I build it, I start with a template, then figure out how to write the instructions, then sort out what sub-index(es) it's going to go under and then adjust the index page if needed.

This is how I recommend doing it.  I've visited too many websites with really nice indexes that go to 'under construction' pages.  It's sometimes frustrating as a user to have to sift through someone's website to find what's finished and what isn't.  Having said that, it's tempting to do.  I always have a million plans in my head and would love to just splat all the things I'm going to do onto the index page.  I do try to resist the temptation though!

BUILDING THE PAGE:

If you've answered the two questions from the last section, you'll have some idea of what you're going to build the first page with.  Maybe you've decided to do it in Notepad for awhile or maybe you've purchased some sort of software.  There's no right answer.  I use WYSIWYG software for everything while my husband still does EVERY page in Notepad (by nature, he's more of a programmer and I'm more of a user).

Sit down with your idea and start building.  You'll need to decide how much information to include on one page, how to link things back and forth, etc.  Your first page will end up being a template for future, similar pages, so spend time on it and consider how much to combine on a page. You can map out on paper how you see things developing before you ever sit down at the computer.

EXAMPLE:

Let's pretend you're doing an educational website and your first lesson plan is going to be about mammals.  You have

Day 1: looking at cows,
Day 2: looking at bats,
Day 3: looking at kangaroos,
Day 4: looking at puppies, and
Day 5: looking at whales.

You've picked these animals so the children will be able to compare and contrast different types of mammals: marsupials vs placental, domestic vs wild vs livestock vs marine, etc.  You have all sorts of nifty book recommendations, worksheets, craft ideas, etc.  To offer each day.

You think, well I want folks to use the whole plan so I'll put everything on one page.

But two weeks later you do up a lesson plan on Oceans and wish you could just link to some of the whales stuff without repeating it all. Australian Animals -- to the kangaroos, Nocturnal Animals -- to the bats, Pets -- to the puppies, Farm Animals to the cows.

Then you start a "ABC's" section and bonk yourself over the head 15 times when you realize you're going to have the same problem when you want to do B is for Bat and C is for Cow.

Er, can you tell I've had this problem before? *grin*  Just keep in mind that the more you combine topics the harder it is to cross link later on.  Keep each page fairly short and it's easy for you to link to it later (and for people to bookmark exactly what they want - the users may use the material in ways you'd never considered!).

At least once every couple of months I look at one of the parts of the site and wish I could start it all over again.  Resist the temptation to do this unless it's REALLY necessary.  Moving files or changing file names causes people's bookmarks to break and search engines to lose you.  You can revamp the way you link within your website, but again, keep your users in mind!  There's nothing worse than going to a site you've taken the time to 'learn' only to find that they've shuffled and changed everything around.  You're best to spend the time mapping things out early on than changing them later.  (Though I doubt there's a single webmaster out there that's NEVER had to change anything *blush*).

VIEWING THE PAGE:

So you've mapped out a little section and built a page or two.  But no one can see them!

That's ok. You can.

Just go into your internet browser and click FILE, OPEN PAGE (or something similar depending on what browser you use).  Browse through your hard drive and find your webpage.  Open it.  Now you can test your links, read it like the user will read it, etc.

You may want to download Firefox and Internet explorer (a newish version) and look at your first few pages with both of them.  They don't always work identically, so you may have to tweak a bit.  If you have a friend who has a Mac computer or Microsoft computer, have them test those variations for you.  The more you test early on the less you'll have to tweak later.

Do you want your users to be able to print? Try printing from the different browsers to see if it works ok. You may find you need to include a separate 'print version' that's just B&W text with fewer/no images and no tables.

This is all stuff you want to sort out before you've written 5000 pages.  It's horrendous when the companies come out with new versions of the browsers because it takes SO long to revamp pages to fix new problems.  I still haven't worked out all the Netscape 7.1 kinks from my site - I was extra frustrated with that one, because it was the stuff I did to make Netscape 4.7 work that caused Netscape 7.1 not to work *argh!*.  Of course, not many people use Netscape anymore but the same sorts of things happen with updated versions of MicroSoft too.

Once you're happy with what you see, you're ready for the rest of the world to see it too...  On to the next section.