Making A Web Site Using Free Software
Does the idea of creating your own web site frighten you? Many people think it is just beyond them, it’s just too hard. You may be surprised at just how easy it can be.
Some years ago you would have needed to know how to code HTML. That is no longer the case. There are many software products available that make it easy to produce a web site. Having some knowledge of HTML is an advantage but by no means a necessity.
You don?t even need to get expensive software to do it. There is open source software available. Open source software is created by programmers all around the world who work together to produce software that anyone can use. Is software often rivals the paid versions of similar software. In other words. Because it is free does not mean it is cheap rubbish.
This free software is called NVU (Pronounced N-View) Just search Google for NVU and choose which download you need. Linux, Windows, or Mac.
Making Use Of NVU
When you open NVU it looks like any word processor program. It works much the same too. There is, though, one major difference and that is how you set it out so that you control where things will be placed.
Unlike a word processor, you need to be able to work with images as well as text. You need to have control in placing each component where you want to. When you first start this, it will seem difficult. The truth is that everything is difficult until you know how. The purpose of this article is to help you master being able to place components just where you want.
Even though the screen looks much the same as a word processor, and many of the tools have the same or similar functions. There are differences. The main one is how to place objects where you want them to appear.
The key to achieving this is tables. It is by means of tables that you will be able to place objects where you need them on a web page. You will find that if you import an image and then want text next to it, the text carries on from the image as though the image was just part of the line of text. To overcome this you need to create a table with 2 columns. In one column you place the image and in the other you place the text.
You can also create tables inside tables. This will allow you to create a box inside a table. The background color can be set for each table and even per column. You can set the width of a table by pixels or by percent. If you created a table that was 70% and the centered it it will be 70% of the width of the table it was created into.
Tables are the building blocks of the HTML site. They allow you to control how your page will look. Tables can be made invisible so everything looks seamless. You can create an invisible table by making your border thickness 0 pixels.
This is the main thing you will need to master. Once you understand this the rest of the program will fall into place. In mastering this free software you are now able to use such programs as Dreamweaver and Microsoft Front Page as they are similar to use.
Tags: Software
