In the past, creating a web page required an intimate knowledge of HTML (hypertext markup language). A few early development tools allowed some freedom, but we always came back to manual editing at some point. This put web development on the same level as work processors of the 80s. In the last couple years, editing tools have made great strides, until creating a page is no more difficult than using a modern word processor. Now, as you make changes, you see the results right on the screen, without getting into the code itself.
I used MS FrontPage Editor. The tutorial takes a couple hours. The basic layout (main page and a couple linked pages) took about 1 hour to set up, once I figured out what I wanted to say. From there, just create new pages and link 'em up. The hardest part of the process is in putting your ideas down on "paper" and organizing your thoughts logically. I'm still working on this. Once the basic page is created, you can learn new techniques as you need them. With this type of tool, even a novice can put up a simple page in a weekend.
Pictures were created using an inexpensive digital camera. Not difficult to use, these cameras work like their standard counterpart, except they are somewhat slower. The worst problems I had in this line was in the dog's reactions. There is a slight click when the shutter is released, then a 1 second delay before the picture clicks. In this time, Lucky often took time to shut his eyes or move out of the picture. Action shots are difficult.
Pictures are temporarily stored in the camera's memory. Later they are loaded into the computer via serial cable. This takes up to a minute per frame, and they are saved into a working folder for future editing. The software included with the camera allowed the photos to be cropped, rotated, and color, lightness and contrast to be modified. Once finished, I exported them for further editing and importation.
JPEG exported pictures were not compatible with FrontPage, so I exported many of them as BMP files. This also enabled me to open them with Paint. FrontPage has a feature that allows a color to become "transparent", and allow the background to show through. In Paint, I would erase the backgrounds and change them to a color not found in the picture. This allowed the picture "cutout" to lie on top of the page, such as I did with Lucky's picture.
Using an Internet viewer, such as I.E. or Netscape, any object on the Internet can be captured, saved to a file, then later imported into your web page. Creating links in FrontPage is just a matter of highlighting the text or object, selecting Edit, Link, and pasting in the relevant link. For links to other Web locations, simply copy the location from your viewer, and paste it in the Link-To location box.
Backgrounds can be captured from the Web, just as you would capture any other object. In this case, this background came from a purchased software package.
My next task might be to link in some sound files. There are numerous ways to transmit sound files via the Internet, but each method requires the user to have software installed to "view" the sound. I'm still uncertain as to which software will work best for the greatest number of users.
Once the page is completed, it's necessary to place it on a server. Most service providers offer space for their users to post a personal page. Look at your service provider's home page for instructions as to how this is accomplished.