What is a web page?

A web page is a computer file that can be viewed by a web page viewer, commonly known as a web browser. Web pages are created using computer code know as HTML that has been standardized* by the W3C standards organization. Because most web pages use this standard code, they can be displayed on any computer (PC, Mac, Unix) that supports a web browser. Most web pages are made up of multiple files. A majority of the text will be contained in the web page itself, but the web page might require separate image files to be displayed with it.

How do I display my pages on the web?

Web pages must be installed on a computer that has web server software installed and is connected to the Internet. The web server software will set up a section of the computers disks space to be used for the web pages. All web pages in this space can be viewed by the public. On a shared system, a portion of the file system will be set up for individual users to post their web pages. You would upload your web page and any associated image files to your web space.

How should I name my web page files?

Computer file usually have extensions as part of their names. For example, the file name document.doc has the extension "doc" . This extension tells the computer system that file should be opened by some type of word processing software. For web pages, the extension is .htm, .html, or .shtml. The primary, or index, page in a folder should be called index.htm, index.html or index.shtml. This page will automatically be displayed when your web space is accessed without the user specifying a particular file. For example, entering www.westford.com actually displays www.westford.com/index.html. If a user wants to view another page in www.westford.com, the file name must be specified, and this is usually done by using a link.

How does a web page align text and images?

Web pages will try to display information (text, graphics, etc) by placing it in the upper left corner. From there, the text or graphics will continue across the screen until it reaches the end of the browser, then it will wrap to the next line. If you open your browser wider, the text will change to fill the browser and the page will realign itself.

How do I display an image in my web page?

An image must be "called" by the web page. To do this, most web page editors will have a provision for inserting an image. When you insert the image, you tell the editor the location of the image file. The image file must be somewhere on the web, either in your web space or in some other web space. Keeping the image in your web space allows you to control this image. If you refer to an image in some other web space, your page will display a broken image if the other person removes the image file from their web space.

How do links work?

A link is set up to refer to some web page file, image file or processing software that exists elsewhere on the web. That elsewhere can be in your web space or it can be in some other web space. Clicking on the link in a web page is the same as entering a web address into the web browsers address line.

How can I position items in my web page?

Tables are a very powerful function that is used for alignment. By using a table, you can precisely position text and graphics in a web page. Although table offer great control, they can be difficult to set up and manage in a web page.

Can I use different fonts for my web page text?

Yes, but there is a catch. All fonts in a web page are displayed using the font information on the "visitors" computer. If you design a web page and change the font to Lucinda, the person viewing your web page must have the Lucinda font installed on their computer. If not, a default font, usually Times New Roman, will be used. It is advisable to use common fonts, such as Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, or Courier. If you know how to modify HTML code, you can specify multiple fonts for text and the system will display the first one that it finds. For example, you can specify a set up similar fonts such as Arial, Verdana and Helvetica. If Arial and Verdana are not on the visitors computer but Helvetica is, then Helvetica will be displayed. If none of the fonts are on the computer, then some default font, usually Times New Roman, will be displayed.

How do forms work?

A form takes information from a web page and sends it to some type of a form processor. The information is then processed by the form processing software. For example, there is an email form processor installed on the westford.com system. In the web page, there will be a line of HTML code that references the form processing software. When the submit button is hit by the visitor, the information entered is sent to the email form software. The form software then processes the information submitted to it.

Notes on Microsoft web tools.

* Microsoft started developing web tools shortly after the web came into existence in 1990. Some of the Microsoft tools do not follow the W3C standards. Because of this, you might have occasional problems with your web page if you use Microsoft's Front Page editor to manage your web page. To avoid any issues, do not use any Microsoft specific functions in your web page. Most of these functions are known as web bots, and there may be others available in the editor.

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