Article Advise

submitted: Aug 6th 2008 | by: LucasHeijn | Total views: 1 | Word Count: 588 | |

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.

At one time you needed to have an understanding of HTML in order to build a website. Today there are software products that allow you to build a website without any knowledge of HTML. They are known as wysiwyg (what you see is what you get)HTML editors.

There is open source software available that is every bit as powerful as the paid for variety. Open source software is created by a community of programmers around the world that work together to produce useful software. Just to highlight how good much of this open source software is; Have you heard of Apache Server Software? Apache is the preferred software used on most servers today. This is open source software, free.

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

NVU like all easy to use HTML editors is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). When you first open the program it looks much like any word processor program. But there are significant differences.

One of the main problems you face is how to place text and images where you want them. Like all things they are easy once you know how. In this article we are going to concentrate on how to put things where you want them to appear.

As I said earlier, the screen looks just like a word processor. The text features work the same as in a word processor. You can choose the font, size, bold it and all the things you can do in a word Microsoft Word.

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 what give you control over how your page will look. They are like the bricks in a wall that allow you to place the windows where you want to in the wall. You can create tables and make them invisible. You do this by setting the border width to zero. This means that you have been able to place objects where you like, but how they are held there is unseen.

Mastering this will make it possible for you to create a professional looking site. From here much of the program is like any other and you will soon master the use of it with a little experimentation. Understanding how NVU works is also a lesson in Dreamweaver or Microsoft Front Page as these programs work much the same.

About the Author

See how easy it is to create web pictures with Photoshop Action Scripts

Comments

No comments posted.

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.