Templates Part Two: Adding Your Content
Some questions to ask yourself when making a website include:
- What type of site am I making? Blog? Fanlisting? Personal? Gallery?
- What sections do I want my site to have?
- What information do I want to include on the sidebar?
- How do I want my pages to be organized?
Creating your Menu
It is best to create the menu or sidebar first (unless you have a server that supports PHP). When you create your menu, it is best to name your links before you make them. For example, say you make three links:
<ul>
<li><a href="index.html">home</a></li>
<li><a href="blog.html">blog</a> </li>
<li><a href="links.html">links</a></li>
</ul>
Of these links, only index.html actually exists. But unless you want to go back and edit every one of your pages when you change the menu, this is the easiest way to do it. If this seems too difficult or complicated, you can look into a domain with PHP support or using a layout with frames.
Creating Multiple Pages
Once you have created your menu, put your content into the index.html page in the specified area, and save it as "index.html". Then view the source, copy it all and paste it into a new document. Delete the text out of the specified content area, and you can save the document as a template (in notepad, html, or another format of your choice).
Use the template you created and type your content for your second page, blog.html. Place your main content for that page into the specified area, and save it as "blog.html." Now when you click on "blog" it will take you to the page you just created. Repeat this process until you have all your different sections saved.
Now that you have finished all your content (yay!), upload all your files and all the files that came with the layout to your server. Congratulations! You have just published your web site!
Continue to Part Three to learn what to do when you want to change your layout.