The article below will give some idea of home page construction using HTML.

HTML is a programming language that is used to design web pages.

There are 2 ways to use HTML

1. Learn how to write the language which is not difficult but it is EXTREMLY time consuming.

2. Use a web authoring program which will take less time but will mean you have finished product that is difficult to maintain

A web authoring program is like a desktop publisher the difference being at the end of the process you have a file that is visable on the web.

There are many web authoring programs ranging from the simple such as Microsoft word and publisher (later versions only) to the very complicated such as Dream Weaver other popular programs are Business in a Box and Netscape Communicator there are many many others

Note 1: if you use Microsoft Front Page TAC does not support front page extensions and will NEVER be supporting it as it is not secure


Our only advice here is "Keep It Simple" the kiss theory - just stick to basic html dont go for all the bells and whistles to start with.
There will be many reasons why you choose one web authoring tool over another, nobody can help you with this decision its a matter of personal taste, but once you have decided on what is best for you and finally get a page together new questions arise. Like "what do I do with it"?

To answer this a short tutorial on how the internet works is necessary.
On the TAC server a 10MB space was created for you when you started your account. In that space there was a directory created called public_html.
This is the directory where you keep your web pages.
The reason you must keep your web pages in this directory is because this is the standard way the internet works. It is possible for TAC to change the way this works on our server however I have found it is best to stick to standards.
The other standard we stick to is the name of your main page, this is the page you want people to see first, it MUST be called "index.htm" or "index.html" (if you have both names in your directory the index.html will be seen).

Why do your pages HAVE to be in the public_html directory and your main page MUST be called "index.html"?
Because contary to what most people think - that the internet is a big cloud where things somehow happen with no control - the complete oppisot is true
The internet is highly regimented with strict controls that, if violated, will mean total failure of your web page.
Its not "close enough is good enough" in the internet reality. It's "get it right or your off the tour and dont argue cause it wont do any good"
Its this highly regimented format that deters most amature web page builders because one little issue you dont understand might mean you have to spend a week reading a book to find the answer.
To sum up your web pages must be on the TAC server and they must be in your public_html directory and your main page must be called index.html or index.htm.

OK the next question has got to be how do I get my pages into the public_html directory.

Usually your web authoring tool will have a mechanism to transport the pages to the "public_html" on the TAC server.
Some just have a command "upload" somewhere but how ever it is accomplished it uses a process called FTP (file transfer protocol)
If there is no way to upload in your program then you must obtain an "FTP" program there are many available I recommend "filezilla" do a search at www.google.com to find it.
Once you have the program READ the help files on how to run it.
This goes for your web authoring program as well.
As there are many programs out there TAC personal cant help with getting programs to work, the answer is READ THE HELP FILESand if you still dont understand do a search on the internet maybe you can glean the information you need there.
While we love to help you out where we can you cant really expect us to spend hours or even half hours of our time trying to educate you on how to construct web pages.
If I spent 10 hours just on the theory we woudnt even scratch the surface of something I have learned over 15 years (and what I know about this subject compared to all there is to know you could write on an aspro with a pick) so trying to explain how to do almost anything to someone who has absoulutly zero knowledge of the subject is a waste of both our time.
It's like asking a Jumbo pilot if you knew absoulutly nothing about flying "could you just explain to me how to start the engine" and with that knowledge expect to be able to fly a Jumbo succesfully.
My bet is even if he told you 100 times how to do it you still woudn't be even able to start the engine.
On the other hand if you have spent enough time and just about got it right but a picture wont work or 1 of your pages wont load or something to that effect - in other words something minor - then by all means give us a call and I will see if Ican fix it for you.
Finally if all else fails we have a business that designs, sets up and maintains web pages for clients (see our plug at the end of the tutorial) so if you are not able to learn the basic knowledge, or dont want to, we can do it for you. What we cant do is help you if you have a problem at this stage.

When you get your FTP program there will be some information required to put in it.
Usually the name of the server which is "ftp.tac.com.au" Warning NEVER use an IP number for ftp or DNS, using IP numbers is a bad idea).
Also your account name on our server, this is the same name you use to log into TAC with your modem.For example my user name is "terry" so thats what I use to fill out this question.
OF course you woudnt use "terry" because thats my account name, you have to use your account name which is the first part of your email address (my email address is terry@tac.com.au if you put the whole email address in it wont work, it has to be the bit at the start of your TAC email address, in my case the "terry" bit). If you still dont know your account name then ring the office and we should be able to figure it out.
Then it will ask for your password, again if you dont know it ring the office

There may be a question as to what directory you want to open on your system and on TAC server, if you know what to put here (its the directory where you made your files) then fine, do it. If you dont know then dont worry you will get the gist of it once you see how ftp programs work and you may want to change it later.

If all goes well when you open your FTP program (after you log on to TAC of course, you must be connected to us to get the files onto the TAC system) generally you will have a screen vertically split in two.
On the Left hand side will be the directory structure of your computer which you are probally familar with.
On the RHS (it could be vice versa depending on what FTP program your using) will be your space on the TAC server and one of the directorys you will see is the "public_html" directory.
Now comes the easy bit, once you find your web pages on the on your computers side you just drag them over to the the TAC side so that the "public_html" directory is highlighted and drop them so that get transferred to this directory. And thats it your web pages are now visable on the net.

How you do this depends if you have registered domain name (eg www.xyz.com.au) or are just using the space we gave you without a registered domain name.
If you have registered a Domain like www.xyz.com then type into your web browser's address bar that domain name i.e. www.xyz.com

If not, open your web browser and go to "www.tac.com.au/~your_user_name" if you dont get what I mean by your_user_name either give up now or reread the bit I went through before about user names. Whats gone wrong if it doesnt work?

In short it can be anything but there are a couple of common problems novices get wrong.
When you opened your FTP program and saw your space on the TAC server it looks pretty similar to your system i.e. files and directorys but thats where the similarty ends.
The TAC server uses UNIX as the operating system, in the case of the TAC server its a derivitive called LINUX and apart from a file and directory system there is nothing else that is the same, so now you get a bit of UNIX tutorial
The first thing everybody gets caught with in UNIX is that its case sensitive. In windows a file name with a capital letter in is treated the same way as one that doesn't not so in UNIX.
The file "Index.html" is diferent to "index.html" as is "inDex.html". Windows would happily run all of these files as if they where the same, UNIX wont.
So go through your web page files, do any of them have a capital letter in them? if so make sure everything is in lower case and that should solve most problems.
The other big difference is every file in UNIX is owned by someone, this is the main reason UNIX systems dont get virus's you would need to get a virus that had a password for 1000's of users to be effective also each file has a permission value as to who can read it and who can change it etc, (this is why you cant see any body elses email on the TAC server because the permissions are set so only the owner can see his email) sometimes you will get an error "permission denied" this usually means either a permission setting problem or an ownership problem, and this is where we can make a hero of our selves if you give us a ring we should be able to fix the settings for you (although you "own" the files and directories and if you knew how to you could fix the problem yourself).

The final catastrophy
Your web pages look great on your computer but when you upload them they are totally mangeled or your pages takes forever to load.
This is the big problem with web page construction, when somebody looks at your site they may use any one of umpteen different browsers in as many different screen resoultions with as many again different colour resolutions and your web page will look diferent in all of them.
It may even be that you cant get it to look right in any of them, the solution? sorry there isn't an easy one it may mean you need to read read and read some more on each of the individual problems until you solve them.
If you battled away for days and still no go give us a ring and maybe we can help if you have managed to get your web pages up to the server otherwise start thinking how much cheaper, easier and less stressful it would be if the TAC "experts" did it for you.

You dont have to spend a fortune for this to happen as our prices start at $95 per page so if you have nly a few pages it can be cheaper then buying the web authoring program.
It gets more expensive when databases have to be written or shopping carts incorporated into web pages depending on the level of complication.

This type of web site needs to be quoted on however we believe we can beat any quote and our prices will be the best available.

I may have missed some issues here but on the whole if you read this as a basic outline you should be able to find more data regarding individual aspects of web design on the net.

Good Luck with your project.

Terry