A.4 Authoring Your HTML Documents

To create an HTML document, you can use any of several HTML authoring tools or you can use a simple programmer's editor. Some authoring tools come bundled with Microsoft Office 97; others are available over the Internet free of charge. Many tools let you customize a site template so you don't have to begin from scratch. Most provide a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) screen painter-type interface, so you don't even have to learn HTML. Netscape's tool actually requires that you don't enter any HTML, because it is all done automatically.

Since every Web authoring tool is different, this section cannot provide specifics. It can, however, provide some guidelines. When authoring your Web pages, you should

• Create a separate folder to hold your HTML documents. This will make it much easier when it comes time to "post" the site. It is also a good idea to separate logical sections into separate subdirectories.

• Work from an existing template if available.

• Start with your home page, then move to subsequent pages.

• Perform all formatting before including clickable image maps or setting up links.

• If you are working with an ISP, find out what name to save your home page under, such as "index.html" or "index.htm".

• Keep it simple. You can always edit your files later to add more "glitz."

• Manage your HTML files the same way you manage your COBOL source code files. (After all, HTML files are plain text like the source code files you work with daily.) You can even use version control tools like CVS.

• Use server-side includes, SSI, whenever possible to reduce redundancy on your Web site. For example, suppose you want to include your e-mail address at the bottom of every page. Without SSI, if your site contains 100 Web pages and your e-mail address changes, you need to edit 100 individual files. With SSI you simply edit the "included" file containing your e-mail address.