Starting from Scratch:
How to find an online service and get connected to the Internet

Get Published (Designing a Web site):
HTML, web page design, imagemaps, graphics, other design tools

What's Next? More Fun Stuff:
Technical tutorials and indices, reading materials, perl scripts, online marketing, other listservs

Additional Useful Sites:
Search engines and not-search-engines

Starting from Scratch

There are two ways to do this:

1. Join an online service, like America Online, which offers Internet access in addition to its own services. Can't decide whether you should join an online service or an ISP? Then read through these articles about choosing between the two:
• The Difference between an ISP and a Proprietary Service
• ISPs Versus On-line Services
• Internet 101 - How to get Started

Pretty sure you want to go with an online service? Then use these links to compare the major ones:
• Online Connections Comparison of Major Commercial Service Providers
• PC Magazine --  ISP Survey Results
• ISP Comparison Chart

 
2. Purchase an account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). This differs from getting an online service because you are purchasing access to an existing physical network (the Internet), rather than a "club" with its own groups and features.

Before you make your decision, get the basics on ISPs:
• InfoPeople's Finding an ISP
• Story: The World's Fastest Access Providers
Ready to find an ISP that meets your needs? You can find lists at:
• Washington Post's Fast Forward list of ISPs
• Computer Currents' Choosing an ISP

Most basic web sites are a blend of the following elements: style, HTML, good content and graphics.

First you'll need a text editor or WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) tool. Freebies include Notepad, Wordpad, or Simple Text which generally come with your computer. For reviews of editors, run a search on ZDNet for the ones you're interested in.

Now it's time to get started on the actual page:

Before you start designing, read up about Style - it is what will set you apart and get you noticed. A stunning lack of style might also, but that might not be the kind of attention you want. 
• Yale C/AIM Style Manual
• Web Developer's Virtual Library
• Net Tips for Writers and Designers
• Art and the Zen of Web sites.

Next step: become your own press. It's time to start coding those pages! There are a number of good HTML tutorials, among them:

• Hotwired's Webmonkey - all sorts of tutorials for HTML, programming, and design.
• HTML Goodies - this site not only has answers to your HTML questions, but also is a good resource for javascript questions.
• The Bare Bones Guide to HTML
• HTML resources from the HTML Writers' Guild
• Compendium of HTML Elements.
• You can always sign up for an inexpensive online course at ZDU Net.

For those of you already fluent in HTML, check out:

• HyperText Markup Language Specifications for 4.0
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

For tips on how to create images, visit:

• Kai's Power Tips and Tricks for Photoshop 
• Create imagemaps by using this tutorial, or get one of these tools.
• Make sure the colors you choose are browser safe colors.
• Ready to advance? Check out Macromedia's Shockwave.

Back to the Top

Once you have your pages done, it's time to add some flair to help get them noticed!

Form and Function: The Cross-Platform Page might be handy if you're the one making form and function decisions when developing your server. To see how pages are going to increasingly rely on information passed between server and client, read through these: the HTTP protocol as implemented in W3, how use use server side includes, and what exactly a conditional HTML parsing hack is.

Registering your Domain Name: You may have to register a domain as part of your job. If you need to submit an application for a new domain, you can check the web interface to InterNIC Whois as an easy way to see if anyone's got the cool dot-com(org, net) you want; then use this template to register. If you want more information on the domain registration process, go to the how-to page.

Promotion is key: Promoting your site is becoming increasingly more important as the web expands. Some of the most helpful sites for acquiring and exercising PR savvy online include: 

1. Wilson Web - lots of links to other marketing resources!
2. Search Engine Watch - make sure you know what you're doing when you register. The process changes frequently and sites like the Search Engine Watch will keep you informed.

More reading material: Another way to keep up with the web is to read the industry publications - online, of course:

1. Phillips Business Information Inc. Internet Week
2. Webmaster Magazine
3. The Internet Business Journal
4. Computer News Daily
5. CMPNet
6. CNN Interactive (yeah, well, it's not industry but still handy)

1. SpiderWoman - you can sign up for their listserv, or visit the site to view their archives for answers to your questions.
2. Audette Media's Lists - Marketing, Web Review, Sales, Search Engines
3. WebCMO, Inc. - More marketing
4. Javascript Source

1. Learning Perl: References
2. The Programmer's Source - Perl Resources
3. Even more perl scripts
4. Matt's Script Archive

Here are some handy sites that you might actually need to get through the work day:

Search engines/directories: WebCrawler, Alta Vista, Lycos, Excite, LookSmart, Snap!, Infoseek, Hotbot, AOL Netfind, Smart Digital Television, the Mining Co., and of course, Yahoo.

Not search engines: the truly uncategorizable stuff. There's the Idea Cafe, a web geared toward small business owners. There is also the field of dreams for women in business. Whatis.com is a great place to find all sorts of info about 'Net terms.

If you're thinking of moving to the DC Area, you might want to use the relocation salary calculator to figure the wage you'll need to earn so you can support yourself in the manner to which you'd like to become accustomed.

O'Reilly books are really great for teaching yourself new and valuable technical skills. You can probably find them at the Computer Literacy Bookshop in Tyson's.

Back to the Top

The great thing about the Web is you can find answers to almost all of your questions by simply searching the 'Net. The above links are intended as resources only. There are hundreds of thousands of equally (if not better) references out there. Do you have one you can't live without? Send it to: info@dcwebwomen.org!