Personal Web Pages for Non-Geeks

Demystify the process of creating a web site

Why a personal web page?

• To promote your career– Having a web page shows you’re “with it”– Provides assurance that you can keep up with

the times

• Provides a way to market yourself– Prospective employers can get a

glimpse of who you are• Before calling you• Following an interview

Why a personal web page?

• Augment your formal resume– Expand on professional activities– Show who you are outside work

• Just for fun– Share photos and events with family &

friends– Share your space to support others

What should be on a page?

• Examples– http://www.scottkane.com/– http://members.aol.com/beilers/– http://www.jreilers.org/– http://www.eilers.org/

Basics

• You will need– A service to host you page

• Many ISPs (Internet Service Provider) offer hosting– AOL

– ATTBI used to; bet Comcast does also

– If you use a small provider, check with them

• Independent hosting services– More about these later

Basics

• You will need– A means to develop/edit your page

• Some providers offer templates• Some offer development tools• There are development tools available

elsewhere, some free on the WWW others for sale on the web or in stores

– Tools range from simple to very sophisticated

Basics

• You will need– A means to upload your page from your

home/office PC to your host• If using ISP templates, this may be automatic• If not automatic, it may just require a mouse click• Some upload tools might require a setup for first use

Getting Started

• Select a method that fits you– We will examine two options

• Hosting service with cookie-cutter templates

• “Free” web hosting

– There are +/- for each• You get what you pay for

Method #1

• A “No-Brainer”, but with a price

A No-Brainer

• Gray Hair Management page– http://www.grayhairmanagement.com/

• $250.00 – one-time charge• Page templates provided• Includes two-year domain registration

(www.scottkane.com)– Domain registrar will bill for renewal– Domain fees are currently about $10 a year

Some Notes on Domains

– scottkane.com/• Scott’s domain is his first and last name

– eilers.org/• Domains are first come/ first served• My nephew Aaron beat me the punch

– jreilers.org/• I found that my two initials + last name was

available

– members.aol.com/beilers/• Brother Bruce doesn’t have his own domain

Some Notes on Domains

– How do you know if a domain name is available?

• http://www.checkdomain.com

Domain Cautions

• Owning a domain may raise some privacy issues– It is possible to search for a domain’s

owner• May learn name, address, phone, email

– May yield some email SPAM– Personally, I have not found this

burdensome• But I’m rather tolerant

Method #2

• “Free” web page– Nothing is “completely” free– Free pages are supported by the hosts

selling advertising

Free Web Page

• http://www.geocities.com/jameseilers/

– http://geocities.yahoo.com/

Follow this link to create a website that costs you nothing

You must register before you can create your site

Fill out the forms as required

The Yahoo Page Wizards will guide you through building your web page

Let’s try it!Is there a volunteer?

Editing your page

One method of editing is to use the same Page Wizards with which we built the page

Choose a Page Wizard

Select “Edit existing page”

Choose your page from the pull down list

Editing your page

• The Wizard will lead you through the same steps used to create the page.

Editing your page

• Ready to graduate from the Wizard?– Small caution

• If you step up, you may not return to the Wizard for editing

When you’re ready for the next level, you can customize your page with Yahoo PageBuilder

Editing Your Page

• If there is interest from the group we will have a second session covering PageBuilder and other more advanced editing tools.

Questions/Comments?

James R. Eilers, CPIM

740 South Ardmore

Villa Park, IL 60181

630/833-6664

james.eilers@jreilers.org

http://jreilers.org