Web Design Help Many people have contacted me with questions about this web site. For months I have been emailing my answers to individuals and have finally decided to compose this page in hopes it might be helpful. Never taking a web design course myself, I will try to share what knowledge I have gained through trial and error and from many other teachers who have web sites and who have helped me. Click here to view my website awards and to apply for mine, "Excellence in Education- Stellar Site Award". Commonly Asked Question Topics:
I want to start a site of my own. Can you give me a good start point? I use myteacherpages.com. They offer a free 30 trial.
Make sure you enter my ID # (7052) and we can each add an extra free month on our account. I love their resources (page design templates, easy cut and paste ability from word documents, ability to upload PDF, PowerPoint, and music midi files, word searches, picture puzzles, online quizzes, message board, blog, and more!). When I started my web site it didn't have all the "bells and whistles" but had great content. Myteacherpages from SchoolWorld.com provides options for building a web site without having to know HTML. Their site URL is: http://www.schoolworld.com/ DreamWeaver software is supposed to be excellent for an "easy" way to have some fancier effects, also without HTML knowledge, but I haven't used it personally. It costs about $100 and you still need to find a web site host. Our school site allows teachers to post web sites for free as links from the school page. For a cost-free, quick and simple class page you can use sites that offer them like Scholastic.com. These free commercial hosts do advertise and their formats are limiting. How do I get started with more elaborate pages? I played around with HTML using the copy and paste method. I would create my text with fonts, colors, and desired format in Microsoft Word and then save it on the desktop as 'html' or 'web page' with the 'Save As' function. Next, I would open the web document on the desktop and view the source by going to 'View' and scrolling down to choose 'Source'. Finally, I would copy and paste the HTML code onto my web page 'composing' space. The site below is about learning HTML. It's designed for kids, but any beginner would find it informative. http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/kidsweb/ Here is another site for beginners. http://www.lissaexplains.com Where do you find your resources and graphics? I find many super web site links on other teachers' web sites. Here is the Golden Apple Top Site List http://goldenapple.top-site-list.com/ with outstanding classroom websites full of ideas and resources. Also, http://www.google.com can locate web sites suitable for links when a focused topic search is conducted. All links need to be carefully checked out, of course. "Teach the Children Well" is a fabulous website of educational links catagorized by topics. You can find tons of appropriate links there. http://www.teachthechildrenwell.com/ There is a wonderful lesson resource site, Marco Polo, which correlates lessons with most states' learning standards. To find good web sites just conduct the topic search with "Omit Lesson Plans" selected. Marco Polo Web site and lesson resource (URL below): http://www.marcopolosearch.org/mpsearch/basic_search.asp Below is a list of the graphics sites I use most: http://www.countryclipart.com/welcome.htm http://www.angel9oh7.com/graphicindex.html JO'S WORLD CoolArchive GRSites.com PageWorks/Toonland/animated.gif (c) Kitty Roach. #1 Free Clip Art Graphics created by FlamingText.com Please respect the terms of use for these graphics sites. The graphics are usually free to non-commercial sites.
Do you use a digital camera for the photos? Yes. I also use a scanner to scan some of the students' artwork.
How did you get music on your site? The code for the music on most of my pages (where the music plays automatically) is below. I like to have the control panel showing so the visitor has the option to turn off the music. (open tag)EMBED align=center src="URL of music midi" width=75 height=50 LOOP="true" AUTOSTART="true" VOLUME="50"(close tag) (open tag)/EMBED(close tag) (close tag)=> (open tag)=< If you do not want the controls to show just delete the height and width. If you want a "juke box" with a drop down music menu you can visit Javascript Source at: http://javascript.internet.com/ and enter a search for 'music'. This is a super resource and it will not only provide the code but give you directions. I find music midis on the web by going to Google.com and searching for the song title followed by the words 'music midi'. This method has been very successful for me. You can get the URL of the music by right clicking on the upper right hand corner of the player as the music plays and choosing "properties". Just copy the URL and paste it to replace the src URL in the code above. Please respect the terms of use on these music sites. Some do not want you to hot link to them.
How do you find the time to create and maintain your website? The site isn't as much work as it looks. I create HTML templates and copy and paste them to make the different pages. Then all I need to do is change the graphics' filenames to change the looks of the page. Finally, I just edit the text. I can put together new pages in less than an hour now. The time consuming part is finding good links for the content areas.
I hope this page answers many of your questions. Good luck with your web site and most of all have fun with it! 
This site created and maintained by
Deborah ThonusÓ2002-2007
| 
