Making Web Pages - Part 2
(by Mark Warner)

How can children make Web Pages?

Despite what you might think, making web pages is very easy.

There are three main ways:

1. Write HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). HTML is the code that is sent to your computer when you ask to access a web page. Your computer's web browser then interprets this code and displays the web page on the screen.

Click here to see what the HTML for this page looks like.

As you should have seen by clicking the above link, this code can get very complicated. However, it can be simplified for young children and they can make their own simple web pages by learning HTML. If you are more interested in learning HTML, there are many guides on the net which will show you how to do so.

Although these pages may be quite basic to begin with, as the children progress and learn new HTML tags, their pages can become more complex (perhaps including photos, counters, guestbooks, animations, sounds......).

2. Use an HTML template. This template contains all of the necessary HTML to make a page of text. The children only have to insert their text into the correct places on the page, and hey presto - they have made their very own web page!

Again, the pages made in this way may be quite basic, but they still work as well as any other page.

3. Use a web-page creation program. These programs (such as Microsoft Frontpage Express and Claris Home Page) work much like a word processor, and are therefore very easy to use if you are familiar with word processing (see here for more information about using word processing in the classroom).

An extra advantage of this kind of software is that they allow children to create quite complex web pages, without a great deal of effort (and without learning HTML!).

Once your children have made their web pages, you need to find some way of getting them onto the net. If you are signed up with an internet service provider, they may give you some free web space. If not, there are lots of places on the net who are eager to provide you with free space. When you have some webspace of your own, just send your pages up to the provider (who should provide simple instructions explaining how to do this).

So, now you know how to make web pages, what kinds of things can children put on them?

Click here to find out.