Welcome. You can do this.

I taught typing and business classes at a high school for thirty years. When I retired, the public library here asked if I would teach a free class on Tuesday nights called "Your First Home Page." I said yes before I had any idea how to make one. That was two years ago. I learned right along with my first class, one step ahead of them, and these lessons are what we worked out together.

My students have been nineteen and eighty-one, farmers and nurses and one retired judge. Not one of them had written a line of HTML before. Every one of them left with a home page. The oldest, Tom, now has a page about his time on a minesweeper in the Korean War that gets letters from all over the country. If Tom can do it, so can you, and he would be the first to tell you so.

Three things I tell every class

1. You cannot break anything. Nothing you type in these lessons can hurt your computer. The worst that happens is your page looks funny, and you fix it.
   
   
2. Type the examples yourself. Don't copy and paste them. I know, I know. But I taught typing for thirty years and I promise you that your fingers learn faster than your eyes do.
   
   
3. One lesson a week is plenty. Do the lesson, do the homework, and let it sit. There is no test.

What you need

• A computer. Windows 95 or 98 is what most of my students have; Macintosh is fine too.
• A plain text editor. On Windows that's Notepad, which you already have (click Start, then Programs, then Accessories). On a Macintosh it's SimpleText.
• A Web browser: Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer. You're using one right now.
• A free GeoCities.us home page, when you're ready to put your work on the Web. You don't need it for Lessons 1 and 2.

That's all. You do not need to buy FrontPage or any other program. You will not need a manual.

The Lessons

Questions my students always ask

Is HTML a programming language?
No. It's a way of marking up words so the browser knows which ones are headings, which ones are bold, and where the pictures go. If you ever marked up a manuscript with a red pencil, you've done the same thing.

GeoCities.us has Page Builder. Why should I learn this?
Page Builder is a fine tool and many people are happy with it. But when something on your page looks wrong, knowing a little HTML means you can look underneath and fix it, instead of starting over. It's the difference between driving a car and knowing how to check the oil.

I'm stuck.
Write to me. Tell me which lesson and which step, and copy the part of your page you typed into the e-mail. I answer everybody, usually on Wednesday mornings.

Students so far:




Lydia Cavanaugh · [email protected]
Last updated: Tuesday, September 21, 1999
© 1998-1999 Lydia Cavanaugh. Please link to these lessons rather than copying them.