NVMUG eNews September 16, 2000, Meeting Report Stephen Farber with Warren Walker on
Creating a Web Page
NVMUG Meeting
12 Noon - 2 PM
Saturday, February 19, 2000
Community Bank Building, St. Johnsbury
There was a very good turnout for the meeting. Unfortunately, I missed a good deal of the meeting because I had a flat tire. Fortunately, Richard Lubot saw it, and took me to where we could get it fixed on a Saturday afternoon. Also fortunately, Stephen sent me some information so I could write about the subject. Warren Walker brought a new NVMUG Logo to the meeting. He had three versions, small, medium, and large and all very good. There is a lot of talent in this group.
Coming Events:
Macs in the Park in Burlington, City Hall Park, September 30, 2000, 9:00 to 3:00.
If you will be bringing macintosh related items to sell at the lawn sale, please reply to this e-mail and describe in general what you will bring. We need to know how many tables we need to provide.
The program for the October 21 NVMUG Meeting has not been set, but William Amos will make a surprise demonstration.
November 25, Scott Pelok, former NVMUG President, will be here in St. Johnsbury for the Thanksgiving holiday. He will give a talk and bring a surprise item to demonstrate.
In this NVMUG eNews
1. Creating a Web Page
2. Macs In The Park, Burlington
3. Surprise demonstration
4. Save your eyes
5. Amazon’s Top 20 Macintosh Books
6. Wanted, External Modem
7. Old Magazines Available 1. Creating a Web Page
Stephen Farber talked about creating a web page. Warren Walker was there to help with a two or three inch thick book that he has been studying, Web Design- The Complete Reference by Powell, published by Osborne.
The Internet was designed for plain black and white text, not formatted text, not color, not pictures. HyperText Markup Language, HTML, is the basis for all web pages. Stephen explained that it’s purpose is to send pictures as text in the form of numbers. It also can create links so that you can jump to different parts of a web page, or different web pages. Some people prefer to create web pages entirely in HTML. Professionals who use expensive programs still use HTML instructions to make adjustments. Stephen showed what a picture looks like in HTML.
You can see the Source or HTML code using your browser. Stephen demonstrated using Netscape. In Internet Explorer you view the source code for any page by going to the View Menu and clicking on Source.
Web pages have meta tags, a paragraph that describes the web page and a listing of key words used to attract hits by search engines (browsers that look for information by scanning web pages). There are hundreds of specialized search engines, see http://www.refdesk.net
I hope I have that right.
There are a lot of tricks to get people to select your page including choosing the right keywords for your meta tag. One of our members, Farrell Smith Seiler, is a consultant who advises business on how to increase sales through the Internet including how to get more hits on their web pages.
Browsers use helper files such as Java and QuickTime to interpret sound, pictures, and small action programs. If you have a document, such as a picture, that you cannot open, and you do not have MacLink Plus, you can often open the file by dragging it onto your browser. The State of Vermont encodes files in pdf, so you should have Acrobat Reader.
For those interested in learning more about HTML, the language of web design
check some of these locations: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerP1.html
http://werbach.com/barebones/
http://validator.w3.org/
http://www.netmechanic.com/
The idea is to get graphics and links into a browser. To create your web page you have to learn the language, at least a little of it, or use a template, or use a web page creating program. AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual has instructions for using AppleWorks and saving the result as HTML to create a web page. The web page will not look exactly like what you see in the word processing document, but it is pretty close. You can position text more accurately by using AppleWorks 6 tables tool.
The easiest way to create a simple web site is use a template created by
others and copy and paste additional elements-- simple pages are often
the clearest and communicate the most.
If you're MOS 9 enabled be sure to check out iTools at the Apple
web site; with your registration and an easy download and configure
you get an e-mail address, build you own web page and 20mbs of web
storage space. You have all the tools; you need only the time, will
and a net connection to go through the step by step process. { Fixing
mistakes is a bit harder--please remember the Password}
Phyllis Harmon asked, Why would you want a web page? Bruce Shields said his son put their wedding pictures on their web page as a quick way for relatives and friends to see them.
(Thanks for the notes Stephen. I hope this report is OK.) 2. Macs In The Park, Burlington
I will be in Burlington on Church Street selling raffle tickets and directing people to the Macs In The Park lawn in sale on Saturday, October 30. The lawn sale will be in City Hall Park from 9:00 to 3:00. There will be a canopy tent in case of rain.
If you will be bringing macintosh related items to sell at the lawn sale, please reply to this e-mail and describe in general what you will bring. We need to know how many tables we need to provide.
Tag any items you bring with your name, NVMUG or your user group, your asking price, and optionally the lowest price you will accept. Plan to be there near the end of the sale or arrange for someone else to pick up anything that does not sell. Any items left and not taken care of at the end of the event will be given away.
If you do not have items to sell, but are looking for a bargain, come early when you will have the best selection to choose from. Then come back late when, if it is not sold already, you may get things for less money or even free.
Thought you might be interested in the latest raffle prize listing as
best as I know it (as of yesterday):
** Darrad Services:
Reconditioned LCIII with color monitor, keyboard & mouse. 20MB ram makes
it quite suitable for many uses, including e-mail.
3 software titles.
1-1/2 hours labor ($112.50).
** O'Reilly:
AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual
iMovie: The Missing Manual
Mac OS 9: The Missing Manual
Mac OS in a Nutshell
Crossing Platforms: Macintosh/Windows
** Small Dog:
Agfa Ephoto 780c digital camera (1024x768 Mac or PC) plus a variety of
software
You can buy tickets by mail. The tickets are $1.00 each. Order them from our treasurer,
Richard Lubot, 53 Mooney Rd., St. Johnsbury, VT 05819
Be sure to include a stamped addressed return envelope and make the check out to NVMUG. Or you can buy them at Macs in the Park. 3. Surprise demonstration
From William Amos:
At the next meeting, October 21, I'll demonstrate a unique item for authors, researchers, students, and others who use word processing extensively. Since seeing the unit in use will tell all, I'll only refer to it now as a "computer companion," because its most valuable function is as an adjunct to a Mac (also works with a PC). As far as I know, it is the only product of its kind, and until recently has been little known to the public. It's the best investment I've made in a long time. 4. Save your eyes
I have changed from bifocals to progressive lenses. Now I can look at the road ahead, down to my speedometer, and back much more quickly, and I can see the computer screen more clearly. Before I took my bifocals off. But William Amos sends us this better and relatively inexpensive tip.
For those who wear bifocals or trifocals at the computer, there can be a lot of head-bobbing and neck fatigue, especially when a large monitor is used, or two large monitors are placed side-by-side, as in my case. The mid-range distance of my trifocals is about right for 16-18" viewing, but I like to sit back a little further. I had a pair of light weight glasses made specifically for a 22-23" viewing distance and nothing else. The resulting comfort is a great relief, and I can spend hours writing without strain or head movement. I urge those who experience a similar problem to consider having special glasses made for your optimum viewing distance. 5. Amazon’s Top 20 Macintosh Books
1. Final Cut Pro for Macintosh
2. Real World Adobe GoLink
3. Mac OS 9: The Missing Manual, Pogue 5 stars
4. QuarkXpress for Macintosh Visual Qucikstart Guide 5 stars
5. Microsoft Access 97 Bible
6. Sad Macs, Bombs and other Disorders, Ted Landou 5 stars
7. iMovie: The Missing Manual, Pogue, 5 stars
8. Real Basic: The definitive Guide
9. Mac OS 9 for Dummies
10. The Macintosh Bible 5 stars
11. MacWorld Mac Secrets, Pogue & Schorr 5 stars
12. How do Do Everything with Your iMac 5 stars
13. Mac OS 9 Visual Quickstart Guide 5 stars
14. The Little Mac Book
15. MocWorld Mac OS 9 Bible
16. The iMac for Dummies, Pogue
17. Macs for Dummies, Pogue
18. Quicken 2000 for the Mac: The Official Guide
19. MacWorld Office 98 Bible
20.. MacWorld Photoshop Bible 6. Wanted, External Modem
Srada Kaplan wants and external modem for a 7100 Power Mac using OS 8.1. If you have one to sell, call her at (603) 838-6756.
I f you have more than one, or she does not buy yours, send me an e-mail. Another person asked Dona about getting one. 7. Old Magazines Available
William Amos has old Macintosh magazines, such as Mac Addict and Mac User, that he would like to see go to some interested person.
