Starting A Site

Beginning
Do you really like those tumblr site, facebook covers or doll/graphic sites? Have you wanted to start your own site, but didn't know where to begin? This tutorial will help you with the process of starting.

Web Space
To get started, you will need to find a host for your site. Here are some free hosts listed below:

Weebly- I don't know anything about this, I found it when I googled free hosts. It's an option.
000webhost- I don't know anything about this one either, I found it when I googled free hosts. It's an option also.

You can google more free hosts if you wanted to. Another option would be to either buy a domain(not free) or get a subdomain(free). My site is a domain and it's hosted with Namecheap. There tons of other site's that do hosting and will help you. As for the domain, it's when you pay monthly or yearly for your site to be up.

HTML
I learned a lot of my HTML (hypertext markup language), by just teaching myself and reading a bunch of tutorials. There are some great websites out there that teach very effectively how to do html, php, etc. My favorite site help is definitely Lissa Explains. She is very explanatory with anything you need to know. Going to her site you will learn how to do backgrounds, fonts, links, images, textareas and so much more!
NOTE:: There are other ways to code, php is one. HTML is what I use.

Site Name
You will want to come up with a unique, original name for your website. Ways to do so are site names already created by other site owners or create a list of your own, but you should stay away from commonly used words, for example: "aero" or "splash." It may take time until you come up with the perfect name. Mine took time and many lists of names, then I came up with Unbreakable.

Subject
What you want your site to contain is pretty important. Whether you are doing requests, blogging, a directory or offering graphics/resources. I would browse websites and do what your interested in. Here's a list of different sites out there:
Dolls
Graphics / Resource
Tumblr Themes
Facebook
Blogging
Fanlisting
Directory


Other
Other things used for sites are tagboards(comments), image hosting(for content/site image, etc.) Below is a list of what I use for my site and are very popular in the site world:

Hit Counter
Tagboard
Forms
Image Host
NOTE:: These are options and if you wanted, just google more.

Graphics
Once you have learned a little bit of HTML and your site is coming along quite nicely, you will want to start making content for visitors with programs. Programs I use are: Adobe Photoshop CS3, Animation Shop 3 and Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3. There are different versions each you can use and can be searched. With these programs you can make layouts, backgrounds, buttons and much more!

Originality
Sure it's really easy to go to a good website and save their content, but that's not being original at all! You want your visitors to love your site and keep them coming back because your stuff is different. Think of some new ideas and don't ever steal anyone's hard work. One page you definitely want on your site is a credits page for brushes, patterns, programs, etc. Anything you use to make your content must be credited every time!

Faster Loading Page
When your making your graohics and such make sure to save them in a .gif format, since that takes up less space and will make your pages load faster. You can also use format .png and as for other formats you see, CLICK HERE to learn more about them. People don't like when thy have to sit for 5 minutes while your graphics load, they will end up giving up and leave. You don't want that to happen, so it's good to know the formats.

This should get you off to a really good start! GOOD LUCK with your website!!! =) Any question with any part of this, email me at admin@unbr3akabl3.org.

If this tutorial helped, a link back is required.