This is the rough initial version. There is a great deal of tidying up left to do before it is fit to go out in the world, and in all probability there are any number of mistakes. Let me know what needs to be changed, corrected, added.

Chapter One - the Introduction

So you are looking at this book because you feel that you want to design your own web site? A nice little web site, one that is well-designed and sparkles, one that gets people enthusiastic and above all, one that isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg. Well, why not? Getting your own web site up and running isn't really all that difficult; anyone who has ever used a DTP (desk top publishing) program for a visiting card or a letter head should be able to design a web page using the DFM2HTML program.

The DFM2HTML program is more than adequate for an ordinary person, a club or association or a small business. We are all so used to big and expensive programs, the bigger the better, that we forget what is often called the 90/10 rule which states that

90 % of the time you use 10% of the program and only 10% of the time do you use 90%

The DFM2HTML program can do about 20 to 30% of the tricks an all-dancing-all-singing program costing hundreds of pounds or dollars or euros can do - and 20% is all you'll really need. The DFM2HTML program is free and probably works two or three times faster than its expensive rivals. Above all, it is designed to gently and almost automatically persuade you to design a good web site. So let's give it a try.

If you need a visiting card for your yourself, your club or your new company, you could go and find yourself a graphic designer. He, or she, will, for a small or large amount of cash, design you a logo, add a drawing or photograph, specify colours and card, and get it all printed at the printer he or she selects. After battling for weeks or months, you hold the result in your hands, and off you go to find customers.

Or you can spend half an hour or so with a cheap (or even free) DTP program, print it out using an ink jet printer, cut it with a steel ruler and sharp knife, and off you go to find customers.

The choice is yours. Some people have a good sense of design, know what they want, and can get the DTP program to the job. You can save

yourself hundreds if not thousands of pounds and an awful lot of time. Perhaps the card may look as if it is - to quote Saki on amateur dress-making - "made at home and repented at leisure", but it needn't - I've seen some really good amateur card designs.

Next you, your club or your new company needs a web page. So you go and find yourself a web page designer, explain what you need, and let him or her play with mouse and keyboard. After spending hundreds if not thousands of pounds and waiting weeks or even months, you find your web page displayed for all the world to see. Stand by for multi-million take-over offers.

Or you can spend a few days or so using this free web page design program, register a name, find a server, and put up your web page. The choice is yours.

These days designing a web page is not really difficult, just as designing your own visiting card is not difficult. The program does most of the hard work, and the program is fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it (i.e. when you've finished reading this book).

So really what matters is your ability to organise the material to be used in your web pages and a certain amount of taste. If you have taste and the ability to organise your thoughts, there is no reason why you shouldn't put together your own web site. It's not something that needs years and years of training plus a diploma - mainly it's common sense and sticking to a few rules. OK, so here goes.

Before we go any further, I think it's important to clear up one major source of confusion. Most people, when talking about a web page, are actually talking about a web site. This can cause confusion at the design stage (and especially in this program), so let's clear the air a little by agreeing that:

a) a web page is what you actually see on your computer screen

b) a web site is a collection of web pages that relate to each other and all have the same initial address in the form of www.website.xx followed by the name of the page, such as www.website.xx/pictures.html or www.website.xx/widgetQR.html. The web pages are linked to each other by menus and links so that a visitor can navigate from page to page to obtain the information he wants using the mouse to select the next page.