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 Geocities BASICS Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 
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In Part 1, we discussed how to actually get your little space on the Internet, using a site provider called GeoCities. In THIS part (Part 2), we will discuss what is involved with getting started on that chunk of space you now have.
Ok, we now have our space. GeoCities has sent us our confirmation through the e-mail with our user name and our password. We have been accepted into the neighborhood that we have chosen, and we now have an address (URL) to the space that will soon turn into our homepage. NOW WHAT?
Let's first go to our "space" that we've just acquired. The URL will be something like this: http://www.geocities.com/YourNeighborhood/your address number/index.html Here is what "The World of Soose" URL looks like using the above formula: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5821/index.html After typing in our URL, a page appears that says, "Hi, I'm (your user name). I signed up on (the date and time), but have not moved in yet. The description of my page is: (what ever "title" or description you chose on the registration form you filled out)." It doesn't sound very impressive, does it? Well, let's see if we can improve on it. Every homepage at GeoCities has a "directory" that is located in the "File Manager". In order to access your directory, you must go to the File Manager: http://www.geocities.com/homestead/file_manager.html Once there, you must type your user name where it says "Member Name", and your password where it says "Password", then click "Submit". You are now transported to your directory! The directory is where you create, change, and improve your homepage. It's where the size of your homepage will eventually increase to become a site. The directory stores the different files for your homepage that you will accumulate as time passes. It is where the "Editor" of your choice is located, which allows you to create and/or change the appearance of your homepage. You cannot have an effective homepage or site without this very valuable tool! As we look at the directory, we see a variety of things. First, we see that we are in the "GeoCities File Manager". Second, we see our address (the neighborhood and address number of our site). Third, we see our user name. So, we DO know that we are in OUR directory! Looking down the page further, there is a "Refresh Directory" button which is the equivalent to the "Reload" button on the "Options" of WebTV. To the left of it is "List files with the following extensions: html, gif, jpg, other". For our purpose, right now, we will leave all the boxes connected to those files "checked". Below that, is our list of files that we have already, and how big they are in terms of "disk usage". Right now, we only have one file, and that's the "index.html" file. The "index.html" is and will be the MOST important file in your directory. It is the "parent" file, as all (or most) of your future HTML files will stem from it. If, for some reason, you would EVER accidentally erase or delete this file, your directory would appear when people come to your site, instead of what they are suppose to see--and you do NOT want that. Other HTML files can be deleted, as they are copies of the "index.html" file, but NOT the "index.html" itself. The "index.html" is the one that contains that "greeting" we saw when we visited our new page ("I'm ______. I signed up on ___________, but have not moved in yet."). We can change that, PLUS change the color of the background, AND a few other basic things. In order to do this, the next group of buttons showing are involved:
CHOOSE YOUR EDITOR!There are 2 HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language) editors to choose from:
Soose |