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Browsers and Tools

The first step to understanding the Web is knowing how people view it. Before the Web, people viewed information on the Internet only as text. Browser is the term given to the variety of types of software that people use to view the Web. Most of the current browsers were designed around a software called Mosaic, which allowed people to view the Web with a graphic interface for the first time. Think of it like the evolution from DOS to Macintosh /Windows graphic interfaces; the Web moved us into a world beyond command codes to a point and click graphic interface.

Browsers are software, with their own special interface. Most provide a standard gray background, with hypertext links in color. Words or graphics used as links begin with a blue color, then change to another color (sometimes violet) when selected to show the person that they have already visited the referenced area. It is important to know that there are many browsers and that following certain standards make a Web site accessible to a wide audience.

The person using the browser can customize the page to look the way they want. They can adjust the font size, the colors of the text links, whether or not they see a background image you put in, or whether they want to see graphic images at all. Graphics on the web provide beauty, but if someone wants to research information, they may be more interested in the content than the look. This person may turn off any images on a page to speed up the process.

Tools: An HTML Editor and Graphics Software

The best way to create your first Web page is to find an HTML editor. Most people begin with an HTML editor and after awhile learn enough code not to need them. HTML editors allow you to select text and then choose the HTML command from a menu or button; they insert the code before and after the words you choose. If you make an error, just cut and paste the code. If you don't mind learning code, it is simple to produce HTML code in any word processor, again as a text only file. It's best to begin with an editor and then outgrow it.

Graphics software is also important. The best software is Photoshop, which will allow you to manipulate images and photographs. Be sure to get software that allows you to create GIF files, reduces colors to 256 or 16 (since these are what the Web can support now), and also helps you create "interlaced" graphic files. "Interlaced" GIF files are useful when you have a large file (25K or more); it will seem to fade in while the Web server is loading it. On the Windows end, LView Pro and Paint Shop Pro are good shareware programs to have; on the Macintosh, Graphic Converter is excellent. Many good shareware programs are available on the Web, check out these sites:

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Windows OAK Software Repository for Windows tools
Look for Paint Shop Pro and many others here.
http://www.acs.oakland.edu/oak.html

Macintosh Jon Wiederspan's Macintosh WWW Development Guide
http://www.uwtc.washington.edu/Computing/WWW/Mac/Directory.html

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