A  Confession: I am an HTML addict. Tthis terrible obsession is sucking up all my spare time, damaging my relationshisp, and turning me into a wreck, bleary eyed from endless web surfing looking for that special graphic that I can download, mutate with Photoshop, and put on my own web site.

Where did this hideous addiction begin? I got into web design by accident. Last year I was hired by a company to help translate their website from Chinese to English. After this was done, they figured that they might as well have me translate the English document into an HTML document. They dropped a thick book filled with cheery, easy to decipher phrases such as (html)(h1)(b)(header)" insert header here " (/html)(/font)(/header)on my desk and said "Take your time". Naturally I became intimidated and asked for a raise.

After being offered more money, I knew I had no choice but to learn HTML code. After a few hours of trial and error, I had created my first web browsable document. I was from that moment on hooked, and my life hasn't been the same since. Sit back and I'll  tell you how to start down this strange and obsessive path.

D.I.Y. Web design -- Nuts and Bolts, Nets & Bytes

A web site is basically a bunch of information created by an individual and stored on a public computer (called a "server, " or ISP) that anybody can access. Often we talk of "surfing the web", implying that we are going someplace with our computers. In fact, it's the other way around. Our computer is sucking in information from computers afar and dishing it up to us wherever we happen to be. In fact, the web is surfing us. 

The most important component of the web are the thousands of servers that store all the data. Choosing a server is the first thing that you'll need to do. If you live in Taiwan, you have a few choices. The most popular server in Taiwan is Hinet, which offers a mailbox & surfing time for a fixed rate. They also provide ISP service for an additional charge, which is calculated by the size of your site. Hinet is easy to find, being run by the phone company, and their fee is fairly reasonable. They are not known for the expediency of their customer service, so if you have a problem with your site you'll probably have to fix it yourself. 

I go through a service called Prisitne / Asia-on-line, which charges a flat rate for surfing time, mailbox, and ISP service. Aside from speaking English, they have a good attitude when it comes to helping their customers, and they have helped me more than once to troubleshoot & solve problems I've had with my site. 

Whichever server you go with, actually publishing your site is fairly easy. Once you've verified all your links (i.e., made sure that all of the "click here" places on your site connect to where they're supposed to) you just upload all the files, pictures, and anything else to a folder on their system that they'll set up for you. Poof, you're ready to begin coding.

Save the document as an html file by saving as text putting the .html suffix at the end of the file name and open it with Netscape or Explorer. Play around with the code until you have something you like. You can do all of this with the humblest of text editors, but you'll need to get the code right. If You don't feel like bothering with code, no problem. There are scores of good web site programs out there, and even the most basic one will allow your creative impulses to run wild, unhampered by technical details.

By now, most people are familiar with Netscape gold and it's easy to use "Edit" button. My first web page was made with N.G, and, for simplicity and ease of use, the program can't be beat. Although N.G. is designed as a browser, it has enough going for it to make it a decent Web editing tool. Using N.G., you can write text directly into a document, set background patterns ("wallpaper"), point and click graphics onto your page, and create links by dragging the site name or address directly from your bookmarks folder. Not only do you not have to type HTML code, but you never even see it. All you see is the actual finished product.
Netscape Gold is good for creating basic documents, but it's basically just a browser with some editing functions. For snazzier documents, you'll want a more complete program. I recommend Allaire Home Site, available here . Allaire Home site is by far the best program I've used, combining simple point and click features, hotkeys, and multitasking to make for a great and extremely reasonably priced product. Home Site makes creating frames and tables painless, and has a VERY USEFUL feature that estimates your download time at various modem speeds. This brings us to the next facet of web design:

*Keep the byte size down! In the virtual world, bigger is not better. Text is cheap, but pictures, sounds & java scripts (little animated cartoons) all take up space. Most people wont visit a sight twice if it takes too long to download. 

*When scanning photos, play with the image size & dpi (dots per inch) settings until you get a good compromise between quality and byte size. When the photo is scanned, use photoshop or Paint Shop Pro to play with it (always save an unaltered copy before you start your alterations) to see how small you can get it by cropping & downsizing. 

*I've found that some graphic applications lose very little quality by having the colors reduced, but shrink appriciably in byte size. Remember that byte size is a key issue, and that having the best photo on the web is of no use if nobody wants to take the time to look at your site. 

Eric Delisle is the webfounder of Ulead Systems' site. He reccomends keeping download time down by avoiding too many small pictures on one page, as one graphic application thats 30k in size will download much quicker than ten graphics that are 3k in size. On the web, 2+2 does not always equal 4. He also reccomends streamline your site by splitting it into as many pages as possible to allow your cyber guest more control over what they see. On my sight, I have a welcome with a few picture icons leading to other pages. Clicking on any of the icons will lead you to other pages where I've created links to some stories and pictures I've done, as well as many links to external sites. This is a much better set up than just throwing everything on one page, forcing your guest to wade through everything just to get to what they want. 

Every time that CNN online does a story about the Hubble telescope (which seems to be every week), they thoughtfully include several links to various stargazing websites that feature Hubble pictures. These pictures make great wallpaper, and are pretty fascinating if you're into that sort of thing. 

The Church of the Subgenius web site is possibly one of the most extensive collections of strange art, sound clips, java animations, and assorted applications on the web. The site is big, so pack a lunch, but the webmaster has been very conciencious about keeping every individual file as small as possible. I Highly recommend this sight.