Free Website Design

If you've found your way to this page then you've probably decided that you'd like a website but you don't want to pay anything for it. This is understandable - after all, if you can get something for free, why pay for it?
However there isn't some vast repository somewhere that has shelves of free web designs that spring into action at the click of a button. When a website is created then someone has to create it. This is normally done by web designers and as much as you might want one of them to create your website for free, they're not likely to do this since this is how they earn their living.

So it's clear that you yourself will have to do the creating and this will take up some of your time so you should work out just how worthwhile this is. If you earn for example £10/hour and it takes 50 hours to create your website then the website has cost you £500 since you could have earned this amount doing your normal job and paid a web designer to do it instead. If you decide it is worthwhile then here's the basic minimum required to create a website.

• A collection of HTML files that make up the pages of your website
• Web space where your files will be stored
• A domain name to allow visitors to find your website

A Free Domain Name Let's start with the domain name. Normally a domain name has to be bought and a renewal fee paid at regular intervals. However free domain names can be acquired. An example of this can be found at this address www.freedomain.co.nr/basic.php. Free Web Space OK, now for the web space to store your files. Normally you would have to purchase a web hosting package and pay for it each year but free hosting is available and this site www.freewebspace.net, lists free web hosting packages.

Creating Your HTML Files

Now for your HTML files. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the basic language used on the web to create web pages and is designed to be easy to learn and use. An HTML file is created using a text editor such as Notepad. If you create a text file with Notepad then by default it is saved with a .txt file extension. To create an HTML file, you simply save the file with either a .html or .html file extension. This is to ensure that web browsers recognise the file as HTML. The content of an HTML file is made up of plain text and HTML tags. Tags are instructions to the browser on how to render the page and are always enclosed with the less than and greater than characters (< >) to denote the start and end of a tag. To view how a web page that you've created will appear in your browser you can go to the File menu of your browser and select Open. Click the Browse button on the Open Dialogue box to find where on your hard drive that you saved your HTML file and the result will be displayed in your browser.

Free HTML Tutorials

To create your HTML files you will need to learn some HTML and an excellent free resource is www.webdesignworkmate.co.uk and can be found at this address www.webdesignworkmate.co.uk.

Free HTML Templates

A good way to create a website quickly and easily is to use HTML templates. These include the required files and graphics to create the site and only need to be edited to suit. Note that you will find editing very difficult if you have no knowledge of HTML so will still have to acquire this knowledge. You can find free HTML templates at this address www.freewebtemplates.com.

A Free FTP Client

Now that you've got your HTML files you need to store them in your web space (i.e. upload them). This is done using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for which you require an FTPC (File Transfer Protocol Client). Fortunately there are many free FTPCs available and you can download one at this address
stud.fh-heilbronn.de/~jdebis/leechftp/.
Alternatively, Internet Explorer (and other browsers) can be used to upload files by typing the hostname of your web space into the address box at the top of the browser. This will bring up a logon box into which you type your username and password (as supplied by your web host). The browser window will then display the files and folders in your webspace. You can then copy and paste your HTML files from Windows Explorer into the browser window and the file upload will take place.

If you follow these recommendations and take advantage of the free resources mentioned then you will end up with a website for free. If you find the going tough or the results unsatisfactory then you could consider one of our Total Control database driven packages that provide a ready made website that allows you to change style and update content without the need to learn HTML or FTP.


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