I'm writing this eBook using an html editor. With a few mouse clicks I could
 easily convert the entire eBook into an Adobe PDF file and it would
 become chiseled-in-stone, so to speak.
  .
 One problem I have doing that is I couldn't indulge my practice of allowing
 folks to follow along as I write. The on-going feedback is always helpful.
 Also, I'm prone to spelling mistrakes (and grammos) and I hate redoing an
 entire PDF file to correct a single misspelled word--no matter how
 embarrassing it may be. With an html editor changes can be made on-the-fly.
.
 There are other advantages for writing eBooks in html format. For example,
 an html eBook is always ready to send as a website link and instantly
 backed-up in a webhost's hard drives, and those too are backed-up.
.
 The #1 argument against the html-based eBook is the concern  that writing
 could be grabbed and then subjected to unwanted editing. To allay this
 fear, I recommend using screen-shots for sensitive material. Screen shots
 can be (as in the example below) a jpg image of a text file.
.
 To illustrate this, I've converted the text--between the ~ ~ ~ into a
 screen shot. If your text size is at the default setting, it should appear
 almost identical. I'll continue along with the same line of thought.

  By comparison, the website is made of electrons and you can have one
 of your very own for as little as $17 per month. Compare this to the typical
 $1000-plus cost for a store or office.

 So then, why are so few e-commerce businesses successful? Of course
 the over-riding reason is folks don't possess the tenacity to do the required
 work--but a more interesting reason for a failed e-commerce business is
 the rigid "brick & mortar" thinking that blocks the website venue logic.

 That's what this eBook and the accompanying audio recording is about.
 I'll be adding more information on a daily basis. You can subscribe  using
 this RSS feed to be notified when I've made major changes.
  Carl Weisbrod

.

So that's it. Even with all the free stuff, I'm not going to starve. :)  Continue on to...

Essentials of E-Commerce!  This chapter is in-work and much of it is grabbed from my tutorials and earlier eBooks. As I work on this eBook I'm thinking "over-view." On the other hand, when I'm building a tutorial format, I'm careful not to leave out any steps. I may remove some of the information that seems a bit much for the scope of this chapter ...so you might want to put your brain corpsuckles into a "fast browse" mode.
If you don't have basic cut/paste/NotePad skills, this is a must to learn.  I'm using the Notepad found on my Windows XP Pro program. I used Notepad with my first operating system, Widows 95. I think it dates back at least to Windows 3.1, and perhaps back even to the first Microsoft programs of the late 1980s. Mac has an equivalent program and there many versions including open source programs that work well with Linux.

In a MS Windows program, if you click on start =>programs =>accessories ...you'll find Notepad. You can bring it up and resize so it looks almost exactly like this screen shot.
The instant you type one letter outside of Notpad's window, it will obediently scoot down to the taskbar and wait until you call it back up by clicking Untitled Notepad.

Notepad will accomplish two tasks better than any other program, so I always keep an unsaved Notepad tucked away on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

Go ahead and try it right now. If in Windows XP, click start =>all programs =>accessories. Find and click on Notepad. You can move and resize it so it doesn't completely cover up your primary file ...by holding down your left mouse button and using the <=> at the edges.  It will receive text (.txt) by using the cut & paste feature or by typing directly into the window. After you use it once, it will be included in the User box.

As I mentioned, when you're working on your primary file, Notepad will wait obediently at the bottom of your screen. It's perfect for temporary notes. I seldom save these files, but you can by clicking File => save => use desktop.

There is, however, an even more important use for Notepad:

The wonderful part of Notepad is not what it does but what it doesn't do. It doesn't recognize any code, HTML or otherwise. It recognizes only letters, numbers and the most basic symbols. Notepad does less than even an old-fashioned typewriter -- it can't even manage bold or underlining. Why, for heavensakes, is that such a good thing?

Before Netscape Composer (originally called Netscape Gold) Notepad was used by programmers to build HTML files by hand--a laborious process. A hint to this original use is Notepad's surprisingly efficient search/find system that seems a bit out of character for such a simple program.

It was, however, essential to find and make changes in the looooong source code files that were once created by hand in Notepad. If you click Edit =>Find you can root out any word or phrase even from huge files. After you set up the process, F3 will search the entire document for any word or phrase you choose.

Notepad more recently has been recruited for another use. WYSIWYG programs "want" to "write" only of their own code. If you paste or copy a document from (for example) Netscape Composer to Dreamweaver, some of that document will end up corrupted.

The best way to transfer a file from (for example) a webpage to a WYSIWYG  (HTML editor) is to first clean out 100% of the code. This can be done easily by pasting or copying the document first into Notepad and then to the WYSIWYG program. Of course you must then put back the bells & whistles.

If you want to have some fun and experience a little bit of digital history, try writing a simple html program in Notepad.
If you type in Notepad a text document and add HTML tags for, for example, colors and text formats and then change the file extension from .txt to .html (or .htm). it will show up in a browser complete with colors, italics, hyperlinks, and any other bells & whistles you code into the text.

This bit of knowledge is handy if you like to sell on the auction programs such as eBay. Although more recently, I've gotten lazy and do them in Composer, copy the code, and paste them over to the eBay box that now accepts the code from html editors. Earlier editions of eBay selling programs weren't friendly to direct transfers from a html editor to their programs.

One of the best things you can do for your readers is to offer a quick way to get find their way back to places of interest. Regular books have tables of contents in the front and indexes at the back. Using hyperlinks, the website or eBook can actually do indexing better than the old paper and glue book. The hard part, however, is finding and listing the terms you want to index. Most WYSIWYG programs will do something called a site map. It's the cyber-version of an index.

I like site maps, and find them useful in the larger websites, but I still prefer building a book-style index, and either reference listing by page number, or link them to the place that best explains the word or phrase.

Once again, Notepad comes in very handy. Since you will want to read and re-read your work anyway, keeping a Notepad on your toolbar is a natural. When you see something worthy of references, paste it to the Notepad and add a some kind location reference. I don't use page numbers, so I type something like this: S-1/C-5.  That tells me that the term or word is referenced at Section One, Chapter Five.

Step Two: It will help to high-light and paste Step Three instructions to Notepad and shrink it out of the way using the <=> arrows. Of course, you can jot everything down on paper, but using Notepad is good practice.

Step Three: Using the mouse, put the cursor in any blank space on your desktop and right-click. From the menu that arrives, choose New  Put the cursor next to the New and from the menu that pops up choose Folder  (with W-XP it's at the top). A Folder icon will appear on your desktop. You can change the name as long as the new Folder is high-lighted, but for practice, right click on the folder and choose rename. This will allow you to give your folder any name you choose. Name it something like MyWebsite. That kind of flows off the tongue,does it not?

Great! You now have the place (if you're working with me) that will soon hold your personal website.
To build your own website or weblog, along with an HTML Editor, you'll need a special software program, the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program.

For awhile I hated the acronym FTP. I had difficulty getting my treasured HTML and image (JPG and GIF) files from my computer to my WebHost's computer. It took a while, but I finally got friendly with FTP software. I might be able to spare you some of the pain I went through.

The first thing that drove me nuts is the confusing buttons and windows associated with FTP programs. Adding to that, my FTP programs wouldn't work until I supplied information I had no idea where to find. I finally found out that my webhost had some of it, and some of it I had supplied during my webhost sign up. There was hostname, username, a password, and the FTP Port.  "What the hell is an FTP Port?"

I learned the hard way that webhost tech people won't lend a hand with FTP programs -- they only help with their programs, and FTP programs isn't one of those. Don't worry, this lesson should answer most of your questions.

To start with, here are a few basics.

As I said above, FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. It's the standard method for downloading and uploading files between computers over the Internet. All major webhosts require FTP programs for website transfer.

You've probably already had some Windows or Macintosh downloading experience. Downloading happens when you add a program to your computer's hard drive. It may originate from a website or a friend's e-mail program. (In the latter case, the friend uploaded the file to you. Confused? This is how I remember the difference.
Downloading: Down a telephone pole (or satellite) to your computer.
Uploading: Up a telephone pole (or satellite) to another computer.

If you've sent email attachments, you've uploaded files. FTP is simply another method of doing these two computer functions. FTP programs can send large files very fast. They are also more secure than windows or e-mail systems.

For our purposes, I'll discuss FTP uploading, which is the standard method of sending a website to a webhost. Once your files are received, the webhost instantly puts it on-line. Webhosts store your files and put them online -- it's up to you to build them so they work online.

You can use FTP downloading to bring back files from your webhost if it's lost from your computer.

One of the best known FTP programs is called WS_FTP. There are others, such as CuteFTP and CoffeeCupFTP ...for heavensakes, who thinks up these names? I currently use Filezilla, a free open source program.

These programs are available on the Internet, or in your favorite computer store. The cost ranges from free to $70. Netscape/Mozilla Composer includes a free FTP program, but I've never had much success with it.

This is a list of information needed to upload your files.
- Domain name: All or part of your domain name--ask your WebHost
- FTP Address: (example: ftp://www.your registered name.com)
- Username: Chosen at sign-up with your WebHost
- Password: Chosen at sign-up with your WebHost
- FTP Port used by your WebHost (probably 20 or 21).
- Start Directory: This will usually remain blank

- This link http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=21558 will bring up a webpage containing the information pictured in the upper-left screen shot. If you can't figure how to download from this Filezilla homepage (it can be confusing), Snapfiles is a more user-friendly, and as a bonus, it has evaluations of other FTP programs. Filezilla is third from the top: http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/network/fwftp.html

Once you have your website files tucked away in your webhost's computers, they are very secure. If you loose your computer to fire, flood, or theft, you can resurrect everything with a replacement FTP program, and download copies to the replacement computer's hard drive. This is a website plus many don't realized.

If you haven't yet, you will want to sign up with a webhost and register your personal URL (usually, both are offered through the same program).

In the next lesson, I will introduce you to a great HTML editing program. You'll be amazed how easy it is to use... and it's FREE!
Mozilla Composer is a free open source WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). It's pronounced Wizzy Wig. It's probably better to call it a HTML Editor, because that's what it is. You'll need the Mozilla browser. Here's the link:
It's called "Mozilla Suite" because it's bundled with a couple of other programs.

Read  Section IV of my eBook,  From Zero To A WebSite, Vol II. [Note: Netscape Composer and Mozilla Composer are inter-changeable.]

Play around (practice) with Mozilla's Composer program and save the files in your desktop's folder. You can delete them when you're done.

Your first webpage will officially be something like this unclickable link:
http://www.Your Domain.com/index.html ...but when you save your fist file in Composer, use only index. This will be the default file that automatically opens when a basic URL is typed into the top window of any browser. The Index file will be linked directly or indirectly to every file within your website.

Think of the Index file as the hub of a wheel with the other files radiating outward as the spokes.

Typically, a first website will be made up of one HTML file called simply index. There are usually graphic files called JPG or GIF. In the example below, the graphic files are the red ones. My websites have grown over the years and have hundreds of several types.

This screen shot represents the smallest of my three websites. The first four icons are the html files and the red icons are image files. The brown icons are the audio files. and the final two are RSS/XML files.
PodcastWDS
Right Click (with XP) anywhere in your DeskTop and  from the menu  choose "new." then choose "folder." Change the "new folder" name to something like "My Website" or "Practice#1." This folder will eventually look something like the one directly above (Podcast WDS) ...gad, one of my folders has something approaching a thousand files. These files will hang out in this DeskTop folder waiting to be edited and then FTP'd off to your webhost.

Keep in mind that the first attempt should be for practice, so don't be concerned about quality. When you've completed the practice phase, simply delete it. Any files you want to keep, you can drag & drop them into the permanent file. It's easier to do that rather than attempting to clean up the mess that will be in this practice folder.

Now it's time to open your beloved HTML Editor (How exciting is that?!).
 
To get Composer on your DeskTop.When the classic Mozilla browser is open left-click "window" at the very top of the file ... then choose "composer." That will bring up Mozilla Composer on your DeskTop ...ready to start building your website or weblog.

The browser version will hang out underneath or you can delete it--your choice. A small screen shot is in position three with a much more readable screen shot below (untitled - Composer).

For an overview, I added this difficult-to-see shot of some icons and folders I keep on my DeskTop just. The top three folders are my three websites--Mozilla FireFox is top-left. Directly below is the older Mozilla browser that's bundled with Composer. Then there are some miscellaneous internet phone (VoIP) programs and a couple of mp3 players in the mix. The red thing that looks like a puzzle piece is my graphics program with a temporary storage folder along side.
A couple of years ago, Those rascals at AOL (who had purchased Netscape) dumped Composer from the browser. Not to worry... Mozilla (bless their open-source hearts) have the same basic program--other than a different color scheme, it's interchangable. So in this section, when you see Netscape, substitute the word Mozilla.

I grabbed (and resized) these two screen shots from one of my tutorials. It's the Mozilla version of the original Netscape Composer, aka Netscape Gold. Normally, the white space will be extended to fill up your computer's screen.
The third row is the familiar word processing controls: color, font size, styles, etc.
The bottom row toggles guidelines, tags, source code, and preview.

The instructions I'm typing in this space would represent Composer's uncluttered WYSIWYG window. It's pronounced whizzy-wig and is an acronym for "what-you-see-is-what-you-get".

A point to remember: There's magic that lies just beneath the surface of all HTML files. Later, I'll show you how to see the magic done for you by this magnificent program. If you haven't yet seen a "source code," you'll be amazed!

A window, such as this, is where your website or eBook will take shape. It will primarily be controlled by the "third row" word-processing tools. When you look at the real Netscape Composer program, you'll see many more functions, including a row of icons. I listed only the  most used functions and tools. When you look at the actual Netscape Composer you will find the following arrangement:

Top Row: has the familiar drop down menus used with many programs.
Middle Row: are icons somewhat unique for website development.
Bottom Row: are word processing tools similar, for example, to MS Word.

My example is less confusing than the real thing because, as in most Windows programs, there are redundant functions. I included only one of each so you won't get confused.

At the bottom of the big Composer window you'll see four additional boxes:
Most of the time, you'll leave it in [Normal]. If you click [Preview], you'll see your page without the guidelines. [HTML Source] lets you see the "source code" that I mentioned above. I've found only an occasional use for [Show All Tags].  All three of these options function use a toggle system so you can left-click from one to the other.

A tip: If you're going nuts because you can't see the guidelines for a "table," it's usually because you forgot to change the setting from [Preview] back to [Normal].

Clicking the [HTML Source] link will require the source code page to be closed and the page you were working on must be reopened.  Composer will always remind you when it's important to save your work, so it's not a big deal. Simply reopen Composer and then the file as you would normally.

Okay... now you know a bit about the web-place where you'll be spending some quality time. Here's a good thing to try. Grab a diskette, CD, or a DVD.

Click on the Composer icon (you don't need to be online). The Mozilla browser will come up and you want to be in Composer. Click Window (top right) and you'll see Composer in the drop down menu. If you have an older Netscape version, it might be under Tools. I promise, it's there somewhere.

Now, in the bottom row (the one for word-processing), you'll see two little overlapping boxes. Click on the lower one to bring up a color palette. Pick a background color.

After you have a background color, you need to create a box like the one I'm typing in as we speak.

First click Enter to stick in a space on top (you'll see why later). You can make a box like this in a couple of ways: either by clicking Insert+table or Table in the icon row. When the box pops up you'll see some options. Choose the Table tab (on the top), and type [1] for row and [1] for column. Then you need to choose if you want a boarder, how much spacing between tables, and how much padding[9], otherwise the text will crowd too close to the edge of the table.

In this example I used a border of [1], a spacing of [1], and a padding of [9]. This table is centered and takes up 80% of the page. I consider 80% the maximum. Any more and your website won't work well on small monitors and older laptops.

At first the table defaults to the color of the page... but by right clicking inside the table, a box will pop up with a bunch of options. Click background color.  If you get messed up, this box also has table delete so you can start over.

But what's with this "index" thing? It's because "index" is the universally accepted name for a website's opening page. You don't need to add the ".html"...Composer does that for you.

Let me straighten out a bit of confusion. The order that your files appear (as stored on your floppy or CD)  makes not one bit of difference. Files are organized not by location but by the hyperlinks that are tucked away in the source code. When you're sure your opening file is called "index.html", it doesn't make a difference what you name any additional files (as long as they're followed by .html or .htm). For a simple website you may only need an "index.html" opening file.

For this eBook, for example, you would see the file called index.html, and then files called SectionOne, SectionTwo, SectionThree, and so forth. You will also see files ending as .JPG or .GIF. These are the image or graphics files.

Can you have everything in one "index" file? Sure you can. Dividing files up is done for editing purposes and to save the WebSurfer the need to scroll down a too-long page. Imagine a standard book formatted on one loooong page.

To avoid confusion and for the opening page, when Composer asks you for a title, just type index. Later, for your opening page, you can go into the source code and change it there so it will reflect your work. It's especially important when someone adds your URL to their bookmarks or favorites file. So after you've completed your eBook or website, go into the source code and find (at the top) <title>index</title>. Backspace out whatever is between the <>s (probably index) and type in a more descriptive name. Save the change when prompted to do so. Don't worry, the real file name will remain "index.html."

Actually, I wanted you to follow the above procedure once for the experience, but there's a much easier way.

From Composer's top row, click Format and then Page Title & Properties. You will find a very useful box for a descriptive title that will only show up only on the title bar. Next, you can fill in your name as the author. For Description... this is for the meta tages to feed the google, yahoo search worms (a good kind of worm). Make the title short but descriptive. For description, type in all the words you think someone might type in a search engine when looking for something such as you have to offer. Let me repeat that none of this information from this box will alter the file name or show up in the body of your website. To find some examples, check a few source codes in my webpages (www.wdsLibrary.com). [Note: If you have AOL, you won't find a source code option, but you can bring up any website by [-] AOL and bringing up IE or Netscape's browser.]

Even though it's not a complete necessity, it's always good to spend some time looking at source codes.

Okay... either click View above + HTML source, or click the <HTML> Source box below. Take a look at the work Composer has done for you so far and say out loud "Thank you Composer!" If you were looking at the top of the source code of this very page, this is what you'd see:
<html>
<head>
<title> *index.html</title>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
<meta name="author" content="Carl Weisbrod">
</head> ...and on and on until it disappears past the bottom of your screen.
* This is the place you can change the title--but you can do it the easy way by using Format as described above.

When you're ready, you can retype a descriptive title as described above. I usually save this step as the last thing I do. If you forget, no big deal, you can change it any time. But be a little careful, If you go stomping around in the source code, you can really screw things up. If you do type in the wrong places, be sure not to save it.

But otherwise, get in the habit of saving your work whenever you make major changes. This saving happens, not in your computer, but within your storage source. Netscape Composer will seldom crash, but if it does, the saved work on your storage source (CD, DVD, etc.) is safe. Not saved material, on the other hand, will be lost forever.

Again, to save your work, click the little save icon (second row), or click File + Save (top row).

One last point: From a computer's vantage point, your new website will be floating around on browsers and search engines, but your the only one that can change your WebSite, and you can do that as often as you want. Do you feel a bit of power from this? You should!

Adding links (images, email, & URLs) Adding images with Composer is easy. The more difficult part is creating the images to begin with. On second thought, that's not too difficult either.

Most of your images and snapshots will be made into JPG or GIF files. That's because these files are compressed, load fast, and are readily accepted by HTML files.

JPG is the larger of the two and almost always used for photographs, while GIF files are used for things such as drawings, graphs, or charts. Usually  clip art is a GIF file.

GIF or .gif (Graphics Interchange Format) is pronounced like it looks (as in Jiff peanut butter). Even though , redundant sometimes it's referred to as GIF Format. A GIF file is very small and downloads almost instantly.

A JPG, JPEG or .jpg file is pronounced Jay-Peg. It's an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group (the E is usually dropped).

When you scan, copy, or add an image with a digital camera, you get to choose the name, but you must be certain the extension is either .jpg or .gif.

When you know the images or photographs you want on your Website or eBook, simply scan, copy, or digitally toss them in with your HTML files. Once again, order  means nothing. It only needs to reside on your floppy or CD file. Once there, you can link it exactly where you want it.

There are a couple of approaches to have your images fit as you want them. To have them snuggle up against your text, there are tools for that.

The usual approach I use is to make a special table/box to lock an image in place. Using a table with two columns, you can put an image in one and text in the other. If you choose -0- for padding and border options there will be no visible traces of the table.

Remember, if you put a table at the top or bottom of a page, always add one space. You can remove it later.

The next step is simple: Leave the cursor where you want the image, and choose Insert+Image (or you can click the image icon).

You will have a number of options, but the main thing is to click around until the box appears on-screen with your files. Be sure the correct name is in the top window (CD or Floppy). If you don't see your GIF or JPG files, be sure "All Files" is in the box at the bottom.

Left click on your image, click Open, and shazam! ...your image appears where you left the cursor. Unless deleted, it will remained linked to that location. Remember though, it's not really there, but remains stored where it has always been. When the page comes on-screen, the linked image simply pops up at the speed of light.

For an email link in composer high-light the linking word or phrase, click Link in the icon row or Insert+Link and type: mail to: (no space) followed by your email address. If you want something in the subject line, follow the email address with "?subject=" and then the word or two you want to appear in the subject line. In the source code it will look like this:
<A HREF="mailto:askcarl39@aol.com?subject=eBook">

For a URL link, it's about the same: click Link in the icon row or Insert+Link in the top row and then simply type the full URL (http://www.yata-yata.com).

To set hyperlinks when you have more than one file, click link (second row, right side), choose file, and click the file you want to link to.

To link within a page: click insert, then named anchor. An anchor will appear where you left the cursor. Composer will ask you to name the anchor, which will end up in a drop-down menu. From there, when you want a link within a page, click link and the down arrow to choose the anchor location.

A final note on the above material. All of this will be covered in the audio recording and, of course, we will go over it together on our respective computers by telephone.

On-Line Techniques: Folks that have been on-line for awhile still get frustrated. It's usually because they haven't quite got a solid grasp of on-line basics. If that's a problem, this tutorial will help you become un-confused.

This super-basic tutorial is written to be sent through your e-mail program. I've done it this way because one of the first things a new on-line person learns is how to send and receive e-mail.

Also, this no-frills text copy can be easily be converted to a Hard-Copy, i.e.,  printed on old-fashioned paper.

Let's start with this. Once you are on-line, you can send information (sometimes referred to as data, or a "document") a number of ways. One way is through your e-mail program. E-mail programs are usually given given to you by your ISP. (Oops! Here comes the ol' acronyms). ISP  =  Internet Service Provider. You can also get free e-mail programs from companies such as Yahoo and Hotmail.

Backing up, there are also a number of ways you can go on-line. An early method is called dial-up. With dial-up, you are connected to the World Wide Web using your telephone line and a modem. This method uses fifty-year old technology first used with the FAX machine. When connecting with dial-up, you probably here those weird "beeps and squawks" of a FAX line. With dial-up virus protection is necessary, and it's not a bad idea have something called a "FireWall."

Another way, still using your telephone line, is called a DSL system -- DSL = Digital Subscriber Line. A DSL connection is much faster than dial-up and (unlike dial-up) is automatically on the instant you fire-up your computer.. The downside is it kind of unlocks your computer to the "digital jerks." So, along with good virus protection, you must have fire-wall system. Both virus protection and fire-walls are purchased and downloaded to computer's operating system.

Another common system is sent through the cable system. Cable uses the infrastructure originally designed for television programming. A common program is put out by the RoadRunner folks. For cable, you need a fire-wall system. There are satellite systems, but don't worry about those for now.

I usually recommend starting with a dial-up. It's much cheaper and often more reliable. The downside: Even if you spend the ten bucks for the high speed version, it's very slow, and the graphic quality is generally not as good as DSL or cable. Sound and video programs are often compromised.

Purists shun dial-up in favor of DSL or cable. I had cable for several years, but regressed to dial-up when the local cable company did not provide a reliable connection and, when the system did go down, I had to spend hours with annoying tech support folks. Dial-up almost never goes down, and security problems (viruses, etc.) are much less frequent. For me, reliability is far more important than speed

It will make more sense if you think of the internet as the place that has websites. Websites are more interactive than your email system, and (a real plus) seldom become contaminated with viruses and the other computer junk.

In general, e-mail is offered by your ISP. Websites are put online by companies called webhosts. Granted, ISPs sometimes offer a little website space, but if you're serious about having a website, you will want to spend the five to ten bucks per month and hire the services of a webhost.

Of course you don't need a website or a webhost to do what's called "surfing the net." Even, with the most basic computer and ISP connection, you can literally look at tens-of-millions of websites. You can pay for items using an on-line check or credit card. You can purchase almost anything on-line -- I once saw a surplus aircraft carrier for sale.

Here's a problem that might seem strange at first. The operating system in your computer has been "trained" to automatically recognize URLs. To make it even more confusing, you don't need to type the full URL--even the most basic e-mail program will recognize a URL, link it, and your browser will fill in the omitted information.

It's important to remember this about URLs: The body needs to be reproduced exactly. Your browser is happy to fill in the www's and http's, but it's very fussy about the body of the URL, including the DotComs, DotNets, or DotEdus at the end.

Okay, that's enough for now. You can contact me using the email link in the table of contents.

Getting It Together: I'm adding information to this chapter as we speak.
In truth, webmastering is no more difficult than writing letters with MS Word or WordPerfect.

Not that many years ago, websites needed to be written with a code called HTML (HyperText Markup Language). Don't worry. Becoming fluent in this computer language hasn't been necessary for years. If you're browser is Internet Explorer or Firefox, you can click around at the top of the browser until you find source or source code ...you can then see this very page in html. If you don't want to take the time, you would see something like this screen shot.
It looks impossible to comprehend at first, but after awhile the mystery will start to dissolve. Find cell spacing, cell padding, and 60% above. You will soon learn the meaning of these terms and numbers. There are color codes that will gradually become familiar. You will work a bit with these <title></title> tags.

But, repeating myself, you don't need to know much HTML as long as you have good old Netscape Composer doing this boring stuff for you.

If you were to scroll further down, more of the following kind of tags would start to emerge.

You would see, for example <br>, which is html for a page break, <p> means start a new paragraph. <u> tells the browser to underline, and <i> is for italic. To turn these codes off you simply put a slash in front </u> or </i>. When you see something between < >, it's called a html tag. Of course there are hundreds of these tags, but most of them are logical.

As in all websites, this that you're reading is written entirely in html code, but I didn't type in even one html tag. In this case, Mozilla Composer did the hard work, and you can have that same program... and, for heavensakes, it's FREE!

Just for fun, would you like to demystify this html thing? Follow these simple steps:
(1) We can use these html tags: <font color=red> <h1> <u> </u> <br>
(2) Click start (bottom-left), then programs=> accessories =>Notepad
(3) With the left mouse button, make the widow fit on the right side of this screen.
(4) Type <font color=red><h1> type in a few words. Put <u> and </u> around a word,
type more words and <br> add a few more words (the tags must be typed exactly).
(5) Click file=>save (get desktop in the pop-up menu & again click save). Exit Notepad.
(6) If you minimize this page [-], you should see a new icon on your desktop that looks like a little white book.
(7) Right click on that icon and choose rename from the pop-up menu.
(8) Change it from .txt to .html
(9) Click on the icon and it will ask "are you are sure?" Choose yes and the icon will change.
(10) Open a Netscape or Internet Explorer window and reduce it. By holding down the left mouse button, slide your icon into the window... and Wow! You're a html programmer!

If you want to practice doing more html stuff, (1) high-light the above , (instructions) hold down the Ctrl key and hit the letter C. Next (3) bring up Notepad and put the cursor inside again hold down Ctrl and hit the V key. Click file=>print.

Here's some more html code you can play with: Font Size: <h1><h2><h3><h4>
Colors: <font color=green> <font color=blue> <font color=red>
Paragraph: <p> To center text: <p align=center> to undo </p>

If this gets you hooked, there's no need to spend money on a book. If you go to Google and type "learn html," you will find all kinds of free html courses. Here's one to paste into your browser:
But anyway, all this is academic. It's lotsa fun to learn a little html, and if you sell through the auction sites, such as eBay , it's a valuable skill. For a website, however, you don't need to memorize even one html tag... especially since you will have the list I'm about to provide.

Here's a brief list of the boring HTML stuff referred to as tags.

The first on the list is the start tag and the one with the </> means to stop the process. In some cases there is no </> and that's because a stop much be made by starting another process, as, for example in the color tags. HTML code can be written in upper or lower case. It doesn't matter.

If you decide to develops some HTML skills, you could develop the ability by pasting your Composer source code over to Notepad and making alterations by changing or adding codes.

If you want to develop these skills, I think the best approach is to make a sample page to play with. It's better to not start off making changes in your important work. One bad link can mess up an entire file. For example, if you underline something with a simple <u> tag and forget the </u> the entire file will end up underlined! Here's the basics:
<html></html> This simply tells the computer than html code will follow
<head></head> Sets off information that isn't visible on-screen
<body></body> This starts/stops the visible part of your webpage or eBook
<title></title> This is a code you'll need to recognize.
<body bgcolor=?> This will