If you want to build your first Web page then you can either find yourself a good HTML editor, or you can crack open either Notepad or WordPad and type your HTML code by hand. If you have a really good understanding of the various HTML tags and what they do, it’s entirely possible to build a complete Web site with little more than a text editor like Notepad.If you want to build your first Web page then you can either find yourself a good HTML editor, or you can crack open either Notepad or WordPad and type your HTML code by hand. If you have a really good understanding of the various HTML tags and what they do, it’s entirely possible to build a complete Web site with little more than a text editor like Notepad. Most Webmasters, however, prefer the “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) approach of feature-rich HTML editors like Macromedia’s Dreamweaver or Microsoft’s FrontPage. You should probably use a WYSIWYG editor for most Web site design or editing jobs, but be prepared to crack open your Web pages with Notepad from time to time in order to make small tweaks to the code.

If you’ve never built a Web page before, or if you’re not terribly familiar with HTML codes, the first item on your “To-Do List” for today should be to start familiarizing yourself with HTML tags. Of course I could list them all here and talk about what they do and how they work, but what’s the point? TheAdultWebmaster.com has been offering its HTML glossary for some time now:

TAW’s Free HTML Glossary.

You might want to make it a point to hit this glossary up once per week until you’re comfortable with all of the basic HTML tags that are detailed there. If you find HTML tags confusing, then have a little faith and don’t despair; the truth is, HTML tags are actually quite simple and couldn’t be less confusing, so it won’t take long for you to get the hang of how they work. Your confusion is stemming only from the fact that you’re trying to learn a new concept. Time and exposure will easily cure this woe.

Still, most of the work you do on Web pages will involve a handy-dandy WYSIWYG editor application, and in these instances you won’t need to understand how HTML tags work. Think of these editors as doing for HTML what Microsoft Word does for the standard word processor document. You can use an HTML editor to insert pictures, tables, backgrounds, change colors and fonts, add text – how the Web page looks on your screen is, hopefully, how it will look on the Web.

I say “hopefully” because not all HTML editors are perfect, and how a Web page looks to any given surfer will depend on variables such as that viewer’s local display settings and the browser package he or she is using. In other words, a page that looks perfect in your HTML editor’s preview mode might not look perfect to all users on the Web once that page is published online, but you can always test your page by viewing it with various different browsers and at various different display settings in an effort to maximize the number of viewers who will see the page as you intend.

The best way to get comfortable with an HTML editor is to choose one and start playing around with it. Hands-on is the best way to learn any computer application. Here are a few possibilities in terms of commonly used HTML editors:

Microsoft FrontPage 2003. This package will set you back about $200 for a full version. Some Webmasters love Microsoft, others have Microsoft issues. Only you know how happy you are with this company’s products and services. If you like Microsoft products and you have a few hundred bucks to spend then FrontPage might be your best choice.

Macromedia Dreamweaver. Many Webmasters swear by Dreamweaver, and it’s the application that’s taught in a number of universities across the country. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a full version of Dreamweaver costs about $400, which isn’t chump change these days. But wait, before you move on to the next choice, keep in mind that if you’re a student at any college or university then you can legally qualify for the “education” discount and pick up the full version of Dreamweaver for about $100. Also, a 30-day trial version of Dreamweaver is available for download – but what’s the point unless you can seriously consider buying a full version at a later date.

Adobe GoLive. Some developers are comfortable with Adobe products, since most professional designers use at least Adobe’s Photoshop for creating and editing most Web graphics. Adobe also makes other popular graphics applications, like Illustrator and Premiere. When it comes to HTML design, the main Adobe product is GoLive. Like Dreamweaver, GoLive costs about $400 for the full version, has a 30-day trial download, and can be had for considerably less if you’re a student. The biggest advantage to GoLive is its integration with other Adobe products.

Netscape Composer / Mozilla. Feeling cheap? There are several free HTML editors available for your enjoyment. If you don’t have any money to spend on a professional HTML editor then your best bet is to download the Mozilla browser suite from Mozilla.org and try out the Composer editor that comes free with the free browser. If you don’t have it already then you definitely should install the Mozilla browser on your computer anyway since you’ll need it to test your Web pages for Mozilla users. The Composer element of the Mozilla suite is not a powerful HTML editor, but it can get the job done – and it gives the curious a chance to see what Web design is all about before investing heavily in an expensive professional design package. In case there’s any confusion, “Mozilla” and “Netscape” are essentially one and the same – for our purposes, you can consider them the same entity.

That’s the basic information that you need to get started with HTML design. Before bothering to learn more advanced topics like creating and editing graphics or using FTP to upload your Web site, use the information in this article to give yourself a solid foundation. Try building some text-only pages with whatever HTML editor that you choose. You can build pages like a personal biography or even your online resume, or try building a page with your favorite recipes. If you want to try something with an adult flavor, try building a sex stories Web site. Building text sites, for starters, will allow you to experiment with heading tags, fonts, colors, tables, and hyperlinks.

Once you have built a basic Web page, try saving it to your desktop and then opening it with Notepad. Looks a little different, doesn’t it! See if you can make some changes to the page using only Notepad (or any other text editor) without messing up the page!

Spend some time playing around with your editor and familiarizing yourself with HTML tags and you’ll be on your way to possessing the skills you need to make money with online adult entertainment. Experience is the only thing standing in your way!

Connor Young is Editor-in-Chief of both YNOT News and TheAdultWebmaster.com.