Step 1:
Create you home page with an Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) editor on your local computer. You can find shareware software on the Internet or you can purchase a commercial editor. (Visit the Resource page for a list of Software Libraries and Archive) 

Most editors help you with the internal codes that the browser uses to format your page, these codes sometimes become very cryptic and require some knowledge of HTML . Some commercial software packages include a feature called WYSWIG that does all the codes for you, this of course is the best solution for inexperienced users. Another way is to go to your local book store and purchase a HTML reference book. The latest versions of WYSWIG editors are available as add-on or are included with the newer Web browsers. 

These WYSWIG editors are included in the following applications:
Front Page Express - Internet Explorer Full version 5.0
Netscape Composer - Netscape Communicator Full version 4.x

Step 2:
Test your web pages on your local computer before transferring them to your host for publishing, this can be done by viewing them with your web browser. 

Place all you graphics and html files in the same directory for simplicity. Another option that is recommended is to create seperate folders for each part of the website which should include a folder for ead category or section of your page, and an Image folder to store your graphics.  When building the page, save all your final images into one folder called images, then reference the image using the HTML to the images folder.

Once files and images are on the server they become very difficult to edit or change if they are not properly organized. 

Make sure all pages and graphics are working correctly before continuing. Pages that don't work generate a large amount of errors. 

Step 3:
You will need an File Transfer Protocal (FTP) program to transfer files from you computer to your home directory on the host server which will display your web pages. (Visit the Resource page for a list of Software Libraries and Archive)

Windows 95 has an FTP program bundled with it but is very difficult to use. We suggest downloading a graphical version that is mostly drag and drop, these programs are also available on the Internet for Windows 95/98/NT, Windows 3.1X, LINUX, Macintosh and OS2. 

Most items you need to create your own web page can be found in the Resource section of the ICOM users home page. 

Using FTP

Start an ftp session to www2.icomnet.comor 206.156.67.3

Your user ID or login and password will be required to connect. 

Change to your home directory with the following command.
cd /users/home/"YOUR LOGIN HERE"/ . You can verify that your in the right place by typeing the pwd command. This will show something simillar to the following.

Example: "/users/home/ici0000" is current directory.

Next You MUST create a public_html directory in your home directory. Once you are sure that you are in your home directory (using the pwd command). 
Type mkdir public_html to create your html directory.

Make sure that you use the _ instead of the - when creating your public_html directory.

Change to the directory you just created. This can be done with the cd command. Type in cd public_html or use your ftp program to change to this directory. Run the pwd and you should see something simillar to this.
Example: "/users/home/ici0000/public_html" is current directory.

Under the public_html you can upload your homepage and graphics to this directory. Your main page MUST be called index.html for it to be displayed in the list of homepages. 

If your main file is not called index.html you will need to rename it with rename command or use your ftp program to do so for your page to come up automaticaly.
 

Publishing Tips and Rules

• Do not make your page to long, separate them to other pages. 
• Do not exceed you allowed Web space of 2MB or you could be charged extra 
• Do not put large graphics which take a long time to load. 
• Your root directory is http://www2.icomnet.com/~login_name/ not /users/home/...etc 
• Create your pages without full paths (i.e. /~login_name/ ) to make it simple. 
• You cannot advertise or profit from your published page. 
• Absolutely NO obscene language or pornographic material allowed. 
• Excessive hit or visits to your page may be limited.