Virtual Middle School Library Home

Freeware, Shareware, and Commercial Programs for Writing Web Pages

• Bare Bones Software - Producers of BBEdit which is a program for the Macintosh which may be used to write web pages.
• HTML Editors - Yahoo's list.

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Browsers

• Browser News - News and download site. There is also helpful information on writing pages which are compatible with all browsers. Please remember that your web site should work with more than one browser.

General Guides to Creating Web Pages with HTML

• Web Style Guides
  • Web Page Design - The emphasis here is on the layout of the page and not on writing the HTML.
  • Writing Good Web Page Content - An article by Larisa Tomason for NetMechanic.
  • Test Your Website - a 57 point checklist for testing the usability of your web site. From Virtual Hosting.
  • Usable Web - Index of web sites and articles which are helpful in planning a useful, usable web site.
  • Usability.gov - A US government web site which will assist in writing clear and understandable web sites. There are also guides to testing the usability of your web site.
• Writing HTML
  • W3 Schools - A very good way to learn HTML, CSS, and many other topics in web page writing. There are very good examples here.
  • HTML 4.01 Specifications
  • W3C HTML Page - This is where to find the latest word on HTML from the World Wide Web Consortium. There are also links to tutorials.
  • The Bare Bones Guide to HTML - Here is where you can get a list of all the tags in the current version of HTML.
  • Building Web Pages with HTML 5 - HTML 5 is not here yet, but it is coming sometime in the future. This is a guide from Web Monkey.
  • The Top 100 Web Development Cheat Sheets - All kinds of help for writing HTML, CSS, and lots more.
  • DOCTYPES - A line at the top of your page which tells browsers and validators what to expect. This is information from Browser Watch.

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Cascading Style Sheets

• Learning CSS - Links to many articles and tutorials on Cascading Style Sheets. By W3C.
• Adding a Touch of Style - An introduction to the use of cascading style sheets.
• Getting Started with Cascading Style Sheets - A tutorial for beginners.
• StyleMaster - A Macintosh and Windows shareware program which will help you understand and write cascading style sheets.
• Cascading Style Sheets, Level 1 - The official document from W3C.

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XML and XHTML

• HTML Tidy - A free program for cleaning up your HTML and converting it to XHTML.
• W3C Validator - Will check your newly edited XHTML document.
• XHTML Guidelines - Guidelines for version 1.0 from W3C.

Graphics and Backgrounds.

• Graphics Search Engines
  • Clip Art Search Engines - This is an all-in-one search page for icons, graphics, and sound files. Search sites include HotBot, Lycos, and Filez.
• Sites which list other graphics sites
  • Web Clip Art - From About.Com. Many, many links to clip art collections.
• Individual graphics sites
  • 50 Best Free Tools To Create Perfect Color Combinations - From the Smashing Aps site.
  • ZSPC Super Color Chart - A great help for choosing background and text colors for your web pages.
  • Complete HTML Color Chart
  • CoolText Online Graphics Generator - A great place to design a cool logo for your site (for free).
  • Clip Art Warehouse - Good for icons and smilies.
  • Cool Clips - Free clip art.
  • Soo-Hyoung's Library Clip Art - Clip art for libraries and reading.
  • Library & Media PR - A good source of library graphics.
  • Mr. Donn's List of Free History and Holiday Clip Art
  • Classroom Clip Art - A large collection of graphics which may be used by students and teachers for noncomercial purposes.
  • KidsDomain Clip Art - Good clip art for schools and holidays.
  • Awsome Clip Art for Educators - Good holiday graphics.
  • Philip Martin's Free Clip Art - Good for educational web sites.
  • Wise Gorilla - Free clip art for education and for world religions.
  • Discovery School Clip Art - Clip art for reports and web pages. Do read the conditions for use.
  • School Clip Art - Free clip art for educators and students.
  • The Icon Archive - Lots of free icons.
  • Clip Art ETC - Clip Art from the Florida Educational Technology Clearing House.
  • Civil War Clip Art
  • Absolute Background Texture Archive - a very large number of background.
  • Clip Art 101 - If you can't tell a JPEG from a GIF, this is a good article from Education World

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Imagemaps, Forms, Frames, Java, etc.

• Frame Tutorial - How to put frames on your page.
• Java Boutique - A good source of Java applets.
• The Java Script Source - A Cut and Paste Java library.

Counters, Search Engines, and Other Goodies to Add to Your Web Site

• Atomz - A free search engine for your site.
• Stat Counter - An excellent way to track visitors to your web site. Basic statistics are free.
• Analytics Toolbox: 50+ More Ways to Track Website Traffic - Many ways to see who is visiting your site.
• Google Gadgets for Web Masters - News, games and other goodies to add to your site.
• How to Embed Almost Anything in Your Website - video, music, maps and more. This site is by Digital Inspiration.
• How to Build a Web Site with Free Stuff - By the Web Developers Virtual Library.

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Checking for Errors

• W3C HTML Validation Service - Check your pages for HTML 4.0 compatibility.
• Validation of Cascading Style Sheets
• AnyBrowser.Com - Check your HTML and links. This site also has links to free graphics and other page building resources.
• IE NetRenderer - If you are writing your page with a Mac, you may use IENetRenderer to see how it will look in Internet Explorer.
• Browsrcamp - If you are a PC user, use Browsrcamp to see how your web site will look on a Mac.
• 25 Freebie Website Accessibility Checkers - From Virtual Hosting.com.

Links to all the page writing resources that you could possibly need

• Web Design Reference - this site has information and links to tools for web design.
• The Web Developers Virtual Library - Articles on every aspect of writing a web site.
• Web Reference - Well organized source for all your page writing needs.
• Webmonkey - Articles, tips, tutorials. By HotWired

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Promoting Your Site

If you want others to find your site, you should submit your URL to a number of different search engines and subject indexes. You can submit to each one separately or use one of the announcement services.

• 131 (Legitimate) Link Building Strategies - How to properly promote your web site. This is an article by Chris Sherman of Search Engine Watch.
• Search Engine Submission Tips - by Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch.
• Who Links to Me? - Find out who is linking to your site.

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This site is maintained by Linda Bertland, school librarian. Please address any comments, additions, or corrections to info@sldirectory.com.