That's okay, you will know soon enough. If you are reading this page, there is a good chance that you are either new to the Web, or finally decided that you should do something with that page space that comes with your Internet service account. The most important thing to do at this point is to just stop and take a deep breath. BigNoseBird.Com was created for the novice to intermediate webmaster. In a way, that includes all of us for this is a new and evolving medium. It provides ways for webmasters to improve their skills, and their web sites. It does assume that you know enough HTML to print your name on a web page. Please take a moment to read this page, and don't forget to BOOKMARK this site for future reference! Creating web pages is actually not a complicated process. Figuring out what you want to put on them, well that's another story. Let's take a look at some fears or concerns you might be having. I went to the bookstore and there are a million books about HTML 3.0, HTML 3.2, HTML 4.0, JAVA, CGI-BIN, and so forth. Each book is about 1000 pages of computerese. Do I have to know all of this stuff? Absolutely not! There is a rule in life that in any given undertaking, that 90% of what you set out to do can be done with 10% of the effort. This rule of diminishing returns applies to webmastery as well. HTML is nothing more than a text formatting language that is in fact, not a programming language. It actually very much like an old word processing program that was popular before the days of Windows. This site is actually constructed using very simple and basic HTML. Of course, not everything in webmastering can be accomplished without programming, but the odds are that you can master the basics of presenting your information in an attractive way very quickly. I selected View Document Source while looking at some pages, and it looks like complete gibberish. There is no way you are going to convince me that this is simple. Even the stuff in the books and the stuff you have here looks like Greek. Let's face it, if you don't understand the most basic facts about something, its going to look weird. You have no framework to view it from. We think the saying about learning to walk before trying to run is appropriate here. By looking straight at the source code (html instructions) you are going to feel overwhelmed. I'm scared that my first pages will be so simple and plain that everyone will know I am an amateur. This is a major misconception. The hallmark of an amateur is a page that has every web trick in the world on it. The page also usually has nothing to say, but the author thinks it looks cool. What should my page look best in? If you keep your pages clean and stick to the basics, it will look great on anything. Microsoft and Netscape make lots of money. Why do you have to advertise their products? Worse yet, you could offend the person using another browser- even if it looks just as good on the program they are using. What do I need to do to get started? I don't know even know where to put my pages, or how to get them there. Here is what you need to do first. Check the home page for your internet service provider and look for their technical support page. There is usually a set of instruction for accessing the home page areas. A lot of these companies provide very simple, clearly written instructions, if for no other reason than to hold down the number of support calls they have to cope with. They probably will also have some basic HTML lesson material and links to various site. The odds are, I won't be there, so Please bookmark this site now! If you like what you see here, maybe you could write your internet service provider and ask them to add BigNoseBird.Com to their list of information sites. I really want to do those cool fill in the blank forms and stuff. Can I do that right now? No, not yet. Remember that we must first get the walking down, then worry about running. What should be my focus right now? Content, general design and layout, and what your objectives are. Do not allow the challenge of learning new skills get in the way of what is truly important. Please be sure to read the Design Guidelines page.