Creating a Web Page

Can you really create a Web page in a matter of minutes? You betcha. Although the templates and reasons for creating a Web page may vary, the process remains largely the same, no matter what type of page you create. And that's the great thing about your .Mac accountit provides a bunch of templates and does all the dirty work for you; all you need to do is provide the pictures or movies you want to show off, and write some text describing what you're publishing.

It goes something like this: When publishing a page using .Mac and HomePage, you log in to the HomePage section of the .Mac Web site; select a template to use as a starting point for your page; connect pictures, movies, or files on your iDisk to the template; write some text for your page; and publish it.

Don't worryI'll go over these steps in detail. Publishing a Web page with HomePage isn't a long processwith a little practice, you can put a photo album on the Web in 10 minutes or less.

I'll describe how to upload files such as pictures and movies for your Web pages, which templates are available, and how to create Web pages using the HomePage tool.

HomePage versus iWeb

While it's not an eternal question along the lines of paper or plastic, one thing you should grapple with early is, "Should I use HomePage or iWeb?" Don't worrywe'll cover both.

HomePage is built into .Mac, it's super-easy to use, and you're able to work with it using a Web browser. It walks you through the creation process in a step-by-step fashion, so use HomePage if you're new to publishing pages (or if you don't have iLife '06).

iWeb is a stand-alone application that you can use to build just about any Web page you like. While iWeb's templates make it easy to get started, the application is a good deal more powerful and flexible than HomePage. Use iWeb if you want to diverge from the HomePage templates and feel more confident about creating your own pages. One thing to note although iWeb will give you more freedom, it still won't give you business-site features, such as a shopping cart or purchase processing. For those, you'll have to find a good Web hosting company.