Q. So if I want to make Web pages, do I have to learn a computer language?

A. No, although a little dabble may be of use in the long run. In the old days we did all our HTML coding by hand in notepad. These days you'd use Web editing software. With a Web editor you can see what you are doing as you go along. If you want your page background yellow you click 'background.. yellow'. The HTML is all going on in the background. You end up with the same result but you never need know what an HTML tag even looks like. These days. It's a doddle.

Q. What's the difference between a GIF and a JPG

A. Internet browsers such as Netscape and Explorer view two different image file types. These are JPG's and GIF's. these are both compression formats designed with file size in mind. They both use a different method of compression and a basic understanding of this will help you decide which is right for each particular graphic you prepare. In short, and this is all you really have to know, GIF's compress the file size by reducing the amount of colours in a picture or graphic, a GIF can be between 2 colours (black & white and 256 colours (some graphics software only gives you the choice between 2,16 or 256 colours). JPG's always use the 16 million colour palette but reduces file size by blurring areas of similar colour together and remembering these blocks, rather than each individual pixel. GIF's are best suited to spot colour graphics for example text or simple logos. JPG's are best suited to photographic images. These aren't hard and fast rules but will save you lot of time experimenting. Click here for examples

Q. When I'm building a Web page, when would I use tables?

A. All the time. Using tables you can choose pretty much exactly where you want things to appear on your Web page. You can change the background colour of your table and the background colour of the cells within it. This can be used to great effect to add a little design and colour to your page without requiring the download of hefty graphics for example on this page, the blue bars under these questions and the blue column and menu to the left.

Q. What's USENET

A. Basically it's a huge information exchange forum made up of specific groups of special interest. The whole thing is made up entirely by contributions, or postings from it's users. There are approximately 20,000 different areas, called newsgroups available within this massive modern day phenomenon. It's a researcher's dream, if there's something you want to know ask those helpful people on Usenet. The are hundreds of thousands.. no millions of informed people just waiting to share their specific knowledge with you, and all you have to do is ask! Politely that is!! And it's all free!!! This is the place to shout you message to the world at the top of your voice. Here you can let your own personal feelings be known and hear the views of others. In short it works like this.. you find the newsgroup title which looks closest to fitting the bill for what you want to learn or say. You sign on to it using your mail software, and every time you go on-line all the postings to that particular group are downloaded by you to read off-line. In your own time, you make your reply to previous postings, or start a new subject line, called a thread, and next time you go on-line, your posting goes off and all the new ones come back. It's usually a good idea to read the postings only for a few days when you sign on to a new group, this is to get the feel of it as they all seem to hold their own character. Hanging around like this is called lurking and feels like listening to a telephone chat line without speaking but in this case it's a good idea to do it. You want your posting to get a favorable reply and it's not a good idea to upset anyone if you can help it. Q. How do I get my site to come up in the search engines A. There are many different ways of publicising or 'propagating' your site on the Internet itself. A good place to start is with the major searchers and indexes. If you are looking for information on the web, but don't have an address to follow, searches and indexes would be natural places to start looking. It therefore follows that you should let them know of your existence so that they may lead people to you. Most searches have an option to submit your URL. This is relatively easy, but can be very time consuming as there are many such engines, some faster and more efficient than others. Before you start, have descriptions, key words, URL, and e-mail address typed up and ready to cut and paste to save time online. A good way of getting searches to find and recommend your site is with the use of 'meta-tags' with a list of key words and description that best describes your site. This is hidden within the source code of your page and is not displayed in the browser. Lot's more to come on this page.. Come again soon.