Tools
HTML
HTML General Reference
htmlib.com
Home of the HTML Reference Library, a must have, desktop reference available for free use.
The World Wide Web Consortium
The "horses mouth". The W3C writes the specifications for HTML versions. There is a wealth of knowledge here for the browsing.
MSDN Web Workshop
Microsoft's Internet Explorer-centric Webstravaganza. Oooh! Ask the DHTML Dude!
Netscape's HTML Tag Reference
All the tags supported by Netscape Navigator version 4.0 and earlier.
WDG - Web design Group's HTML 4.0 Reference
This is the reference linked to from the 1st Page 2000 HTML Editor. A handy bookmark.
Meta Tags
Submit Corner
Reviews and comparisons of the top search engines with free online tools to help optimize your Web site.
WDG - Web design Group's Metadata Page
A technical description of HTML 4.0's Meta element for metadata.
Web Writing Style
CIO - Web Writing Style Resources
A great list of resources to help you hone your Web writing skills.
Page Design
Yale Web Design Style Guide
Good information on the principals of Web Design.
Accessible Web Page Design
A list of resources that may be helpful in creating pages that are truly accessible to people with disabilities.
Web Pages That Suck
Where you learn good Web design by looking at bad Web design.
Shire.net - Various Browsers
Follow the links at the top of this page for a quick overview of some important compatibility issues.
HTML Editors, Validators and Tools
HTML Editors
First Page v2.0 from Evrsoft
Formerly called 1st Page 2000, this is a lot of software for the price (free!). A new version is expected to be released in April 2001.
Allaire Homesite v4.5
This is the best text based HTML editor available for the Windows operating system. You can download a 30 day trial copy here.
CSS Editors
Bradsoft TopStyle
You can download a free "nag-ware" version of this excellent style sheet editor and learn a lot about style sheets at the Bradsoft site.
Validators
TagCheck
A free and easy-to-use desktop tags validator.
WDG HTML Validator
Web based free validation service and information on validation issues.
WDG CSSCheck
Validate your style sheets by copying and pasting or giving the URL of your external style sheet file.
FTP clients
WS_FTP95 LE
This is Ipswitch's free FTP client. For some reason they make it very hard to find on their site. Click on "Download Evaluations", fill in the registration info form and click the radio button next to "WS_FTP LE 5.08". Or just go to Winfiles.com, run a search and download it without all the hassle.
BulletProof FTP Client
My favorite. An excellent FTP client from Down Under. 30 day trial and/or pay $29.95 for registration and free upgrades for life. Worth it!
Free Web Presence Providers
008web.com Free Web site
20MB of space gives you a lot of space to put up your pages. Plus you get page building tools, promotion tools, and some extras.
Angelfire Communications
Free advertising supported Web pages. 5MB storage.
Bigstep
Get free Web space with unlimited HTML pages, and 12MB for your images. They also offer upgrades to accept credit cards online.
Brinkster
Brinkster is an ASP information service, but if you join at the free "General Membership" level, you can post to their forums as well as get 30 MB free Web space with ASP support. One good thing about this service, there are no ads on your site, instead you agree to receive email ads.
Crosswinds
Crosswinds offers both free email and unlimited Web page hosting space.
EasySpace
25 MB of free Web space. It's easy to upgrade to more space for a low price.
Free Webspace.Net
If you are looking for a place to host your Web page for free, then Free Webspace.Net is the place to start. As of this writing they have 136 listings, and it can only go up.
Freedom2Surf
Frontpage 2000 support is a great feature on this free Web hosting provider. Plus you can get Perl CGI scripting access and PHP4. This is a free service suitable for more advanced developers.
Freeservers.com
You can have your name in your URL for free.
FreeYellow
This service offers 20MB of free space, a wizard to help you create your pages, lots of graphics for your site, placement in the FreeYellow search engine, and best of all, it's free.
GeoCities
GeoCities is one of the first, and best known, Web hosting services on the Web.
Hypermart
Hypermart will host business Web sites. The only "charge" is an advertisement is placed on your site.
Netfirms
This site gives you free 25MB of Web space, with no set up fee. It is paid for with an ad at the top of all your pages.
Stormloader.com
25MB space with lots of tools to make it easy for you to make your Web page. Special features include free guestbooks, free message board, unlimited bandwidth, and free online support.
Tripod
Tripod divides the personal pages into categories and your site will be within one or more "pods" to facilitate searching.
Web Graphics
Reference
Yale Style Manual - Graphics for the Web
Techniques to optimize the look and efficiency of your Web page graphics.
CNET Builder.com - Web Graphics 101
If you never learned the fundamentals, or just need a refresher course, you can find all the basics right here, including everything from dithering to scaling.
Software
Adobe PhotoShop
The "Gold Standard" in image editors. You would have a tough time finding someone who would claim that there is a better bitmap graphics package available. Or a more expensive one.
Jasc Paint Shop Pro
A widely distributed and much more affordable alternative to PhotoShop. Certainly, all you need for Web graphics, and more. Well worth the price.
The Gimp
How can you beat FREE. The Gimp is an ongoing project in development for the Linux operating system. There is, however, a Windows version available. This is an powerful program that can do just about anything that PhotoShop can. It takes a little getting used to, but then all you are spending is your time. (Be sure to download the Windows version).
Macromedia Fireworks
Developed by Macromedia for the sole purpose of creating Web graphics, Fireworks combines vector and bitmap editing features. This is a very impressive package for professional development of Web graphics. "Educational" purchases are available with proof of enrolment in a college or university. Upgrade to a "full" version when you turn pro.
Free Images
About.com - Web Clip Art
This page will lead you to hundreds of others, which will lead you to thousand of others, which will lead you to... Beware!
JavaScript
Reference
Webteacher
This is an excellent tutorial, aimed at non-programmers.
Netscape Dev Edge
Pack a lunch and spend the day! This is Netscape's Developer-centric, everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-JavaScript site.
Scripts
Java-scripts.net
All scripts on this site come with easy-to-follow installation instructions, along with a live demonstration. There is nothing here that you can't do with just a little figuring out.
Website Abstraction
Scripts, tutorials, good advice and some cool tools that create custom code for some of the more popular JavaScript effects. Dig in!
The JavaScript Source
Tons of scripts.
CGI/ASP/PERL
Reference
CGI - Webreference.com
A collection of links to CGI tutorials and script repositories.
The ASP Resource Index
If you want to find out about Active Server Pages and what they can do, this may be the place to start.
Scripts
Response-o-matic : Add forms to your site without programming
Response-omatic guides you through the process of adding forms to your page. They supply the cgi-bin and the processing; your user's input is sent to you via e-mail.
Matt's Script Archive
One of the oldest and still one of the best archives on the Net. Bulletin boards, guestbooks, site search, counters, you name it! Unlike Response-o-matic, these scripts require a Web server with access to a cgi-bin.
ASPCode.net - Free ASP Scripts
Lots of ASP applications, code snippets, information, tips and links to servers that provide free hosting with ASP capability.
Dynamic HTML
Dynamic HTML (DHTML) employs HTML, Javascript, the Document Object Model, Cascading Style Sheets and other technologies to deliver interactions and dynamic updating on Web pages. Since Netscape and Microsoft won't agree on many of its major components, it can present a minefield of compatibility issues. Nevertheless it is an exciting development with some cool effects.
Reference
Webmonkey - Authoring - DHTML
Some basic information to get you started.
