FAQ's
Q. I don't have
any web space available. Can I still be a Coordinator?
A. Yes.
There are a number of servers on the web that provide small amounts of
free web space. See the item entitled "Free Web Space"
below.
Q. How do I get
my biographies on the Arkansas Biographies page?
A. You don't.
Your biographies need to be kept with your county page on your server.
Q. Why do I have
to use text files? Won't the biographies need to be in html format?
A. You don't
have to use the text format. Some people prefer text because it's easier
to create. There are pros and cons for Text or HTML, it is up to the county
coordinator to decide which will work best for them.
Q. Can new biographies
by typed directly into e-mail?
A. Yes, however,
please be aware that there are some pitfalls associated with typing biographies
directly into an e-mail. Not the least if which will be improperly formatted
biographies. That means someone has to do a lot more work to make the biography
work on the web. The other reason is simpler; if you save each biography
as a separate file, you will only have to type it once.
Q. Is there a
standard way to name the biographies?
A. Not really.
As long as the file is in the correct format (DOS Text) and has the ".txt"
or ".htm" extension, it should be just fine. If you use Windows95
to create your biography files, a good way to name them is to use the full
name of the subject in lower case without any spaces or punctuation.
For example: Enos T. Taylor would become enosttaylor.txt. This
is not a requirement, just a good idea. If you use Windows 3.1x,
you could abbreviate the name like ettaylor.txt. Once the file is uploaded
to your server, you can then rename it to a more descriptive name if you
wish.
Q. I don't know
a thing about creating web pages but I am willing to learn. Can someone
help me get started?
A. Absolutely!
You can contact Annette Bame Peebles
for some pointers. There is also a sample page you can modify and
use. See the section below entitled "HTML Sources"
.
Q. Does my county
page have to look just the the sample page?
A. Not at
all. In fact, we encourage you to be creative with your web page.
Make it your own creation. Keep in mind, however, that a lot of graphics
on a page make it look nicer but can make it painfully slow when loading.
Q. Where can I
find those neat buttons and backgrounds for my web page?
A. There
are many web site that have graphics collections available for download.
Check the links in the "Graphics" section below.
Or, if you are adventuresome, you can create them yourself.
Q. How do I get
my page and biographies on my server?
A. You will
have to upload them using an FTP program.
Q. How should
I organize my biographies?
A. There
are no set rules on storing you biographies. Here are some rough
guidelines though: Keep backup copies of all your biographies on
you local PC just in case. You can keep your biographies in a sub directory
on the server, just make sure the hyper links are correct. Once you
have established a system for naming and storing your bios, stay with it!
Free
Web Space
There are a number
of sources available that offer free web space where you can keep your
county page. No attempt will be made here to give instructions for
using these sites. Please visit each site and see what they have
to offer. Some of these sites provide a suite of tools that help
managing your page much easier.
Free www sites:
Geocities
Tripod
MarketNet
HowdyNeighbor
CyQuest
HTML
Sources
There are hundreds
of sites on the web offering instruction on using HTML and creating web
pages. Here are a couple of good ones:
The
NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML
HTML
Tutorials by John C. Gilson
So
You Want to Make a Web Page
Graphics
There is no better
way to kill a web page than to load it with graphics. Graphics download
slowly from the host server and an impatient users will often hit the STOP
or BACK button instead waiting for a large graphic file to download.
Many very successful web pages contain no graphics at all. The creative
use of color, and a clean, well thought out page layout are the real keys
to any page. However, very few of us design web pages this way.
We all like to be individuals and our web pages usually reflect this.
There are a few things you can do to make graphics a little easier to live
with. Use small meaningful graphics on your web pages. A small
graphics used as a HyperLink carries more meaning than does a photo of
the family pet. Try to use GIF files whenever possible. If
you must use large graphics, use an interlaced GIF so the user isn't stuck
waiting for each graphic to load completely. Remember, the purpose
of a graphic is to get and keep a visitor's attention.
Here are some place
to get really nice graphics for your page:
The
Icon Depot
Image
O Rama
Jelane's
Free Web Graphics
The
MousePad
<--- (Genealogy graphics)
Cherished
Memories <--- (Genealogy graphics)
Graphic
Station
The
Non-Stick Looney Page
The
ClipArt Connection
~ Main
Page ~ County Selection
~ How To Submit A Bio
~
~ County
Coordinator Guidelines ~ Arkansas Biographies
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