Instant Home Page FAQ*
*Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
How Can I Incorporate Graphics?
Can I Set Background Colors or Images?
How Long Can I Have A Free Page?
How Do I Access My Page?
Can I Upload a File?
Can I Change My URL?
How Can I Put A Counter On My Page?
Why Is An Advertising Banner On My Page?
Why Does HTML Disappear When I Submit My Page?
What If I Need More Than One Page?
I Don't See My Question Here!
Instant Home Pages make it as easy as possible to publish real,
useful information via the World Wide Web. No knowledge of HTML (HyperText
Mark-up Language) is required. When you fill out and submit an Instant
Home Page form, the program supplies all necessary HTML elements, and
creates a file containing your information in HTML format.
The forms-based approach provides for some attractive graphics.
Results are practical if somewhat plain-looking. If you are
knowledgeable in HTML (or care to learn,) you can insert your own
HTML coding for a much more elaborate result.
If you want to study HTML, a good technique is to use your Browser's
View Source option when you see formatting you would
like to emulate on someone else's page. For a more complete
reference, a good starting place is
A Beginner's Guide to HTML. Other topics in this FAQ will show
you some specific examples of HTML.
If you incorporate HTML code in your Instant Home Page form, you
should do so only in the text areas - not in the
"Headline" areas. This is because the headlines
themselves are formed using HTML codes. You may leave headline areas
blank to avoid generating unwanted headline codes.
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The answer to this, like most other formatting tricks, is to include
appropriate HTML code in the text areas of your Instant Home Page form.
For example:
"...and here's the Joe's CyberPost logo:
<img src="http://www.joes.com/jcpsloxi.gif"> -
direct from Joe's web site!..."
The image referenced must be accessible somewhere on the net. Incidentally,
the access method does not have to be http (HyperText
Transfer Protocol.) If, for example, you have an image
file on an anonymous ftp (File Transfer Protocol)
server, your reference could look like:
<img src="ftp://servername.com/myimage.jpg">
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Again, you incorporate HTML to accomplish this.
You can give most of your page a background color and/or image by
inserting a table. The appropriate HTML
"tag" here is the <TABLE...> tag.
Background colors and/or images are specified by parameters within
the <TABLE...> tag. The
"bgcolor" parameter determines background color. Format
is bgcolor="#RRGGBB", where RR, GG, and BB are two digit
hexadecimal values for Red, Green, and Blue color intensity, respectively.
For example:
<TABLE bgcolor="#FF00FF" width="100%" cols=1>
would give your table a bright purple background color (maximum
intensity for both Red and Blue, and zero intensity for Green.)
If this hexadecimal stuff is foreign to you,
many browsers will also accept forms like bgcolor="Red". The
other two parameters make your table as wide as the screen, and only one column.
Background images are similarly specified using the "background"
parameter. For example:
<TABLE background="http://www.joes.com/jcpsloxi.gif" width="100%" cols=1>
would incorporate the Joe's CyberPost logo as background for your
table. As with images incorporated in text areas, the background
image must be accessible somewhere on the net.
Some older browsers do not support the BACKGROUND parameter, so it
is a good idea to use BGCOLOR too.
A table must be opened and closed with matching tags. Thus, at the end of your
table you must place a </TABLE> tag. Similarly, your table must have
at least one row of data. This must be opened and closed with <TR>...</TR>
tags. Finally, each row must contain at least one table data element. This
must be opened and closed with <TD>...</TD>. With all this in mind,
your complete table structure would look like:
<TABLE ...>
<TR>
<TD>
(put text and other HTML here to appear within your table)
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
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So long as you abide by "The Rules" and I do not change my policy,
you can have your free page indefinitely. You should update your page
at least once per month, or I may assume it has been abandoned
and delete it.
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Two ways:
- Via the Instant Home Page Directory
When your page is created, it's title is added to the Instant Home Page
Directory at http://www.joes.com/home/. Click on your page's title in
this directory to access your page.
- Via Its URL (Universal Resource
Locator)
Your page's URL will be "http://www.joes.com/home/url_id/",
where url_id is a unique identifier supplied by you when you
filled out your Instant Home Page form. Take care to include
the "/home" element in your URL.
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Strictly speaking, no. If you already have a complete HTML
file, Windows users can accomplish much the same thing:
First, Copy your file's
contents onto your Windows clipboard. Then, Paste the clipboard
into a text area of the Instant Home Page form.
You should delete the leading <HTML>, <HEAD>, <TITLE>,
</TITLE>, </HEAD>, and <BODY> tags, as these are supplied
automatically by the Instant Home Page program. Similarly, closing
</HTML> and </BODY> tags should be deleted.
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Your url_id identifies your account. To change it, you must delete your
account and create a new one.
To make this as painless as possible, first copy your existing
home page to a file on your PC. When you create your new account,
you can Paste information from this file into the Instant Home Page
form.
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Some services offer counters you can put on your page to see how many
times it has been accessed.
FastCounter, a service of the folks
at LinkExchange, is free if you provide a reciprocal link. They have a
variety of counter styles, and offer stat updates by email.
(Thanks to John Easton for bringing this to my attention!)
Amazing Counters offers free counters
in a variety of styles, as well as free web statistics. Thanks to Jenny Acut!
icount.com offers free
statistics. As of this writing, only a logo is actually displayed. (Thanks
to Robin Hyett!)
As of last check,
Web-Counter is offering free
counters once again!
You'll have to add some HTML code to your page to use one of these counters.
If you know of a good free counter site, please
email me and I'll post it here.
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Advertising banners are automatically placed at the top of Instant Home Pages
to help defray the cost of this free service. All banners qualify for display
in a family oriented setting. They are colorful, and change periodically,
adding interest to your page.
Joe appreciates your support of our advertisers, who help maintain this free
service.
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Some browsers "helpfully" remove HTML code from text areas when receiving
a form. Your page appears fine when
you Preview, but lacks HTML code when you Submit! One work-around is to avoid
the Preview cycle - just Submit as soon as you have made changes. Another is
to check text areas after Previewing and fill in any missing HTML code. Finally,
you can switch to a browser that does not have this "feature".
(Thanks to Sharon Cox for clarifying this problem, and suggesting a work-around.)
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If you have more extensive web hosting requirements, I'll be happy to help
you find a solution that suits your needs. A good place to start is
with my AdGrafix Trading
Partner. They have a nice variety of pre-packaged hosting options,
and software that enables you to manage your site entirely via your
browser - much in the spirit of Instant Home Pages. If none of these
look like a good match for you, email me
describing your situation. I'll prepare a custom quote, or help
you find a good solution.
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Email your question and I'll answer
as quickly as possible. You may see your question here in the next
edition!
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Last Updated 2/19/05 by Joe Doll
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