Visit Peggie's Place for a vast collection of Christian resources!
Fun 'n Faith for all ages - take a quick tour here!
Access! You will need an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Your choices are many--you can connect with a national
provider (search at GOOGLE or decide on cable.
Caution: Look for a provider who gives
excellent support, unlimited hours, and a storage space for your
directory. (And oh, by the way, a powerful computer and modem
will help!!)
Note there are "preferences" in a browser that require the
setting-up of certain information--for e-mail, etc. Most
providers and a good reference book will walk you through this
process.
Connect You will need an "FTP" program to transfer your files
from your computer, uploading them to the storage space on your
provider. As a Macintosh user, I use "Anarchie." You will use this program often--when you originally create a file, and then later to update or revise it. Be sure to have a back-up of any file you transfer to your provider.
Search You will use the "search" feature of the Internet
often. There are excellent "search engines" around the NET -
simply enter a word or phrase in a designated area; the search
engine will find thousands of related pages.
Stop! Fear will inhibit the learning process, and I
know--you're intimidated--or in plain English, scared to death.
How is the world will I learn this? STOP--take ten deep breaths,
calm yourself, and know the Lord is going to help you--just as He
has helped thousands of others, now with wonderful Christian
pages on the Web. It is NOT impossible; if you have a reasonable
amount of intelligence, you can learn, just as everyone else has!
But remember, you must do the work--the Lord will help you--but
HE will not learn HTML for you! It IS work; there is a learning
curve, but you can do it!
Look! Before you attempt to make your own page, look around
at other pages on the Web, especially Christian ones. If you are
a pastor, go to Peggie's church page ,
and browse through church and pastors' pages for ideas. If you
are making a personal home page, go to Peggie's Christian friends
page or Cool Christians for many creative Christian homepages.
Make notes on features you like on other pages--layout, graphics,
content, etc. There's a lot of wonderful Christian pages to
see!
Note: For excellent evangelism tips for Web ministries, see Web Evangelism 101.
Learn! Check out your local bookstore for basic, tutorial handbooks
on "HTML," the coding language you must learn. I
recommend the
DUMMY series--but there are many others, with basic
information, now available. See Creating Web Pages for Dummies
It may seem extremely confusing at first; take it slowly, and in
time, it will fall into place. You WILL be able to learn
it, and be proud of yourself for having conquered one more
thing in life!
Mad Dash to Make a Page!
Ready to tackle your own page now? Take ten deep breaths again,
and let's go, as you consider a variety of necessary information.
This is decision-making time.
Do I want to use an "editor"? This is NOT a person--it is a
software program that, once you learn how to use it, will insert
HTML codes for you.
What information do I want to include? Make a skeletal outline of
areas you want to feature - personal, ministry, resources,
etc.
What theme would I like to use? I strongly lean to a "themed"
home, although it is not absolutely necessary. It is more
creative and inviting, I believe. For example, if you are a
pastor, do a page with "pastor" words/themes or do a
"church-service" page. If you are a missionary, use
missions-related words for your outline. If you are a school
teacher, do a book-related or library theme.
What about content? Extremely important. Know what information,
what message you wish to present. A resource list of links? A
ministry information page? A come-back or a "hook" to get people
to return is important--do you want to do a weekly feature? a
devotional? Be sure to include somewhere on your page a
disclaimer - that you are not responsible for links beyond your
own page! Be sure to include e-mail and possibly a guestbook. You
may eventually want to add music and a chat room.
Music! Songs of Praise - (not recommended for commercial sites - Peggie's Place, an informal site, uses it extensively and successfully!
Some ideas: do something for children, teens, family, holidays,
culture, humor, music. And definitely an evangelism page--with
gospel presentation. (Music and humor links are very popular.)
For some evangelism "inspiration," check out Peggie's personal "Mission Statement!"
What about layout? Make a "blueprint" of how you'd like the pages
to link together. You may start out with three or four pages
linking from your main page - perhaps personal, ministry, links,
children, etc. Design it on paper so it is clearly imaged in your
own mind--or you'll get very confused!
What style, design, colors interest me? Think about the colors of
text, the symbols, grpahics, bars, buttons you would like to use.
You haven't a clue? Probably not! Go surfing into the graphics
area of Web links - see Peggie's Computing page
again for many graphics areas. Most graphics are free; you will
want to download each one to your own computer (click on an image
and save it to your desktop; put it in your own directory). It is
also courteous to give credit for the web page that furnished the
graphic.
Graphics is a detailed sub-topic in itself. Your important
learning skill will be learning how to find a graphic, how to
code it on your page, and how to upload it to your directory. As
you learn to use the Web, you will find wonderful helps to reduce the size of
your graphics and Clip Art
Searcher to find the graphics you need, etc. You will learn
as you go! Don't worry about details now!
What about stats? Very important. You will need a counter - your
ISP may provide one. There are some free ones available around
the NET as well.
I recommend The Christian Counter or eXTReMe Tracking.
Learn to Promote!
It is extremely important to "market" your page EVERYWHERE. This
is hard work, but your page must be like McDonald's --known
everywhere! One hint is to use a very creative, catchy
title--easy to remember, novel, and intriguing.
Visit Christian databases at Peggie's Place and Hide 'n Seek for many more places and search engines where links would be welcome. Many will ask for a return link back to their site.
Announcing is a lot of work, but remember, it is vital to the success of your page being visible on the Web!
AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT.. so no
need to panic!!
Sure...silly grin...but remember, with God, and alot of hard
work, nothing is impossible!
(And if you know a friend who already has a page, bake them a
cake--maybe they will help you!)
Please e-mail me to say hi. Thanks for visiting a place where
"Christians aren't perfect; they're just forgiven!" Have a great day serving
the Lord!
And when that first home page is all done, let me know--
we'll have a MAD learner's graduation party! Have fun,
and God bless!
With thanks to Gilberto
Barreto for the beautiful music playing at Peggie's Place.
His original composition is entitled, "Come To Me."
Celebrating God's goodness . . .. . . 15 million and counting!
Note: Counter keeps a running total of "page views" for the
entire site. --It jogs around the world and around the clock--to find
YOU!
This Christian home has been visited a zillion times
since December 26, 1995! Well, not quite, but there HAS been a houseful--and
STILL room for one more--YOU! The Christian Counter scans the entire site--and there's plenty of chocolate for everyone--so enjoy!
Most of the music playing at Peggie's Place originates from Songs of Praise.
Visit their great Web site to hear beautiful tunes by many talented artists. CDs are available.
Please note that while I strongly adhere to major tenets of the
evangelical Christian faith, I may not personally agree with every specific doctrinal belief set forth in other
Christian pages. I do want to provide a diversity of links and resource material
for the entire Body of Christ to enjoy, and trust you will view it as such.
A safety tip: Internet links and material may include other links and/or material which do not reflect my Christian views or yours. Please choose wisely and use with discretion! And if you find an ugly spider hiding in a dark corner,
you may smash it with a broom from my BROOM
CLOSET--I hate offensive stuff too!
"'Twas the Night before Easter!" - popular parody at Peggie's Place! . . . More Easter resources
