In addition to specific programs which are designed to create web pages, you can also use almost any text editor program to create your web page. The nice thing about text editors is that one is usually included with the operating system that came with your computer, whereas you usually have to pay separately for a program which is designed for authoring web pages specifically. For example, some of the more common text editors are Notepad which is included with the Windows operating system, SimpleText which is included with the MacOs, Edit which is included with DOS, and Pico which comes with UNIX. At Adam2.org, we use the text editor program called, NoteTabPro, exclusively. It's like Windows' Notepad, but on steriods and highly customizable.

Using a text editor to create complicated web pages is not for the faint of heart. It can be a serious challenge for various reasons, like the necessity of remembering the syntax of each tag and such details as which properties and attributes belong to which tags. This can be a challenge even for a seasoned web author (that's why most keep reference manuals close at hand). If you are learning HTML or enjoy a challenge then creating a web page using HTML can be a very rewarding experience. HTML authoring offers you the most direct level of control over every element that goes into your page. However, if you do not know HTML very well then you may find this to be a painstaking and aggravating experience. If you fall into this category but you are interesting in learning more about HTML then consider using a web page authoring program to create your page first and then examining the "source code" (the actual HTML) which it generates. This is a great way to augment the process of learning HTML. You can always use a text editor to open pages created by a web authoring program and modify them to your own contentment. Just remember to save a backup copy of the file before making major changes just in case something unexpected happens. Or the quickest and easiest way is to visit a site of interest. Select File/Save As from your browser menu and save the web page for offline viewing. After disconnecting from the Net, open the html page you saved. Right click on the page or select View/Source from the Menubar. Copy and paste the entire source code into a text editor and begin experimenting. Hint: Most webmasters and programmers use TABLES to lay out their pages. Find the tag <TABLE Border=0> and change the Border=0 to Border=1 and you will see the visual HTML structure when you open the HTML page in your browser. This is called turning the tables on and off. Don't forget to reset them back to 0 when you are done unless you like the border effect. In addition, you can click on any of this pages' HTML links for an abridged list of HTML syntax, and we offer several resources and links for HTML assistance on our gateway page.

To use a text editor to create a web page you must open the editor, type in all of the tags and content that you want on your page, and then save it as a file with the extension .html or .htm. For example, to create the page that will act as the front door to your web site type in your HTML code and save the file as "index.html." If your text editor gives you options to save the file in different "formats" (WordPad for Windows does this for example) be sure to select "text document," or "ascii/text" (or the option which most closely resembles it.) Once the file is saved you can open it from within your Internet browser by typing in the path and the filename as the "address" or "url." For example "c:\websites\index.html"

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