About the Sitemaking
Do it! Make a little web site of your own! It is easier than you think!

Everyone and certainly every business should have at least a one-page wesite of their own, and so this....
A report including some basic instruction and definitions for those who may feel they want to make a webpage, but also feel "put off" from it.

Easy as 1,2,3 !

1. Believe & Plan
2. Start with Free, Easy, Ready-made Templates & have fun with it - starter templates are usually foolproof!
3. Grow in understanding, then Upgrade to your own Html and Domain

Sitemaking is like most valid activities. So step one is: don't be afraid!

Focus your thoughts and ideas

Get good equipment: computer, printer, and any other equipment for scanning, audio or video you might need.

Be prepared to study about good rules for the operation of your equipment, and "Nettiquette" and other online rules

Start your pages with good tutorial, and simple organization, get comfortable with it, and let it evolve.
In no time, you will be thrilled with your skills and their results, with few crises and crashes!

To get my head into it, I began with the ready-made templates at AngelfireLycos.com because they are simple, quality ( they work reliably ) and they let you simply "fill in the blanks" to start, with your text and images, and they do all the technical html work.

Most find as they get into it, they get the idea of the basic way of it. At that point, Angelfire templates let you switch to pages you can do yourself. They also provide guides for the html codes and links to all you will need to make your own pages, just the way you want them "from scratch".

After startup days at Angelfire, I upgraded to my own domain with their affiliate, Aplus.net. Going this path for it, I was able to switch my pages over, with very little trouble, and Elle Fagan Artsite ~ ElleFagan.com was born!

My first tech was a G3 PowerBook, from Apple.com which I would like to have Bronzed for its amazing performance! It was one of the best and I missed it, at first!

To scan my art for online sharing, next in importance was my Mustek flatbed Scanner, and Epson StylusPhoto printer. All, of course, were the best at the time, but have evolved and the models I used are no longer available. They served beautifully, from late 1999 thru 2006.

Replacement for all were needed by then and in 2007, Santa Brought the NewApple.comMacBook with IntelInside, and Epson Perfection V100 Photo Scanner and Epson Printer. I am as delighted with the new tech as the old, and amazed with the improvements!

My site now has sisomo characteristics, with links to audio and video and some embedded...and more to come.

Content, content, content is the thing with websites, and it has been easy for me, as much as I love what I do, to keep my site content-rich. In fact, site upgrades are to lighten it all up, a bit, since new links and new work can find it all so over-croweded, that navigation for my visitors can be the issue!

Below, if you like, find the notes I have saved from my first hectic days online ... fun and funny, looking back....frantic then!

Thanksomuch for visiting this page!

Elle Fagan

Early graphics fun, with the word "SiteTree"

~~~~~~~
About the Creation of "ellefagan.com"
~~~~~~~

Making ellefagan.com became a story of its own.

~~~~~~~ Background/motive for the galleries: ~~~~~~~

Disabled in an accident, I was sent to a lovely Historical society mansion,
a professional recuperative residence in Vernon/Rockville, in the breezy Connecticut Hills.

A pro arts lady, I used my time well, and with the help of a special hero, and wonderful Aplus.net ISP, learned html and ellefagan.com was born.
I had been very active, and was frightened at the immobility. Getting into the website-construction saved my mind my disability now felt like lane-changing on the highway, rather than being driven off the road. My site already earned its fees, and my love and loyalty, with this function.

It took very little to set up my site, with my neat ISP provider...they were gracious and gave me quality time, when I needed it. I had always been tech-friendly, and soon was praying my medical people did not find out I was engrossed in my site into the wee hours, as they say, health case or no.

Soon, I found all the little html squiggles made some sense and learning something new was excellent for a person in struggle. Algorithm = recipe, of a sort....templates are recipe cards, of a sort, I told myself. So, although I had fancy math and science studies, and did not really need to equate it to my personal life, I was working at home on it, and healing from injuries that might be permanently disabling.....I had taught computer de-intimidation to others, and now I was using the same logics on myself, sometimes....it worked.

In a few days, I was already learning what it meant to be "newbie" online...the good and bad of it. Details on request. Suffice it to say, I was not bored.

I made friends all over the world, online, and my immobility did not hurt so much.I could travel virtually, even if I might not travel actually again.

I still communicate with a few of those I met, then, to this day. In fact, since they did not know of my plight, and did not get into its issues, they merely inspired me, without dogging me, and I soon felt ABLE to try and try harder and maybe win my health back. I had rescued others, but the intensity of my own rescue was enlightening. Don't do it , if you can help it. Many of my photos in that time, even look pretty and carefree.......amazing, isn't it? I hope I am wiser , permanently, on such points.

Links to the sites that were great for "newbie" tasks:

Angelfire Lycos They provide a neat FREE thing: fill-in-the-blanks pages to make your first webpages...ones that look and work great....and then they provide options for learning it yourself, and taking the training wheels of yourrrr personal bicycle. I did myself!

Adobe / Photoshop / Acrobat Reader I am an artist, so being able to format images was important. Adobe gifted me stuff, with no ten miles of paperwork. Just simple permissions.

In the meantime, when I could, I would go ambling about, and became grateful for the healing-feelings in this place I never knew in my own home state: the lovely waterfalls, rolling hills, clear skies,
and centuries-old names, like those from Tolkien's Middle Earth
of "Lord of the Rings".

I learned that this place I never knew, in my own home state, had been America's cradle...the nations first manufacturing happened here, powered by the waterfalls, a century and more before 1776. A hundred yeas ago this town was one of the richest on earth, from the prosperity of the textile mills, whose products were used worldwide. Culture, music, early human rights for the workers, and the birth of rules used by most industries, worldwide, even today.

Its restored stately mansions and centuries-old industrial sites,
upscaled for exciting modern use, attract a lot of the right attention !

I learned that the area had been "disabled" as well: easier import/export started it off a hundred years ago, and then America's "crash of '29" seemed to deal the killing blow. Later the population explosion sent the textile firms out to places where larger tracts of available land would permit huge manufacturing plants. The area was nearly a ghost town, from such recessionary and sociological setbacks.
Like me, they got care and got busy, in an All-American way,
and both of us have a lot to be proud of, with more to come.
As an artist, I can see the healing in my work, over time,
And hope that my rapport and gratitude show in the work, as well.

America hear more of the good news
like that going on in Rockville Connecticut USA,
and know that America works !

My injuries were such that mobility might be a permanent problem,
so my son, honored in high-tech world, suggested, that,
if I wanted to continue in my art, I might enjoy making a website for marketing purposes.

I am tech friendly, did modest data processing when expecting our 30-year-old. In those days, only a genius with "three degrees" in Computer Technology got anywhere near the actual computer. I never saw the amazing mysterious machine in 1969, but since then, of course, found myself "just doing it", as the computer entered our lives, in a number of business situations, then at home.

back to top

I always loved "Mac" ... Love the "Big Apple" New York City ... in 1976, the many apple references in Tolkien inspired us to name our pup "Apples", too ... but in 1999, mostly because everyone said Apple was THE computer for Artists, when it came time to do artwork online, I chose Apple Macintosh.

An ad in the newspaper sent a fine G3 Powerbook into my life. But...as nice as it is, it is better to buy new with warranty, and / or from an authorized dealer or reseller. I was fortunate enough to find a good authorized reseller / repair company to help, though, I really felt the victim in this controversy. Still, at the time, it all fell into place beautifully. My apartment is sunny and a miracle of organization, but small, and I like the size of the laptop, yet a decent 14" display, that matched the proportions of the rest of the interior of my living working space.
I love my Mac!I have enjoyed PC in many forms and probably will own PC again, as a backup and/or fill-in in my Business, or to accommodate Mac-shy employees. But all they say about image-makers preferring Mac is probably true, and Mac is virus-resistant...it's desktop automatic ftp...And Mac seems to love Epson for the printing. And to capture the work for online display, Mustek Scanner rounded out the Team. The adapter for Mac cost as much as the miracle machine, but I felt the "real pro" on the first day, from the fine results.

My son flew in from his West Coast job, and plugged me in with Lycos and Angelfire pages. I was introduced happily, to a thing called "templates" : patterns, in this case, "fill-in-the-blanks" forms, were provided to safely construct text and image for posting to the internet. The templates were easy, and soon I was doing without them and making my own pages from a blank page, with the knowledge gathered through use of the templates, and with help from tutorials online and off. It was such a successful experience, and a happy one, that I recommend starting from a pagemaker with templates to guide you, and then time and a sense of fun, while learning, so that errors and disasters and crashes don't upset you. But once a "newbie" has developed a little understanding of it all, it is not so difficult, and becomes so interesting that searching for more skills to learn in it and apply to the site follows easily.

I like the people I met, super types happy to help. In my case, I had just "pulled up" from prolonged response work, sometimes very stressful, and it was nice letting others be smart and help me... there was healing in the learning...cool, no?

(stopping here....tune in next time...more to come"...holiday 2004)

Well-begun...some early rules :

nettiquette is important - learn it and follow it

virtual world, or cyberspace, is no different in its codes...whatever your mores, desires and aversions, you will find it online. Good and evil are the same, and law and order , too.

be patient with yourself and others, and unafraid of the newness

be industrious ... a website is a little bit mechanical, and require a "nuts and bolts" approach sometimes , and can work like a mechanical creation, like a car, and just that humming and beautiful when well done.

respect a thing called data...the content and html instructions on your pages

Make data backup and update it, but then let the concept go...data is likely to be lost or damaged, no matter how careful you are

html is robotic, beautiful logic...it does what you tell it to do And so, if it is not doing what is expected...99 times out of 100, it means that it was NOT told exactly what to do, in a way it could understand.

There are, however, the remaining instances of error, having nothing to do with your authorship, but arising from the internet, rules you must never try to master, since they change and evolve with cyberspace.

In February of 2003, the upgrade to "ellefagan.com" became real, and I hope to achieve with "an elle fagan artsite", in several ways:

Sharing the art and stories in a purely aesthetic sense

Making the art available for purchase, and using the ability to post and send my images to implement offline 'real world" shows and sales.

Making my statement, in a non-invasive, non-toxic fashion that
a. nothing wins better than an arts career focus, for its flexibility in a range of life scenarios...the concepts in sharing a quality online art gallery are very exciting and full of meaning for me...more on this later.
b."fifty is nifty"
c. the sun rises again after major grieving
c. disabilities heal and well, with the right approach, whatever the age or healthcare preferences
d."girls can"...it is not necessary for a woman to turn herself into a man to be good at things in cyberspace...more on this, later, too.
e.I am still interested in working creatively with my two favorite grownup friends, my children.
f. I hope to shine up the corners of the site soon, and apply for credits at the university and web site awards.

So, again, please come back later, for better development of this page.

Truly,

elle
this page contains "a -report-of-a-sort" on the subject On Thu, 27 Mar 2003 22:22:14 -0800 "Peter Fagan wrote:"
>> I cannot thank my son and his alter egos enough, for all the help, he even had the calzone sent in from a call in San Francisco to the Connecticut restaurant, to my door....lots of little bits of tech advice, and happy workfun, that provided a sane outlet for a very active lady, suddenly immobilized... a proggie called "Fetch"....the ftp wonderdog from Dartmouth University.

Epson likes Mac, too...

A great machine for pro or "newbie", since it is fine tech, and one learns good rules for use of all printers with Epson. I found that the Epson name, alone, was helpful when my new computer system generated chat....people respected the Epson name when the conversation went to printers...even a few cattyfriends, "stopped cold", impressed with the Epson name. When I had a problem later, Epson service and shipping was fast and not too expensive. So I did the painting at right, and included it on the shipping package.

And now ,a few years later, it is time to make upgrades and changes, so I got into chat with Epson help.

Here follows a printout of our chat:

hi, Chistopher O.

This reply from you was much better than the first, and very helpful. Thank you.

I appreciate your replies to my questions....now it all makes sense.

I have commented on your answers with further notes. I have inserted them in capital letters, exactly at the spot to make the comment sensible.

Look forward to your reply. I will respect your answers to my questions and share them at the Epson printer notes at my website. If you like, I can include a link to Epson, and submit it to you for Permissions Approval.

Thanks again,

Elle Fagan ellefagan.com

Your message and my notes, in caps, follow here: ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Thank you for contacting the Epson Connection.>

> 1. If you require a printer for general needs, you should consider a Color> or "C" series printer and not a Photo model. THANKS FOR THE ADVICE... I MAY DO JUST THAT.>

> 2. Epson does NOT have cleaning cartridges and once again, due to the> design of the printhead, the use of such solvents that are contained in> cleaning cartridges can severely damage the printhead to a point where the> printer may be left beyond repair...THIS FACT HELPED ME VERY MUCH...NOW I UNDERSTAND......

HOWEVER.........EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE SAG IN AMERICAN INNOVATION....I TRULY BELIEVE EPSON AND OTHERS MUST INNOVATE..... :-) TO SAVE THE EXPENSIVE INKS, SINCE INJET CLEANING USES A HALF CARRIDGE OF INK, THERE OUGHT TO BE A CLEANING CARTRIDGE THAT IS SAFE TO USE.... HOW'BOUT IT? EPSON PEOPLE ARE BRILLIANT AND I KNOW THEY CAN DO IT IF THEY WISH.>

> 3. Ink Cartridges cannot be removed then inserted back into the printer.> Although this IS possible, it introduces air into the ink delivery system> which can seriously harm the printhead to a point where the printer may be> left beyond repair. AGAIN, THIS FACT INTERESTS AND INFORMS ME...I APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH.
Due to the design of the printhead, you cannot use> more than one type of ink in the printer. Epson does NOT support third> party cartridges. THANKS AGAIN. I ALREADY SPENT EIGHTY DOLLARS ON REPAIRS TO EPSON OVER THIS ISSUE........IT WAS MY FIRST PRINTER, AND I TRULY DID NOT KNOW...USED THE WRONG INK, AND HAD PURCHASED A STORE DEMONSTRATOR, AND THE DOCKING PORT WAS FAULTY. EPSON SERVICE DOES A GREAT JOB, AND MY PRINTER CAME BACK TO ME BETTER THAN EVER........>

> 4. I regret that you are experiencing such issues, however, Epson does> not> have or offer a trade in program. THIS IS A SHAME.....SOME CREDIT OR SPECIAL DEAL FOR EXISTING EPSON CUTOMERS IS CONSIDERED A SMART CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SALES MOVE.

If you wish to obtain service, please> see below.>> SERVICE CENTER LOCATOR (800)922-8911 [PRESS 1, THEN 2]

THANKS WILLDO....EPSON SERVICE HAS BEEN GREAT IN THE PAST, AND YET I MAY , INSTEAD JUST GET TWO NEW PRINTERS....ONE FOR ROUTINE PRINTJOBS, THAT CAN USE INEXPENSIVE INKS....AND A SECOND WITH THE WIDE BED FOR MY FINE ARTS, COPYRIGHT AND PHOTO USE.>

> If you require further assistance with this particular issue, please> ensure> all of our previous correspondence is contained in your reply, so we can> better track the history of this issue.>

> If you have a different technical support issue, please submit another> E-form via our website (http://www.epson.com), and we will respond in a> timely manner. Thank you again for contacting Epson.>> THANKS AGAIN , CHRISTOPHER O.>> Christopher O> Epson Connection SOME OF THE NEW NOTES, ABOVE, SHOULD PLEASE BE FORWARDED TO DEVELOPMENT, AND MAY I PLEASE HAVE THE LINK FOR YOUR "PERMISSIONS PEOPLE" TO SEND MY EPSON POSTING FOR APPROVAL? THANKS AGAIN ~~~~~~~ ELLE FAGAN ELLEFAGAN.COM ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END NEW NOTES AND QUESTIONS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some Basic Instruction, Definitions and Links
or: Html ! Amazing ! The Bits of This and That a Person Learns

Making a web site is a great mental health exercise... except for sometimes! (see "gibberish day exerpt", below )
Challenge, interest, focus, easy basic organizational concepts, evolution, error and remedy, and lots of personal delight and satisfaction, as one finds and shares one's unique imprint online

If you want to make a webpage, and have never done one, I recommend using one of the easy templates the major online people offer. If you find you like it, you can grow from there. I you find you do not like it, you can still make, post and update your page with very little effort, and leave it at that.

I began at "About.com", and then got to "Angelfire", both free. Also, "Comcast", "Geocity" and others. You simply go to the site, and click on "make your own webpages". They provide easy "fill in the blanks" pages, and you enter the text and images that you want to post. In one sitting, one is "published" on the internet ! And for free! Using what are called "Templates","Wizards" or "form-fill-in" -type pages is super! Templates permit a newbie to it all to have fun making pages right away, while getting a great "start-up" feeling for what a webpage is about.

Comment: 1. because it is free, you may bump into some odd company, and find it a bit "jouncy", at first, till you become familiar with the idea of popping into and out of it. My computer system was new to me, too, and so I bombed and crashed a few times, getting it right, and was happy, even about that, since it got me over the fear of bombing and crashing: it happens, and most computers are built to take it well, and I learned how to care for my computer when a thing happens. Imade fine friends with a neat thing called "utilities", Mac, Norton, MacAffee, and others to repair and tidy things again. Before long, I was able to keep it in fine order with only the need for the Utilities included in my Mac OS, and no Bombs and few crashes.

I liked "Angelfire" best because it permitted me, when I understood a little and was ready, to upgrade my own ability at the pages, and "take off the training wheels" on the bicycle that was my new website, and display for my study, the "html" I created using their easy form fill-ins. Some of my fanciest pages are beautiful maturations from these simple "fill-in" pages.

Before even one more word, though, this very basic lifesaver for all online work: Save frequently. Whether it be e-mail backups, home photos, graphic work, text notes, or your own html, click "Save" every few steps, since many programs have "timed-out" concepts to honor, and it can be upsetting to lose your valuable worktime, and data. In work with images, "Save" allows you to experiment with effects and if you do not like your experiment, it is easy to undo the work to the place where you last saved, and try something else.

With the experience and understanding gained from the "form fill-in" templates, soon I was making my own html pages, some in under an hour, from "new" to "post".....here's how:

A page that displays all around the world begins with an amazingly simple and universally logical thing:
I name a simple text document on my desktop, "something.html". Then, on the page I write , and at the foot of the page, the same in reverse: . Everything else on the page will be typed between these two ... and this rule carries out for all the miracles created and expressed online... as simple as "hello" and "goodbye", and as easy to understand. I tell the internet what I am starting, and what I am stopping. Cyberspace is like any other part of the Universe, or like our own bodies... in that, to function, the basic parts are the same for all pages, and some things must be "just so" or it doesn't work right. But like the world and our bodies, a web page at the viewers' side as well as the "guts" on the html page, share and demand an amazing variety of things.

Next come three things the internet needs so that Search Engines and Directories can circulate your site, and so someone besides you can find them: 1.title, 2.keywords and 3.description.

These three are included in what is known as the Header, and so, next, I type in , to show the beginning and end of the header. Between the instruction , next type,then type in the title of your page, as you wish for it to appear to visitors at the top of the browser, then type. Next the page needs the keywords that tell search engines where to file the page online, and one simple sentence that says what the page is about. These two statements are called Meta Tags, and when I was learning how to do them, several learning methods were used, till I settled on one I found easy for me. You will want to do these carefully, since the page cannot work without them....like a car without essential parts of its motor. If the page is essentially about "widgets", your keyword list will begin with "widgets", then any number of words to express the idea more specifically, or mention related things on the same page. If the page is essentially about "widgets", the content sentence will say, simply: "This page is essentially about "widgets", including stainless steel widgets from Sheffield, and offerred for premium prices, and special bargains." And then the tells the internet that the Header is complete. The internet for security and effective routing adds other data, but this is not your responsibility.

Past the Header, you are in the car, the engine is going and you now nearly out of the driveway. At this point, you tell the internet some basics about your page: the background color or image for the page and the size and kind and color of your text. Later on in the page, you can vary these all you like, but even if something happens, a nice page will appear, per these "default" instructions.

You are now "on the road". Web Design for the infinite variety of text, image, links, audio/video, and more are inserted now, all with the "hello" at the top of the page, and the "good bye" beneath the last entries on the page. Fun!

A few vocabulary words, and links to pages that tell more :

algorithm ~ The term algorithm (pronounced AL-go-rith-um) is a procedure or formula for solving a problem. The word derives from the name of the mathematician, Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, who was part of the royal court in Baghdad and who lived from about 780 to 850. Al-Khwarizmi's work is the likely source for the word algebra as well. Biography of al-Khwarizmi

A computer program can be viewed as an elaborate algorithm. In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm usually means a small procedure that solves a recurrent problem.

A GIBBERISH DAY EXERPT
or, there is always a day like this, no matter what...keeps us honest

How do I align my text with a graphic?
Answer
Top align:

This code loads an image with the text aligned vertically with the top of the image
Here's the text aligned at the top.

Center Align:

1. DO THIS WITH PAGE CREDITS This code loads an image with the text aligned to the middle of the image

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Subject:
Re: one more thingRe: thank you for the respectful reply...Re: question: R Uthe
Below The Fold Ifound at Webst
akes? You helped....
Date:

Thu, 20 Mar 2003 15:57 EST
From:
Click here to send a message."Daily Editor"
To:

Click here to send a message.esfaganusa@netscape.net
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as i am no longer a Webstakes employee, the email reminders no
longer contain a link to the Below the Fold site.
the site address is: www.belowthefold.net
it would be great if you included a link to BTF on your site.
thanks in advance.

D.E.

Here's the text aligned at the middle.

Bottom align:
This code loads an image with the text
aligned to the bottom of the image
Here's the text aligned at the bottom.

Question What characters are illegal in a filename? Answer You can only
use one period (.) in your filename. Also, characters like $, !, @, and ? and
spaces are illegal. Please use only alphanumeric characters in your file names.

=========
permissions for elvenmerch storyquote
new york times

http://www.angelfire.com/ct2/esfagan/wordsite/arwensite.html

"Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo-A star shines on the hour of our meeting" In
Tolkien's Fantasy Language, "Quenya"...sortof a finnish "aloha"