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To build and update web pages on a Windows PC you will need two software tools, an HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) editor and an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client. HTML editor I recommend NVU, a stand-alone web page editor based on the Composer part of the Mozilla open source internet application suite. NVU can be downloaded for free from the internet. Installing: 1) go to the downloads page of the NVU site. 2) scroll Down to where it says 'Windows' (in the first box labeled 'Binaries') 3) click on 'nvu-1.0-win32-installer-full.exe' to save the file to your desktop 5) when it has finished downloading, go to your desktop and double-click the file. 6) follow the on-screen instructions to install NVU 7) If the installer hasn't made a desktop shortcut for NVU it might pay to make one. FTP Client I recommend Filezilla, an open source FTP client which can be downloaded free from the internet. Installing: 1) Go to the downloads page of the Filezilla site 2) Click on the 'Download' link 3) click on 'Filezilla_2_2_17_setup.exe' or the latest stable version 3) Save the file to your desktop 4) double-click the file 5) follow the on-screen instructions to install Filezilla 6) If the installer hasn't made a desktop shortcut to Filezilla it might pay to make one. Image Manipulation If you are putting images (photos, diagrams etc) on your web pages you can alter properties like size and shape in NVU. However you may need to use an image manipulation program if you need to change the file format of the image or reduce the file size. For small images a .JPG is best while .PNG is good for high-quality but slower-loading images. Don't use .GIF.   Windows default image program is Paint which can be found under Start> All Programs> Accessories. You can also try an open source program called GIMP which has many more features, although not quite as many as payware like Photoshop. Getting started There are four steps to making a new web page: 1) Build the new pages 2) Save the files 3) Upload the files and any images 4) Test your changes Open NVU by clicking the shortcut on your desktop. Build the new pages as you would assemble a document using word processing or desktop publishing software. Investigate the tool icons and pull-down menus to see what features are available to you. Once you finish editing a page, save it as an HTML file in an easy-to-find location on your hard drive. Now you need to use an FTP client to upload the HTML files to the webhost's server. If you are using images on your page, you need to upload these as well. It's a good idea to have separate folders for images and other special filetypes so you can find them among the masses of HTML pages you will (hopefully) be building. Open Filezilla by clicking the shortcut on your desktop. Kia Tupato! Beware! Filezilla, although simliar, is *not* exactly like the Windows Explorer you use to browse 'My Computer' and can be a mischevious little monster if you don't keep your wits about you! Luckily the panels at the top and bottom of its window will tell you exactly what it's up to. Click the the 'file' menu and open 'site manager'. Enter the site name and the ftp details of the webhost and click 'connect'. Next time you open Filezilla you will only need to double-click on the site name in the 'site manager'. Drag the files you want to transfer from their folder on your hard drive (left panel) to the appropriate folder on the host (right panel).   Time to test your pages. Leave Filezilla open - you might need it again in a moment - but disconnect it from the server by clicking the 'file' menu and clicking 'disconnect'. Open a browser window and type the address of your site. Check that all the pages you transferred can be accessed, links working and images loading (at a reasonable speed too ;) If you can, try this on a few different browsers including IE, Netscape and Opera. Troubleshooting Check the 'properties' of images and links, make sure they are correctly addressed with full URLs (eg http://www.riverside.org.nz/) or name and location of files on your webhost (images/sunrise.jpg). Most webhosts run on Linux which is *case-sensistive* so it will save confusion and frustration if you name your file names in lower case letters with no punctuation or spaces. Click the 'View HTML' at the bottom of your NVU page. As you get more experienced you will be able to tidy up and fix errors in the HTML 'source code' of your pages and eventually you won't even need the drag'n'drop graphical composer. Updates People will visit a regularly updated website more often. If you include the email address of the webworkers, Some people will let you know what sort of information they are looking for and inform you of errors on your site. There are four stages to a website update: 1) Download fresh copies of existing files 2) Make your changes and save the files 3) Upload the updated pages and any new images 4) Test your changes Tip - it's a good idea to keep a backup of your site on your hard drive and maybe even on CD or other backup media. That way you always know where to save your edited files and where to find them for transfer. Open Filezilla and drag the files you want to work on from the webhost (right panel) to the appropriate folder in your hard drive (left panel). You can also start a transfer by double-clicking the file but remember the *version you click* (whether on your hard drive or the webhost) will be copied over top of the other version! To update pages open NVU and click 'open' and select the file you want to update. Make your changes and save your work. Now go back to Filezilla and upload the edited files. Disconnect Filezilla and test your changes.