BUILDING A SITE
Doesn't everyone want a website? I know I do! Or, erm, did. Well, here is a nice guide on how to make a popular website.
Step One - Finding a Host
Whether you have money or not, you still need a host. Most services have a free and a paid account. The difference being domain name, or no domain name. [ex. pokemon.com is a domain name; freewebs.com/pokemon is a free account name] Here are some good hosts that I have found:
Freewebs
What I used to use. You can have a free account, or a paid account. There is really no difference besides the domain situation. A good thing about Freewebs is that you can start out with a free account and simply purchase the name. The site will stay the same, only the URL will change.
-->Hint: When creating a Freewebs account, on the page where you select template, go to the top and select the option that you already have a website and need to upload it. This is how to get HTML mode. It has a "Design View" mode, where you can edit the site's actual appearance, and not the HTML. You can also go to the "HTML View" if you have any code that you want on your site.
Bravenet
Very simple, very basic, slightly boring [referring to the free account]. If you want a personal site, I recommend this to you. I really have nothing else to say, except that they have really cool web tools/mini tools! :3
Yahoo! Geocities
This is definitely the easiest host, for those of you who have not the slightes clue how to read HTML. But, if you want an image-based site, stay away. Period. They have a little pixel-size categorization going on with the images. If it is a certain smaller size, it won't count as an image. If it is a certain bigger size, it won't count as an image. But, if you just want a cute site, then go for it.
Super Cool Hosting [PAID ONLY]
I don't know much about it, but I have been to websites that use it. They say it is cheap, and good. I've never seen any downtime with the sites, so if you want to use it, go right ahead.
Yahoo! Small Business [PAID ONLY]
Heck, it's who I use! This is completely different from Geocities. You upload your own files, or you can upload through FrontPage or another site-building program. They have nice add-ons, and they support PHP. There are inexpensive packages to choose from, and they are great bargains. I highly recommend Yahoo. Besides, seeing as Yahoo is such a big company, it's very unlikely that the Yahoo server will crash. ;]
Step Two - Find Some Content
If you have a site, your going to want to put something in it. [be sure not to overwhelm it with graphics and Javascript, it will slow the page down, and potentially freeze your visitor's browser] What to put in it, you ask? Well, it depends on what you are making it about. I am going to assume you are either making a Pokemon site or an art site. So, lets go ahead and figure it out.
Pokemon Site
If you are making a Pokemon site, there are many things you can put on your site. It depends on what area of Pokemon you are focusing on. If it is the TCG, you can put decks, set lists, prices, or a "Card of the Day" section. If it is on the Games, you can put cheats, walkthroughs, guides, FAQs, and screenshots. If it is on sprites, you can put all of the official sprites, sprite tutorials, your own sprites, etc.
Art Site
You can, of course, put a gallery of your work. You can also provide an area for other artists to submit their work [simply tell them to email it to you if they want to submit]. You can also have links to different sites for downloading Photoshop accessories, or whatever kind of art is in your site, as well as tutorials on how to make art.
Step Three - Organize Your Content
Well, now that you know what to put on your site, you need a form of presenting it. You can always check out the
Basic HTML Guide for little details, but you will need to come up with your own basic outline. Think of it in categories. For example, at Pokemon Chibi, a category is "Guides." In that category, there are different guides that I am constantly updating. Try not to have an annoyingly huge navigation area. If you have a large category, make it into a page and link it from there. [Ex. Pokemon->Games->Fire Red/Leaf Green].
Step Four - Advertise
Okay, so now you have this great site. You want people to come to it, write? Well, you need to advertise. If you have a profile on a forum, you can put a link in your signature. Also, a lot of hosts [even free] have a program where you an type in some key words, and it will place your site under those key words in search engines. [ex. My keyword could be Pokemon, if someone typed "Pokemon" into a search engine, my site would be somewhere on the list, no matter how far down ;)]
Affiliation
If you don't know what affiliation is, you need to learn. If you are an affiliate of a site, you have similar sites and are advertised on each other's site. You make an affiliate banner, [no bigger than 100x50 in size] that has your little logo or whatever on it. The other site will have one, you trade, and link the banner's back to their original site. Someone is on your affiliate's site, sees your banner, and thinks "Oooh! How cool! I think I'll go there!" and they click. Viola, friendly advertising.
Extra Resources
You might need some help with content, or you might need some way to host your images. Here are some resources for all of your needs. =3
Image Hosting
Imageshack
Photobucket
Images [for custom layouts and stuff; follow the terms of use or else!]
Suta-Raito
Pokemon Elite 2000
Valley of Nightmares
