WEBSITE USING MICROSOFT WORD

Building a Website Using Microsoft Word

Building a Website Using Microsoft Word

Introduction

While it is possible to generate an HTML page with Word, it's generally recommended that you do not do so if you intend for the page to be used in any professional or widespread manner. Making your own website with Word is like building your own house with LEGO blocks: it works well enough if you do not have the expertise to do a proper job of it, but using the right tools or hiring a professional will yield immeasurably better results (Gookin, 2006).

Word is made for creating paper documents, which have a fixed page size, typeface, and layout, whereas the page size, typeface and layout available to someone viewing your website may be completely different than yours. Because Word is purpose-built for fixed paper formatting, the web page code it creates is loaded with non-standard, paper-based styling which may not appear as you intend it to in any browsers other than Microsoft's own Internet Explorer

Step #1: Getting a Webspace

Whatever you choose to use, you should first go and get an account so that you will have a place to post your site. Follow the directions on Geocities or whatever site you use to sign up and make sure you keep track of what your username and website URL will be (often, these will be related - for example, my Geocities ID is dreamers_sanctuary, and my site URL is http://www.geocities.com/dreamers_sanctuary.)

Step #2: Starting a New Site

Once you have a place to put your site, it's time to start building the site itself. To do this on Word, follow the directions below:

Open up Word.

Go to File -> New -> Blank Web Page.

You will have a blank white page that looks like any other Word doc. You can type on it just like you would a regular Word doc too! It's easiest to type or copy/paste all the written information you want on your page first, THEN worry about pictures, links, etc., so type up a title and a little blurb or whatever you wish to get yourself started.

Once you have something on your page, make sure you save it. Go to File -> Save As and give it a name. If this is going to be the first page people see when they go to your site, call it “index”. Word automatically saved webpages with a .htm extension. You can also give it a .html extension by manually typing “index.html” as the filename, but this isn't necessary - .htm is fine.

 

Step #3: Changing Colors and Fonts

You can adjust your site's color scheme the way you would on a regular Word document. To change the text color, go to one of the horizontal toolbars at the top of your screen and find the button that has a blue A and a strip of color (black by default) on it. Highlight your text and click this button to change its color (Hinkle, ...