Helped me make a web site in 20 minutes! (Web Pages Made Easy)

Member Name: Karael

Product:	Web Pages Made Easy
Date:	08/03/01 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple guide to making Web Pages

Disadvantages: Not suitable for 'experts'

What attracted me to the magazine 'Web Pages Made Easy' was the last two words of the title. The idea of anything being made easy appeals to me. The edition I bought had another appealing caption on the front cover that stated 'Build Web Pages In 20 Minutes'. This had me reaching in my pocket for my money. I couldn't resist the idea of creating a web site easily and in such a short time. The cover design, therefore, had done what it was supposed to do. It made me want to buy the magazine.

The magazine cost £3.99 which is not exactly cheap for only 100 pages. Of the total pages 29 were taken up with advertising leaving me 71 pages to actually read. That's nearly 6p a page, not exactly good value. But built into the price are the 'free' CD's that come with the magazine. So I was really paying £3.99 for a magazine and two CD-Roms which now sounds a much better proposition.

As I have recently been battling to get the hang of HTML, which is the language normally used for creating Web Sites, I was surprised at how little of the magazine was actually devoted to this. There were two pages entitled 'An A to Z of HTML' and three pages explaining the way to create 'Cascading Style Sheets' using HTML but not much else. I was a little disappointed about this at first.

My disappointment faded when I started to get to grips with the CD-Roms. Who needs HTML if you have a CD described as 'The Easiest Web Site Builder We've Seen'? This was called 'Web Artist' and about 14 pages of the magazine tied in with the CD's explaining, in a very simple way, how to make a basic Web Site in under 20 minutes. No knowledge is required of HTML at all. It's a matter of designing your Web Site, with the aid of the CD, and that's it. The CD converts everything to HTML for you. Now this definitely is Web Pages Made Easy.

I made a Web Site with a fancy background,
titles, columns, links, sounds, different style buttons, signs, dividers, clip art and as much text positioned exactly where I wanted. It was also easy to add lots of different pages with the appropriate links. I'm sure that some readers may not be impressed with this but after struggling with making columns and tables in HTML this was like a dream come true. Even if I didn't get anything else from the magazine this was excellent value for £3.99 as far as I was personally concerned.

The rest of the magazine I also found interesting and it was all understandable. I didn't feel I was being 'talked down' to but that they were simply trying to demistify the whole process of creating Web Sites. I would say that the magazine isn't for the 'experts' that try to baffle everyone and make things sound more difficult than they are. But is fine for beginners and anyone who likes an easy life.

Besides the pages about the CD's there are also sections called Tech Support, eBusiness Made Easy, Web Projects and Webc@st which details news, insights and events. There are also special features such as the one on Domain Names in the issue I have.

There were two pages of a Web Glossary and I think the lead-in on this page sums up the philosophy of the magazine, it reads: 'Building Web Pages is fun, but the incomprehensible jargon that goes with it isn't. We tackle the Net babble so you can start having fun again ...'.

This way of thinking is fine by me. I like the idea of building Web Pages as being fun and easy so that everyone can join in. This is what the Internet is all about - access for absolutely everyone.

Web Pages Made Easy, to sum up, is not for technocrats but is for anyone who may be a bit unsure of what it is all about. I'd recommend the magazine. You can always move on to HTML and more complicated things when you've got the hang of the easier stuff.
<
br>Web Pages Made Easy is a good confidence builder. Take a look!

Summary: