Creating Family Web Sites For Dummies

385 Pages·2005·17.022 MB·English

by  Janine Warner

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Creating Family
Web Sites
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
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Creating Family
Web Sites
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Janine Warner
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Creating Family Web Sites For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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About the Author
Janine Warner is a best-selling author, professional speaker, and strategic
Internet consultant. Since 1995, she has written ten books about the Internet,
including the best-selling Dreamweaver For Dummies, a guide to Macromedia’s
award-winning Web design program, 50Fast Dreamweaver Techniques, and
Managing Web Projects For Dummies.
Janine was inspired to write a book about family Web sites after giving her
sister-in-law a digital camera for Christmas and then helping her learn to use
her computer to make the most of all those digital pictures. In Creating Family
Web Sites For Dummies, Janine combines her personal experience using the
Internet to communicate with family and friends with more than 10 years of
professional experience working on the Internet. She still remembers what it
was like when computers were a mystery to her (they still are sometimes), and
she draws on her background in journalism to serve as a “techy translator.”
Drawing also on her international experience, Janine uses a broad range of
examples from many countries in this book. Her expertise in multimedia,
technology, and education have taken her on consulting assignments from
Miami to Mexico and on speaking engagements from New York to New Delhi.
She is fluent in Spanish and travels regularly to Spain and Latin America for
consulting projects and speeches.
A recognized Internet expert, Janine has been a featured guest on numerous
radio and television shows, including news programs on ZDTV, ABC, and NBC.
Janine is a former member of the faculty at the University of Southern
California Annenberg and the University of Miami, and she currently serves
as the Multimedia Program Manager for the Western Knight Center, a joint
project of USC and Berkeley that provides specialized training for profes-
sional journalists.
From 1998 to 2000, Janine worked for The Miami Herald, first as their Online
Managing Editor and later as Director of New Media. She also served as
Director of Latin American Operations for CNET Networks, an international
technology media company.
An award-winning reporter, she earned a degree in Journalism and Spanish
from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and worked for several years
in Northern California as a reporter and editor at Vision LatinaNewspaperand
the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Point Reyes Light,and as a freelance writer for more
than a dozen other publications.
To learn more, visit www.JCWarner.com.
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Dedication
To all the families and friends who long to be closer, I offer this guide and
encourage you to share your pictures, stories, and dreams. May you always
be surrounded by those you love.
Author’s Acknowledgments
Let me start by thanking my own family for their love, support, and inspiration
to create this book. My sister-in-law Stephanie’s optimism and regular cards
and photos helped me develop the idea for this book, my brother Kevin has
been a solid source of support and guidance over the years, and their three
beautiful daughters are a regular source of joy in my life.
Thanks to all four of my fabulous parents, Malinda, Janice, Helen, and Robin.
Thanks to my brother Brian, my uncle tom and aunt mindy (whose preference
not to use capital letters in their names is just one of their charming quirks),
and all of my extended family.
Thanks to David LaFontaine, the man of my dreams who I look forward to cre-
ating my own family with, and to his sisters, Linda, Beth, and Sarah, for helping
break him in for me. Thanks to his wonderful parents for raising him to be
such a caring and thoughtful man, and to his entire clan for making me feel
like part of the family. David, your patience, support, and inspired sense of
humor are such a gift, especially when I’m up against tough book deadlines.
Special thanks to the wonderful team that made the production and creation of
this book possible: my agent Margot Maley, Acquisitions Editor Bob Woerner,
and especially Susan Pink, for her extraordinary effort and attention to detail in
editing this book.
Thanks to Susie Gardner (www.hopstudios.com) for her contributions to the
blogging chapter. I wish you all the best with your own book and highly rec-
ommend Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies.
Special thanks to some of the talented people who helped create the many pho-
tographs, images, and designs featured in this book. Thanks to Photographer
Zach Goldberg, his beautiful wife, and their adorable son Max for sharing their
amazing images. Zach is available for personal and professional photo assign-
ments in LA and will travel by arrangement throughout the U.S. For more
information, visit www.FrozenFoto.comor call 323-662-7751. Thanks also to
photographers Jessica Verma (www.jessicaverma.com) and David LaFontaine
(www.davidlafontaine.com).
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A Spanish graciasto Miguel Calderon and everyone at GrupoW (www.grupow.
com). With more than five years experience creating Web sites, Miguel’s com-
pany has won more Internet awards than any other multimedia agency in
Mexico and has been recognized internationally, especially for its exceptional
design work. As the organizers of the premier conference on Macromedia
Flash in Mexico (www.flashformexico.org), GrupoW specializes in creating
animations, interactive games, and other complex Web projects for clients
around the world.
Over the years, I’ve thanked many people in my books — former teachers,
mentors, and friends — but I have been graced by so many wonderful people
now that no publisher will give me enough pages to thank them all. So let
meconclude by just thanking my lucky stars that this book is finally done.
Complete. Finished. This is it. (And don’t even tell me those aren’t complete
sentences.)
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Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form
located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition
MediaDevelopment
Project Coordinator: Maridee Ennis
Project Editor:Susan Pink
Layout and Graphics: Lauren Goddard,
Acquisitions Editor:Bob Woerner JoyceHaughey, Stephanie D. Jumper,
LynseyOsborn, Jacque Roth,
Technical Editor:Lee Musick
Heather Ryan, JulieTrippetti
Editorial Manager:Carol Sheehan
Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Jessica Kramer,
Media Development Specialist:Laura Moss Charles Spencer, TECHBOOKS Production
Media Development Manager: Services
LauraVanWinkle Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services
Media Development Supervisor: Special Help
RichardGraves
Angie Denny and Bonnie Mikkelson
Editorial Assistant:Amanda Foxworth
Cartoons:Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley,Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings,Vice President and Publisher
Mary Bednarek,Executive Acquisitions Director
Mary C. Corder,Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele,Vice President and Publisher
Joyce Pepple,Acquisitions Director
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey,Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey,Director of Composition Services
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction.................................................................1
Part I: Introducing Family Web Sites .............................7
Chapter 1: Touring Family Web Sites...............................................................................9
Chapter 2: Getting Organized..........................................................................................27
Chapter 3: Registering Your Site’s Domain Name.........................................................39
Chapter 4: Choosing a Web Hosting Service Provider.................................................49
Part II: Lookin’ Good: Images and Design.....................63
Chapter 5: Gathering Images: Scanning, Downloading, and Finding Clip Art...........65
Chapter 6: Creating and Editing Images for the Web...................................................79
Chapter 7: Organizing Images and Creating Photo Albums and Galleries..............111
Part III: Creating Web Pages and
Adding Multimedia...................................................131
Chapter 8: Working with Microsoft FrontPage............................................................133
Chapter 9: Timesaving Templates................................................................................157
Chapter 10: Lights, Camera, Action: Adding Video, Audio, and Motion..................167
Part IV: Creating Special Project Sites .......................195
Chapter 11: It’s a Baby! Web Site..................................................................................197
Chapter 12: Happily Ever After: Creating a Wedding Site..........................................219
Chapter 13: Wish You Were Here: Vacation Sites.......................................................235
Chapter 14: In Your Spare Time: Creating Club, Sports, and Hobby Sites..............251
Chapter 15: The Family Blog: Sharing Stories with an Online Journal....................273
Part V: The Part of Tens ............................................287
Chapter 16: Ten Great Family Web Sites......................................................................289
Chapter 17: Ten Web Design Tips.................................................................................301
Chapter 18: Ten Tips for Testing, Updating, and Promoting Your Site....................307
Part VI: Appendixes..................................................315
Appendix A: Calendar and Genealogy Resources......................................................317
Appendix B: Glossary....................................................................................................321
Appendix C: About the CD............................................................................................337
Index.......................................................................345