Web-site hosting

[FrankSG]

I am with Time Warner Road Runner and they have been hosting my personal website for quite some time. However, for some reason they have stopped hosting.:( Does anyone know of a free hosting site for personal web sites?

[azzey]

Do you have/need a domain?

[FrankSG]

Do you have/need a domain?
If I understand your question correctly, I do not have a domain.
I just use WS_FTP and uploaded my web page to the right place at Time Warner. They have, in the past, hosted a customer's personal web page. But they have now stopped doing that.

[Paul Komski]

Free Webspace Reviews & Ratings (http://www.free-webhosts.com/user_reviews.php)

[FrankSG]

Thanks, Paul--I'll check those out.

[Cuc Tu]

The statistics there are interesting. How does a site with 4000 votes rank so much lower than a site with 31 votes?

And then, I can select to show only sites with at least 30 votes, and the site with a total of 31 votes is ranked 3rd, above other sites with hundreds of votes. That means that all those other sites must have had at least 30 + votes equal to the 31 vote site, yet they still missed by at least one rank vote...?

[Paul Komski]

so much lowerIt is doubtful if a rating of 9.05 is statistically significantly lower than one of 9.39.

One can draw one's own conclusions about why a high percentage of over 4000 had bothered to report back positively compared to a slightly higher rating from much smaller numbers.

There are other sites with no reviews - make of that what you will since applying statistics would make them infinitely good or bad.

[FrankSG]

One thing that I have often wondered about these free hosting services is why do they do it free of charge. Time Warner hosted mine because I am a customer of theirs. I am assuming that even though some offer free hosting, they are still legitimate.

[azzey]

^ Usually revenue is generated through advertising somehow.

[FrankSG]

^ Usually revenue is generated through advertising somehow.
That makes sense. I'm going to give one of them a try. As soon as I have one working, I'll post back and let you know which it is and how I like it. Thanks to all of you.

[123456]

If I understand your question correctly, I do not have a domain.
I just use WS_FTP and uploaded my web page to the right place at Time Warner. They have, in the past, hosted a customer's personal web page. But they have now stopped doing that.

WS_FTP? Old school! I know you're probably using a newer version, but I have it on my DOS/3.11 system! :eek:

[FrankSG]

There is something that I don't understand about "Domain." I went to one of the hosting services which was "Award Space". As I was looking at it there were two options that I had to choose from:
1) Get Domain Name.
2) Use Existing domain: To use existing domain with our hosting service, you should add it in your hosting account after signup and change the DNS settings of your domain name.
I don't understand any of that. First what do they mean when they say, "Get Domain Name." And I didn't understand anything under No. 2. Could you explain any of that to me?

[Whyzman]

1) Get a Domain Name.

Web hosting sites may have a search engine to help you secure your "hope it is currently available" Domain Name. Some provide options if a .com choice you hoped to get is already in use, e.g. .biz, .net, etc... So, Get a Domain Name involves the searching for, and securing a "name" if it is available. Google.com is already taken for example. ;)

2) Use an existing...

This would be a Domain Name that you already own. You would need to change the Domain Name Server (DNS), to that of the hosting company you want to use...

This site has an excellent description how to do so:

http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/getting_started/transfer_point_domain.htm#s2

It may help to further understand what you are being asked to do if you read toward the bottom of my linked site. An important note is that the Domain Name "Provider" may be different than where you choose to "Host" your Domain Name. The Domain Name Provider is usually where you originally searched for and paid for your chosen domain.

And, if you would want to have the provider also be the same as where you choose to host your site, there is a way to accomplish that as outlined in the link.

[FrankSG]

Here's what I did--and it seems to have been the right choice: Under "Get Domain Name", one of the choices was COM. So I chose that. They seem to have accepted it. I didn't upload my files yet as I want to get more information from the site before I do.

[Whyzman]

So, you put in your "hoped it was available" name and it showed up that, indeed, the .com with that name was available?

Then you would need to follow through and claim that Domain Name...usually, by paying for it.

[Whyzman]

Usually, the Domain Name Providers also offer a hosting service. Most offer some sort of special deal if you decide to use their Hosting service as well as them being the provider of your Domain Name. This is usually a one payment kinda deal...get the name and agree to have them host...

[Whyzman]

It sounds like you are taking the right steps. Most often the biggest hurdle is getting the Domain Name that you want, especially if it is a .com

[FrankSG]

Ok--I'm starting to understand about the domain name. The reason I was confused was because when Time Warner hosted my site, I didn't need a domain name.

[Paul Komski]

You wont get a domain name for free but you might get a sub-domain name of the hosting site for free.

The main domain name is the name before .com, .biz, .org and so on. PCGuide for this site and Amazon for Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and so on. Technically the .com etc is the domain name and the name preceding it the high level sub-domain name but one also often refers to the couplet as the domain name.

The default sub-domain name is usually www and can often be left out of the address bar. If your webhost is called say hosting.com then they can also issue sub-domain names - usually for free. For example franksg.hosting.com, bobmarley.hosting.com and so on.

If you purchase your own domain name (they are usually not that expensive at all) many web-hosts will do the registration of it for you and may well give you free hosting in parallel. But note that the domain name is yours and you are free to transfer it to another web-host or indeed to your own PC though the latter is a bit more complicated. Once you have your own domain name you can also create different areas on it for your own sub-domains though it is often easier to use a separte folder such as is done here with the vb folder that follows PCGuide.com. If you setup emails using your own domain name that can have a number of advantages but just note that although it is easy to transfer your domain name it is not nearly so easy to transfer any email server part of your hosting package.

Advertising (often a banner ad at the top of every page) is one reason for being free. Another is to get you started but with certain reduced functionality; no ftp, no php, no databases, no blogs, no emails etc, but done in the hope you will later upgrade to a paid service with a variety of added functions.

PS WSFTP has been around for a long time and currently is at version 12 and is supported on Win7. Equally good is the open source option of the very excellent FileZilla (http://filezilla-project.org/). Other webhosts may well have a control panel area from which you can upload/download without any need for an FTP client program.

[Cuc Tu]

A lot of the free hosters seemed to have a lot of restrictions, such as no hosting videos or images, or they place significant size restrictions.

One of the free sites required a personal domain and would register it for you for $10.

[FrankSG]

I have another question about this. I now have a domain name. I went to AwardSpace.com where I chose a domain name and got it registered. I then chose AwardSpace to host my website. I uploaded all of my file and if I open Internet Explore and type in my domain name it brings up my website with one problem that I can't seem to correct. Here's my question: As there are several free web hosting sites, I want to choose another. However, since my files are currently on AwardSpace, if I choose another site and upload my files to that one, how does it work? Or is it necessary to delete my files on AwardSpace, and then close my account with them.:confused:

[Paul Komski]

if I choose another site and upload my files to that one, how does it work?
You can host the same files (commonly called a web) on any number of sites no problem but your domain can only be linked to one home page, wherever that is, at any one time.

You can delete the web from any particular host or leave it there till the hosting package expires. Once you move the domain from one server to another it takes hours or days for the domain servers around the world to update themselves and to point to the actual files in your web so for the best continuity leave the old web where it is until all the updating has taken effect.

[FrankSG]

Thanks, Paul--I understand. If I can't get an answer to my problem, I'll find another place for my hosting server. I sent in a question to them, but I'm not sure if they give a lot off support to there free hosting--which I can understand.

[FrankSG]

Paul--I made sure that the path along with everything else was correct. The error message I get is an " http 403 Forbidden". I check on further information which said, "This error means that Internet Explorer was able to connect to the website, but id does not have permission to view the webpage." I should have told you that the error was an http 403 forbidden. It would have made it more clear for you. I did get an email response from AwardSpace and was told that I would get a response in a reasonable amount of time to resolve the problem. By the way, my domain name is fjsangregory.com. Thank you for the information you have give me. I'm going to "bone-up" on this stuff.

[Paul Komski]

The 403 forbidden (http://awfaq.awardspace.info/?The_FAQ_Supplement:Server_Error_Messages:I_get_a_ 403_-_forbidden_error!) is apparently due to some or other blocked/undesirable content.

Try uploading a simple page with the same name and just something like Hello in text on it. If that loads OK it would confirm that something on the page is not liked by award space.

[FrankSG]

The 403 forbidden (http://awfaq.awardspace.info/?The_FAQ_Supplement:Server_Error_Messages:I_get_a_ 403_-_forbidden_error!) is apparently due to some or other blocked/undesirable content.

Try uploading a simple page with the same name and just something like Hello in text on it. If that loads OK it would confirm that something on the page is not liked by award space.

Paul--You hit the nail right on the head!! I tried what you suggested and the link now works! Open open your browser and in the address bar type in my domain name "fjsangregory.com". When the page open, click on the link that says ,"Check me out here." The word "here" is the link that gave me the "403 forbidden" error. It will now work--read what it says. I wish I know how to send you the the webpage that AwardSpace thought was "undesirable". I tried to do a copy/past but it didn't work. All it was about was Family Harmony--how to show love, and respect for your children--how to set guide lines for them--how to make them realize that they are a very important part of the family. It was nothing about love, respect, compassion and guide lines. How could anyone find that unacceptable is beyond me. The wording is too long to put here. I'm going to see if I can figure out a way to simply sent you the html file. Thanks for finding out what the problem is.

[FrankSG]

Since the whole file was too long to sent, I am sending only a part of it.See if you can find anything that would be unacceptable to them.:

My name is Frank SanGregory. I was born March 6, 1931 which makes me 80 years old as of this writing. My wife and I have been married since July 24, 1954. We have 4 kids--two of each kind--, ten grandchildren and 10 great grandchild. I have spent some time working with kids in different organization such as Scouting, Big Brothers/Sisters of America, doing some teaching in a CCD class in our church, and during my membership with the Kiwanis Club in our town I spent some time working with kids from Kindergarten to 4th grade in some of our local schools. I've worked in the Guided Reading Program in our local elementary school. Certainly helping to raise kids of your own gives a person some degree of hands-on experience. So let's talk about kids.
One of the most perplexing questions of this society these days is "How do we bring up our kids in the midst of all the problems that we have out there?" And--make no mistake about it. We do have a lot of problems. We've got the drugs, we've got the cars that go at break-neck speeds, we've got the booze that our children can drink when they get into these cars, we've got teenage suicide and all the teenage pregnancies--happening in good families! So what do we do? How do we bring up our kids in the midst of all this? Some of the experts say that we say "no" too often to our kids--others say that we don’t say "no" often enough. We can go to the library and read what they have to say. But the problem is, there are so many conflicting opinions. So, what in the world do we do??
Well, I have some ideas for you. Ideas that in my opinion can stop the hurt--ideas that can make life a little less complicated when it comes to raising your children--ideas that could eliminate a lot of stress in the relationship with your children. Actually, they are really not my ideas and they certainly are not new! They’ve been around a long time. The problem is that too many of us have just sort of forgotten about them. These are the ideas that I want to share with you. Again, you may agree with what I have to say, or you may disagree. If you disagree, that's OK. I certainly respect your right to feel the way that you do. I just ask that you give it some deep thought and think about it with an open mind. Below are the ideas.
In addition to food, shelter and clothing, there are four other things that our children need desperately --four other things that so many of them are not getting.
Love:
Our children need us to show them that we love them and to tell them that we love them. They need us to put our arms around them and hug them, and to tell them that they are a very important part of our lives. It's important that we communicate this to our children. Actually that's an understatement. It's CRUCIAL that we communicate this message to our children. I'm not just talking to the mothers, I'm talking to the fathers as well. I know--I've worked around men and I've heard all the tough talk--things like "Well--we men don't show that kind of emotion--that's for their mother to do." If that's the way any of you men feel, then you are totally wrong. Gentlemen, your kids need you to put your arms around them and hug them just as much as they need it from their mother. Do you ever notice when you watch a professional foot ball game how they act when they make a touch-down. All these big burley men go around hugging each other. That's OK if that's what they want to do. But, I wonder how many of these big burley men can go home and hug their own children. You see--drugs are not the problem. Alcohol is not the problem. They are only symptoms of the real problem. The problem in the majority of cases is that children feel unloved--unwanted. Please be assured that I'm not just making that up. I've heard too many people who work with problem children say the same thing. Now, is that the case in every situation where there are problems? Certainly not. There are exception to every rule. But in the majority of cases, that is the problem. So think about that.
Attention:
We’ve got to give them our attention. We’ve got to spend some time with our children. I know, we’re all too busy. We’ve got to work and make a living. I understand that--I also had to work to support a family. But, let me put it this way because it’s so important: If you don’t have time to spend with your children, then it’s crucial that you that you make some changes so that you do have time. Since I don’t know you’re particular situation, I can’t tell you how you should go about it. And I know there are situations where it can be very difficult. So I’m not putting anyone down whose job situation is such that it’s almost impossible. OK? But I think it would be a good idea to sit down and give it some serious thought--maybe you could come up with something. Look at your schedule to see where you can fit your children in. Somehow you have to come up with something because your children need you

[Paul Komski]

Just a hunch but possibly CRUCIAL is the "offensive" word because it is the name of a big on-line company just as are AMAZON and AOL both of which they apparently do not like. It's not offensive material per se that worries them but anything (especially any links or pictures) which could be the source of phishing attacks.

What you maybe could do is to upload just one paragraph at a time and try to find the culprit that way.

The Link I posted earlier is not what was intended. The actual link is http://awfaq.awardspace.info/?The_FAQ_Supplement and one must then navigate further via the Server Messages Link on the right hand side.

[FrankSG]

Just a hunch but possibly CRUCIAL is the "offensive" word because it is the name of a big on-line company just as are AMAZON and AOL both of which they apparently do not like. It's not offensive material per se that worries them but anything (especially any links or pictures) which could be the source of phishing attacks.

What you maybe could do is to upload just one paragraph at a time and try to find the culprit that way.

The Link I posted earlier is not what was intended. The actual link is http://awfaq.awardspace.info/?The_FAQ_Supplement and one must then navigate further via the Server Messages Link on the right hand side.

I thank you for reading that, Paul--it was a bit long; and I appreciate your response. What I can't understand is the fact that there is so much garbage and trash out there--and you know what I mean. Then I send in something wholesome and it's not acceptable. At my age of 80, I can't figure out what is going on in this world of ours. Maybe I'm too sensitive, but I am totally confused be this. You have helped me a great deal on this Paul--I truly appreciate it.

[FrankSG]

It works!!:D I edited the file and removed the word, "Amazon" and the link opens with no problems. Paul, I owe you a glass of beer!

[Paul Komski]

Great. They are obviously a bit over-fussy in my opinion or rather just too lazy to differentiate between a word and a link. It's simply just easier I suppose to filter based on text. Why Amazon and AOL are singled out I don't know since there are phishing attacks likely on any site where you must log-on. It is one very good reason for using strong passwords and not using the same password for everything. Getting into purported web-based mail accounts can wreak havoc because not only are there loads of contacts but also all sorts of information inside the email store.

[FrankSG]

Great. They are obviously a bit over-fussy in my opinion or rather just too lazy to differentiate between a word and a link. It's simply just easier I suppose to filter based on text. Why Amazon and AOL are singled out I don't know since there are phishing attacks likely on any site where you must log-on. It is one very good reason for using strong passwords and not using the same password for everything. Getting into purported web-based mail accounts can wreak havoc because not only are there loads of contacts but also all sorts of information inside the email store.

I think I should have been more clear. It was a link to Amazon. I was talking about a book on how to bring up children. The book was by Dr. James Dobson and I mentioned that it could be purchased at Amazon. I did provide a link. After thinking about it, I suppose I can now understand why they didn't like it; and I'm not upset about it like I was before. As they say, "Live and learn." And as I have always said, "Having problems is a great way to learn."

[FrankSG]

Every page is now opening and working well, but now I have another question. I don't know if I should have started another thread or just post it here. So I'm posting it here. On my web page I have a frame--and that's the problem. I want to do away with the frame but don't know how. It's been at least 10 years since I made the page and I simply don't remember how I made it. I have 6 files all in the same folder that makes up the site. I can't see in any of the files that points to a frame. Shouldn't one of the files have some sort of a frameset tag?. I looked through them several times but still do not have any idea how I made the frame or how to get rid of it. On one of my earlier post, Paul had mentioned that he did not like frames. I did some searching on the subject, I can agree and would like to get rid of it. I have forgotten much of what I learned about HTML, but as I said, I can't see anywhere on any of the files that points to a frame.:confused:
For any of you who knows HTML, if you want to look at my site to see if you can help me, if you open your browser and type in fjsangregory.com (my domain name) it will bring up my page. I would sure appreciate your help.

[Paul Komski]

Find below one way of making a simple two column layout of your current index page using a two-cell table. I have made a couple of corrections but it should, more or less, render as the original once uploaded as index.html to replace the current one. Just rename the current one to say index.old or be ready to re-upload it if you need or want to.

I prefer a CSS approach but a bigger learning curve. The table approach is straightforward html. I haven't checked it methodically so you may well find an error or two on checking.

<! DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Harmony Within The Family</title>
<meta name="description" content="How to have harmony within your family">
<meta name="keywords" content=children, kids, family, harmony, discipline, home, teens, parents, parenting, marriage,spanking, guide lines, raising children, babys, toddler>
</head>

<body leftmargin="0px" topmargin="0px" marginwidth="0px" marginheight="0px" bgcolor="#000000">
<table>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#663300" VALIGN="top" TD WIDTH="20%">
<!--NAVIGATION LINKS START HERE -->
<p align="center"><font color="white"><b>The Experts</b></font></p>
<hr color="#ffff99" size=2>
<p align="center"><a href="http://www.family.org" target="_blank" ><font color="white">Dr. James Dobson</font></a></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://www.girlsandboystown.org/home.asp" target="_blank"><font color="white">Boys & Girls Town</font></a></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://www.marriagebuilders.com/index.html" target="_blank"><font color="white">Marriage Builders</font></a></p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://www.drphil.com"target="-blank"><font color="white">Dr. Phil</font></a></p>
</td>
<td bgcolor="silver" VALIGN="top" TD WIDTH="80%">
<!--PAGE CONTENT STARTS HERE -->
<h1><p align="center"<font color="#000066">Harmony Within The family</font></h1>
<p align="center"><font color="#660033" size="+1"> <i><b>~If you want honey, don't kick over
the bee hive~</b>
</i></font> <hr color="#000033">
<center> <img src ="hands.jpg" width="125" height="125"</center>
<font color="#660033" ><p align="center"><b>Some ideas on how to have a healthy relationship within your family.<br>
Mostly from experts; but a few of my own.</b></font><br></p>
<p align="center"><font size ="+1" color="#000066"><b><u>Below is a statement of my belief.
</u></b></p></font>
<font color="#000066">
<blockquote><font color="#000066" size="+1"><i><b>

~~I happen to believe that the family unit is a very important part of our society. Now, that's
really an understatement. So, let me put it another way. I believe that it is crucial for our
society to have a strong and healthy family unit in order to survive. I believe that to the extent that the
family unit is destroyed, to that same extent will our society will be destroyed.~~</b></i>
</blockquote><p align="center"><!!!font face="ms serif","verdana",times new roman>
<hr color="#000066"
</b>
<fontsize="+2">
So--that's my belief. You may or may not agree with that. If you don't--that's OK. I
respect your right to your own belief. If you agree with my philosophy--or even if you do not,
you can check me
out<a href="http://fjsangregory.com/state.html" target="_blank"> here</a> where I elaborate a little more.
You can also check some of the links at the left and see what some of the experts
have to say about the subject.</b></p><hr color="#000066" width=24%></font>
<!---------------------------------------------------->
<!img src="graphics/family2t.jpg" align=center width="181" height="272">
<!---------------------------------------------------->
<address><p align=center> <font size="-1"><i>
<a href="mailto:fsangregory@woh.rr.com">Contact Me</a></font></i>
<p>
<a href--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan ALT="Site Meter" -->
<a href="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=sm6Frank3631" target="_top">
<img src="http://sm6.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=sm6Frank3631" alt="Site Meter" border=0></a>
<!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" Endspan -->
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

[FrankSG]

I did as you suggested, first renaming my original index file to oldindex. I then saved your edited file as index.html, uploaded it and it is perfect--just the way I want it. I am going to look and learn CCS. Actually now is the time for me to learn--while I am still young.:) I thank you very much for all the help you have given me.

[FrankSG]

Paul--As per the link below, is this the one that you recommended?
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_styles.asp

[Paul Komski]

I gave a couple of links to give you the general idea. The C of CSS is of relevance as it translates to Cascading.

The CSS code can be stored in one of three locations: as a separate file linked from a tag in the headers, as code inserted into the headers directly and in-line at any position within the html.

Each successive position has priority over previously set styles that would have applied to the tag or html in question. You will see div containers used freely and they are very flexible elements when encoded correctly.

I don't want to make it sound more complicated than it really is because it is possible and recommended to start simply and then progress. Googling for learn CSS I am sure will give you numerous hits and you can, of course always post back here.

[Cuc Tu]

If you are interested in seeing how "good" your coding is, enter your site URL here:

http://validator.w3.org/

http://www.fjsangregory.com/

[FrankSG]

This validator sort of reminds me of the first new car that my wife and I bought. It was years ago when they came out with the first scanner that would scan your engine. Many places offered "Free Scans". So I went ahead and had one done even though the car was nearly new. The scanner found dozens of problems with the engine!
The place that did the scan for me asked if I wanted to setup an appointment to have the problems fixed. I said, "No, but thank you." We never did have any of the work done and none of the "problems" ever came up. Anyway, this validator just reminded me of that.:)

[Cuc Tu]

Fortunately, most browsers are fairly robust and are less critical of coding errors than many forum readers are of spelling and grammar.

I've found it useful in helping when something does not render properly.

[Paul Komski]

Fortunately, most browsers are fairly robust and are less critical of coding errors
Be that as it may there is a time and a place for writing clean html that validates or not just as one wants. There is also a big difference between one simple page (such as relates to this thread) and much more complicated ones.

Not rendering "properly" (as intended or hoped for) can also occur with perfectly good clean html but when there is underlying bad web design per se. There is the additional problem that different browsers can render the same html differently because they have different defaults for margins, spacing, padding, etc.

I'm not saying to never attempt W3C validation but it is best done from square one by starting simply and then building up elements bit by bit. I know that there are many aspects of this example that could be better written but the task in hand, from my perspective, was to replace framsets with a single page that rendered more or less the same.

[FrankSG]

Just to see what what would happen, I ran microsoft.com through; and it came up with 190 errors and 159 warnings. So it makes me wonder about how reliable it is. There is, of course, the possibility that I'm not doing it right. The bottom line is that my problem has been solved and I'm happy with that. Incidentally, my wife is happy too, as she was wondering how many more hours I was going to sit by my computer scratching my head.:)

[Paul Komski]

Yes there are errors including a number relating to the DOCTYPE statement and the meta tags in the head of the document - none of which affect the rendering in any meaningful way. If it presents itself the way you want I wouldn't bother messing with the html until possibly the day when you use styles - at which point everything could be "cleaned-up" and made fully web compliant.

[Cuc Tu]

I just thought it would be a useful tool for one considering the plunge into CSS.

The validator is reliable. MS has coding errors, as does just about every site on the net - wasting time and bandwidth...

WRT meta tags...will the search engines skip them due to the compliance issue? Probably not, and they may even be of less value than the page content nowadays, given where they are and how they are being used. For example, spanking is not mentioned in the content at all (nor in any of the linked top-level pages), it has no relevance and may adversely impact search indexing.

[FrankSG]

I just thought it would be a useful tool for one considering the plunge into CSS.

.

I'm sure that is true; and I'm glad that you brought it to my attention since I've not heard of it before. I may be using it sometime to check things out when I get deeper into this. But for right now I'm happy with the way Paul set it up for me. As a wise person once said: "If your car ain't broke, don't fix it."

[Cuc Tu]

Subaru is the best car ever made, IMHO.

A friend had one and drove it about 50k miles between oil changes. When he changed the clutch, he had a few bolts and a crossmember that he was too lazy to put back on. I kept egging him about all that, but he insisted none of that stuff was needed...

My friend gave the car to me when it had ~220k miles on it. I drove it almost 100k more miles...hard, abusive miles and I changed the oil only twice. I came to agree with my friend, that none of that stuff really ever was needed...

There are only two things I'd change to your page...I'd put a couple line breaks above the table and size the table to a fixed, narrower width (just because widescreens are so popular and full with makes the text lines very long and harder to read).

[FrankSG]

Subaru is the best car ever made, IMHO.

A friend had one and drove it about 50k miles between oil changes. When he changed the clutch, he had a few bolts and a crossmember that he was too lazy to put back on. I kept egging him about all that, but he insisted none of that stuff was needed...

My friend gave the car to me when it had ~220k miles on it. I drove it almost 100k more miles...hard, abusive miles and I changed the oil only twice. I came to agree with my friend, that none of that stuff really ever was needed...

There are only two things I'd change to your page...I'd put a couple line breaks above the table and size the table to a fixed, narrower width (just because widescreens are so popular and full with makes the text lines very long and harder to read).
I truly do appreciate and respect your suggestion. But, I struggle and struggled and couldn't fix it. Paul fixed it for me and I like it. I'll not make any changes unless Paul says it's OK.

[Cuc Tu]

Paul is a spectacular guy. If more people were like him, I bet there would be no more wars, hunger, computer viruses, and even cancer would be cured. I wish I knew some people in real life like him. Most of the people I know just care about themselves and are in some kind of competition with others around them...

[Paul Komski]

I hope I didn't offend and agree that there is an important place for validation of html and css. It was just that for a noob to look at the validation errors in a "dirty" document can be overpowering.

I have rewritten Frank's original in clean html and css and uploaded it temporarily to my own site (http://www.paulski.com/ann/frank.html); it is almost, though not absolutely, (apart from the text) identical. Suggest that anyone could copy and paste the source code to their own PC and then edit or otherwise play around with it to their heart's content.

The css has been used to make a very simple two-column layout. The footer div is important or the page will not render correctly even though without that div it would still validate. It is simple but not perfect and the background colour of the wrap div would need changing if the left column was longer than the right hand one.

The css is written in the headers though could equally be linked to a .css document. For a newcomer the tags with ids are represented by # blocks of code and classes by . separators. An id tag should only appear once in the body of the html.

I suggest mungeing the email contact address using a javascript to prevent spambots from lifting it. I can give the code if required or look it up on the net. I left things the way they were for simplicity's sake.

[FrankSG]

Paul--I really like that and will do a copy/paste and use it. Thank you.

[FrankSG]

Paul, I would like to make the change to the email contact as you suggested; so I would appreciate it if you would send the code to me. I would also welcome any other suggestion you may have, particularly to the meta tags.
I do have a question concerning the fact that I do wish to look into CSS. It's been quite some time since I learned and used HTML, and have forgotten much of what I did learn.:( Do you think it would be a good idea for me to bone up a little on HTML before I tackle CSS? Again, I thank you for your help.
Incidental, you said that you hoped you didn't offend any one. I can assure you that you said nothing that anyone could have taken offense to.

[Paul Komski]

I have uploaded the email changes to the page on my site.

Using CSS requires the same underlying HTML that would be needed to write straightforward HTML. In fact it simplifies the underlying HTML because all the styling is done via the CSS encoding. Any HTML tag can be given a CSS id or case as appropriate and the style is then provided by the CSS. This often leads to the actual text to be displayed being much easier to read and write.

Things like widths can be described in percentages or absolute values such as pixels and there are pros and cons to both of these. In writing the CSS code it is important to have each element between curly braces { } and for each value pair to be separated by a colon and end with a semi-colon.

That said there are lots of tutorials on the net and even just playing around with the source code on your own PC and then viewing in a browser can give one insights. When experimenting with containers such as Tables and Divs if you give each one a separate background colour can help one to see what is going on.

The other nice thing about CSS is that one can use it globally on one's website to give each page a similar feel.

The meta tags, as are, are perfectly adequate in my opinion.

[Paul Komski]

An alternative way to beat the bots is to use an image such as the one below; easily made using IrfanView. Such a method means that even those with Javascript disabled will be able to read the address. Also using mailto links usually requires the user to have a desktop based email client.