by Eric Wilson - July, 1998
The backbone for any webpage is the Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML. This is a programming language that is manipulated to dictate everything that will be on a webpage, it's colors, text, links to other webpages, graphics, etc. It can also be cumbersome and intimidating to anyone who is not familiar with designing computer programs. That is why any self respecting computer store will have shelves of what are known as HTML "editors" that in theory can help even the computer novice turn that dream of his or her own webpage from a mere dream to dazzling reality. While most work as advertised, each have some limitations, starting with cost. These editors range in price from about $20 to close to $150. And they often include features that are mostly of interest or use only to those who design corporate webpages for a living. However, there is a means for an individual to quickly design an attractive, informative webpage for no cost at all. This is with an editor called "AOLpress," which was developed by America On Line. It has all the useful features of the commercially available HTML editors, is easy to use, comes with and excellent user's guide, and best of all, it's free. Formatting text, importing colorful backgrounds and graphics, and creating links to other web sites is done almost entirely by clicking the mouse. It can be downloaded from http://www.aolpress.com/ and is available in Windows 3.1, Windows 95, UNIX and Macintosh versions. You do not have to be a member of America On Line to either download AOLpress or use it. In addition, the software takes up a little over megabytes of hard drive space, which even with the ever growing sizes of available drives today is still a consideration. By comparison, Microsoft's Front Page hogs close to 140 megabytes.