Free Website Templates Help

Alright then, let's say you've downloaded and unpacked one of the zip files containing your free website template.

Now I'm assuming that:

1. You're using Windows

   AND...

2. You have some basic computer skills

If that checks out then the following is an overview of the official free website templates help section which will show how to turn your downloaded template zip file into your own personalized web page/site. If you have no web design or web publishing experience, don't worry about it. This ain't rocket science. You can do this. As you proceed through these easy step-by-step tutorials you'll see that I've written everything with the complete novice in mind.

Okely-dokely?

Okay, let's git busy...

Template Zip File Download

This page outlines everything that is included in each downloadable template zip file. Refer to this page when you're not sure what a particular file is for. Very quickly, the index.htm file is the template itself. All the JPG and GIF files are backgrounds and/or images used in the template.

---

How to Edit Your Website Template

This page tells you everything you need to get started editing the template. Basically if you're using Internet Explorer, you can use Windows Notepad. If you're using Seamonkey or Netscape, you can use Composer, the built-in web editor. If you're using Firefox, you can install a plugin (available here) to hook Firefox up to Notepad (or any text editor you like).

---

What to Edit in the Template HTML

Here we get into the nitty-gritty of actually editing the website template to include the page title, your logo (text version), the page heading and the content. You'll find your way around the HTML source code by simply using your text editor's search function to find some conveniently placed HTML comment tags which will show you exactly where to put what.

---

Adding Your Logo to the Template

Here is a quick concise tutorial on how to get your name, company name or logo happening in the template header background. This page will tell you which file to use (depending on what kind of graphics editor you have) and how to edit the template HTML to include your new modified header background.

---

Making a Website

Here's a game plan on how to take your free website template and turn it into a whole website. You'll be doing all this offline. If you follow these instructions, it will save you a lot of time (and headaches) making multiple pages for your site out of the same personalized template.