Wasapers.com and the Kwentong Barbero Podcast

Ever wonder how you create your own website without spending a single centavo? I do that all the time! I’m going to break this down into 2 or 3 parts or EJ might kill me for writing a very long article. (^_^)

Anyway, some of you may have products that you want to sell, or create your own blog. For those of you who are into web design, publishing a simple website or “site” should be easy enough for you already. However, for those who don’t know jack about designing a site, this can prove a bit difficult – at least at first. Good news for the latter group because there are a lot of “FREE” templates available on the internet! You can use and edit them to suit your taste. All you have to do is search Google or Yahoo! for “free templates” that will suit your needs and wants. Here are some sites that offer free templates:

1. http://www.Wordpress.com – you have to install this one on your webhost.
2. http://freesitetemplates.com/templates/browse/speed-demons/
3. http://www.4layouts.com/template.php
4. http://www.steves-templates.com/templates.html
5. http://www.templatesbox.com/templates.htm

I personally like No. 1 which is great for blogs. This site is actually using Wordpress, but with a growing list of customizations by EJ and Gato-Chrome to spice up the look. *wink* What’s different with Wordpress is that you have to install it on your webhost to use it.

“What???!! What the hell is a webhost and how do I install it???”

Ok, don’t panic. I’m gonna tell you how to do this in my next post. So, going back to the templates, another personal favorite is the fifth site. You’ll see what I mean if you compare all the other free templates.

“Okay, I now have a template. So what do I do with this?”

Use editing software like Macromedia Dreamweaver or Microsoft Frontpage 2003 and Adobe Photoshop. Most of the free templates that you download will come with a folder called “psd.” This is a file made using Adobe Photoshop. You will need these if you want to change the pictures or the text on the template. If you don’t have these programs, use their free 30-day trial versions. You can probably get these from www.download.com or www.9down.com. For Adobe Photoshop, I would suggest you use version 7 rather than CS2 because the former doesn’t use up as much memory as the latter. If you can’t find version 7 anywhere on the internet, don’t worry, I have a copy of it. HarharHar. I downloaded it before they removed the link on Adobe’s official site so just leave a comment and we can figure out how I can give you a copy, alright?

If you don’t know how to use these programs, don’t be afraid to play around with them. You’ll never get anything done if you’re scared to try things out. The idea is to make sure you have the original file safely stored on a separate folder. This way, even if you totally mess up the psd file, at least you can always revert to the original file. Here’s how to save the psd file in Adobe Photoshop:

1. Create a folder where you want to store your edited templates.
2. Click Save As and save it in the folder that you created. Use whatever name you like.
3. Next click on Save for Web. This will automatically create a folder called “images” and an index.html page. I would also suggest saving the images as jpeg rather than gif because jpeg is smaller in file size than gif.

Since this has gotten a bit long already, watch out for my next post around next week. Promise! (^_^)

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Did you know that there’s no such thing as “softwares?” The plural and singular form of the word are the same [a mass noun] so be careful when you are in a job interview – never say “saftwares” or that’s already a “buzz!” or point against you.