1. Open a web browser and browse to http://www.umbc.edu/Styleguide/#templates. These web templates are designed to give you a quick start on creating a web site. Some pages and images on the Web are copyrighted, so be careful if you copy HTML code from other pages on the Web.
2. From the File menu in the browser, choose Edit Page (Internet Explorer choose File--Edit with ...). Microsoft FrontPage and Netscape Composer are two HTML editors available on the lab computers. The editor you choose opens in a different window. (You can always see which windows are open on your Windows desktop by looking at the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. You can bring the one you want to the top by clicking on it.)
3. Make changes to the page using the editor.  For starters, you'll want to delete the phrase "Your Title Here" and add "Contact Information" with your name and enter your actual e-mail addess.
4. Once you have your web page looking the way you want it, you will need to put the file onto the server by saving it to your W: drive. From the File menu, choose Save As.  Navigate to the W: drive in the box that pops up and type index.html for the filename.  Click OK. In the labs, saving the file to the W: drive replaces use of the publish feature.
5. Bring up the browser window and browse to your home page. (In the location field, type its URL: userpages.umbc.edu/~user name where user name is your own myUMBC username, and press Enter.)  Voila!  You should see your name on your personal web page.
6. Bring up the HTML Editor window again and experiment with different features. Use the Help button to learn more.  If the page gets totally messed up, just Close the file without saving and start over. Exercise your creativity! Save your changes.
7. Bring the browser window to the front and Reload the page to make sure the changes took effect.
8. Repeat making changes and saving them until you're satisfied.
9. Exit from the browser and logout of the lab computer.  
10. Tell all your friends to check out your new home page.

If you know HTML and/or do not want to work with an HTML editor, you have other options. You can open a simple text editor such as Notepad (Start-Programs-Accessories) and enter the HTML code. Then just save the file as index.html on the W: drive.