Note : Some files available here are compressed in the ZIP format. If you do not have an archiving utility, download 

• About This Site - some information specifically about this site
• Creation of a site - Essential software and how to use it.
• Graphics - Images, icons, animations, backgrounds etc.
• Enhancements - Create forms, use CGI scripts etc.
• Site Promotion - self-explanatory really
• CompuServe - information for members of CompuServe
• About your own site - Visit SiteInspector, an online utility which rates your site on
            Browser Compatibility
            Load times
            HTML design
            Spellings
            Search engine readiness
            Links (validity of the links)
  while it alse tells you about your site's popularity. Besides all this it gives you advice on improving your ratings in these fields.
• If you need any help from me, just mail me.

I created this site on a Dell Precision Pentium 60 computer.
I began creating this site with Netscape Communicator's "Composer" component, which is pretty much a WYSIWYG editor (translate : you don't have to learn HTML)
However, now as I begin to enhance and expand my site, I realize the limitations of composer and therefore use SightMaker (freeware, a friend of mine and I wrote it). This program isn't a WYSIWYG editor, so you must know HTML.

Being a member of CompuServe I am eligible for 5MB of web-space provided by their OurWorld community.

Finally, I'd like to thank
Andre Velthoen and
Mark Vinnola for all their help.

If you want a reason to setup your site, know how to create a unique one or advertise it, check out 'Stepping Out' at CompuServe's Ourworld site.

WebSpace
If you want to build a home on the web, you need some real-estate.
You should first ask your internet service provider (ISP), if they provide members with web-space. If they do, then take it because ISP provided web-space is more reliable and faster than free services.
On the other hand, if your ISP doesn't give you this facility, visit
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/8015/pop3.html

Software:

• For creating the site :

Netscape Communicator
An easy to use but limited WYSIWYG editor. Great to start a site on, but you'll discover it's limitations soon.

SightMaker
SightMaker is a piece of software which a friend of mine and I created for an inter-school contest. It came out much better than we expected so I now use that. It should be available for download on this site once we complete it.
 

• For graphic creation and editing :
  

  Those wonderful headings on each page of this site were created by me using Paint Shop Pro by JASC Multimedia. Even if you do not want to create any images, I believe Paint Shop Pro is an essential tool for tweaking images.
  If you are using PSP, then you must pay a visit to Brandy's Web Design Emporium. Besides being a source of various filters which can help you create artistic stuff in PSP, you'll also find a tutorial.

Other useful tools include GIFConstruction Set and AniMagic. These tools will help you create animated GIFs. Search for "animag" and "gcs" at www.filez.com

You'll find a lot of nice icons, many of which have been used on this site. For example, the flashing LED's on the Homepage and the Earth icon on the bottom of this page.

Rainfrog's Webart - Ensembles of artwork for your website. I have used some of the graphics by Rainfrog in this site. For example : The Jalapeno at Link Central page and the pen on the About Asim page.
Download these sample ensembles I took from this site
JALAPENO.ZIP (9,538 bytes)
PAWPRINT.ZIP (8,250 bytes)
STATNERY.ZIP (12,718 bytes)

Clipart - Full of loads of ... you guessed it ... Clipart.

ToonWorld is full of wonderful cartoons. The free art-work they offer at this time is limited but they're adding to it every month so be sure to check it regularly.

The cartoons at The Cookie Shop, were taken from here.

 
Under Construction image - I found this wonderful image to use on any page which is "Under Construction".

 
Cool Archive - A large, categorized collection of icons, backgrounds, animated GIFs, bullets etc.

The fire in the Trophy Room :-) and the basketball player in the About Asim page are from this database. The Cool Archive, originally Web Grafx, has now expanded a great deal and offers other forms website help besides graphics.

 
Andy's Art Attack - Lots of really cool graphics, and I mean really cool.
 
Even if you have enough graphics to last you a century, this site is worth visiting because even the site is neat.
 

Response-O-Matic - These guys are really cool. If you want to use forms on your website, these are the people to go to. Since they process the forms remotely, you don't even have to worry about the capabilities of your website host. For example, if your website is on CompuServe's OurWorld web-space, this is the "form-processor" for you. And to top it all off, itz FREE!
Features include - telling visitors that they've missed important fields, semi-customized acknowledgement pages etc.
All the forms on this site have been possible because of Response-O-Matic.

Linko - Ofcourse there are numerous free guestbook and counter providers, but I've never seen a free message board provider. It could make your site pretty interesting.

The CGI Resources Index - You really want that cool counter or those scripts that process forms or that cool script which lets your site show images at random, then you really need to visit this index. It is a collection of some links to free and paid remote script hosts. This index is really important to those people whose web-space providers don't allow them to use CGI scripts or have a limited amount of them.

Amazing Free Stuff - Counters, guestbooks, web-pages, software etc. all to help you with your site and all for FREE!!!

Counter - The counter on my homepage is from the nice guys at CompuServe and Sprynet.

LPage - LPage is probably the most well-known and successful free guestbook provider.
 

LinkExchange - The father of all banner exchange programmes, LinkExchange has practically become the first step of site promotion.

Promote Your Website - Some nice people have dedicated a whole site to help you register with search engines, win awards, some things called META tags and more.

The Utlimate Exposure 200 Index - Over 200 search engines, website listing services etc. Register with as many as you can.

Award-It - Think you've created an online masterpiece and all you need is the credit for it. Fill one form and register with a large number of people who might give you an award if they think the same.

Better URL - If your webpage is on your Internet Service Provider's server or on some free service such as Geocities, chances are you have a very long and hard to remember URL.
One of the things that can help you increase your hits is having a URL which is very easy to remeber. So, head of to where this link leads you, and obtain a free, easy to remember URL.
What this service actually does is forwards the web-browser to your real URL. For example, my real address was http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/asimz, but thanx to the people who run the service mentioned, you can access it by pointing your browser to http://surf.to/asim. Neat.

The Award Archives - Visit this site for a comprehensive list of awards which you can nominate your / somebody's site for.
 

Also, you should visit the OurWorld Forum for any help you need from the OurWorld community.

Links to forums
If you would like to add links to CompuServe's forums etc. to your webpage (such as the link to the Internet Publishing Forum above) create a link to
http://www.compuserve.com/cgi-bin/gocserve?CIS:GOWORD
Where 'GOWORD' is the word you use in CompuServe. The link to the Internet Publishing Forum, above, was a link to
http://www.compuserve.com/cgi-bin/gocserve?CIS:INETPUB
NOTE: These links work only with WinCim version 2.0 and above.