How to Make a Free Website for Your School

You can create a free website for your school from anywhere.

Starting a free website is quick and easy. You can set one up in less than half an hour, even if you have no knowledge of HTML. A website exists on a server, and it primarily consists of HTML files as a backbone, along with CSS files--or stylesheets--to determine the visual appearance.



A content management system (CMS) such as WordPress or Joomla! expedites the creation of a website's content, design and layout. Using a CMS is as simple as posting to a blog or forum, making it the best way for a newbie to create a professional-looking website. You can also use a website template to create a site.

Things You'll Need

• PC w/Internet connection and web browser

Instructions

1. Design your site's layout. A school website's layout should have a content area, a menu for navigation, a header with the school's name, and footer with contact information. Example sections can include: "About," "Curriculum," "Our Students" and "Bulletin Board." This process will inform your search for a website template or CMS later. Look at other school sites for layout examples.

2. Find hosting. Your school may be able to provide hosting for you, but otherwise you will have to rely on free hosting. Free hosting usually comes with restrictions on the amount of bandwidth you have and the amount of content you can store on the site. Webhosts provide free hosting in the hopes that when your site expands, you will be willing to pay for a larger capacity. See the Resources section for more information.

3. Choose a template or content management system for your website. Some content management systems, like WordPress, have hosting options as well, allowing you to skip step 4.

4. Upload files to customize your website. From your hosting service's control panel, access the File Manager to upload files to the site. Follow your host's instructions for the upload; some services require you to upload your files to a special "public html" folder in order for them to be seen by the web server. If you have a CMS that is not included with your hosting service, upload it first.

5. Enter the content for your website using your CMS. Create a new page for each piece of content, such as the school's curriculum. If you are using a template instead, delete the sample template text, e.g., "your text here" and enter your own content.

6. Customize your site's appearance. Most content management systems have ways you can customize general appearance, usually via themes. Via your host's File Manager, upload new themes where the system's manual instructs you (often in a special "themes" directory), then visit the theme section in the CMS and click the uploaded theme to apply it to your website.

7. Record your the domain name that your host gives you; that is the address for your website. Visit it to make sure everything is in order.

Tips & Warnings

• See Resources for easy-to-use, free content management systems.

• Once you have a site up and running, it may be a good idea to teach yourself HTML and CSS -- the primary languages used for creating a website. Many free websites, such as w3schools.com, teach neophyte designers about website creation.

• If your host does not have a File Manager but supports FTP, you will need to download an FTP program such as Filezilla to upload files to the website. Record the FTP address your host gives you and after loading the program, choose to "Connect to Server" and enter the FTP address.

References

• Plone: What is a Content Management System

Resources

• net tuts+; Top 10 Most Usable Content Management Systems; Glen Stansberry; August 2009
• Free Webhosts
• w3schools.com