You can avoid writing HTML by using a graphic (or WYSIWYG) web editor. WYSIWYG is computer jargon, an acronym for "What You See Is What You Get". WYSIWYG editing is the easiest way to start creating web pages. Even if you learn HTML, they will save you many hours of labor. There are several very good WYSIWYG editors; the University recommends Dreamweaver for web editing. Previously, many people used Netscape Composer, a web editor built into Netscape, because it was both free and widely available. Version 8 of Netscape no longer includes the Composer. Instead, this editor is now available in an upgraded, open-source form in SeaMonkey and in NVu. The following instructions are for SeaMonkey but should work just as well with NVu.
Make sure you have an HTML directory on an Internet account somewhere. Do this before you start using SeaMonkey. On mail.sas, you can do this by managing your account (at https://www.sas.upenn.edu/accounts). (More detailed information is available.)
Once you have created the directory, you can put any number of web pages in it.
Alternatively, you can use NVu.
On the File menu, choose New > Composer Page.
(If you're editing a previously created page, use File > Edit Page instead.)
This step is obviously more difficult than step 2.
Make sure the filename ends with ".html" (or ".htm"). The main page in each directory should be named "index.html" (or "index.htm"). Don't allow any spaces in the filename. Use only a-z, 0-9, hyphen, and underscore characters. Try to avoid capital letters.
Adjust any formatting that will improve the ability of your page to communicate. In particular, go to Format > Page Properties and give your page a title and choose colors (for example, a white background).
Open the file in a web browser and look at it. Fix any problems.
When you're satisfied with the page, "publish" it. That is, put it on the web where other people can see it.
The mail.sas host requires secure connections to publish. Therefore it is not possible to use SeaMonkey to publish to mail.sas. Use a secure FTP program, such as Fetch 5+ (for MacOS) or FileZilla (for Windows). If you're uploading a file to your personal webspace, remember to put it in your html directory.
If the page is important, look at it on different computers, with different monitors, in different browsers. Make sure you haven't created a one-computer wonder that doesn't work on other people's computers.