IGofMW Webm@ster Educational Links

The © Logo used by The Int'l Guild of Masonic Webm@sters, the Golden Square & Compasses with the blue "G" in the center, was designed by Guild Founder VW Bro. Pieter Nootenboom to symbolize the Lightning Speed of communication on the Internet.

How The 'Net' Works
Regardless of whether you are an "old pro" or an Internet "newbie," this link is a great place to start. It provides you with an excellent overview of the Internet as well as an understandable explanation of how each of its major components actually works. It's definitely worth a look!	How The Net Works

Free E-Mail Link
The FIRST step in setting up a Masonic Web Site is to obtain an E-Mail address (required before you can obtain a Web Site). This link points to a FREE service that is as good as any and probably better than most.	Hot Mail
Yet another Free e-mail service. This one is from Excite -- the Internet search engine.	Excite Mail

Free Web Site Link
The SECOND step in setting up a Masonic Web Site is to obtain a Web Site Location. There are many Service Providers that offer FREE Web Sites. This link points to one of the most popular.	http://www.xoom.com

Internet Dictionary & Encyclopedia
You will quickly discover that the Internet has its own terms, phrases and technical jargon that will completely mystify us mere mortals. This link points to an excellent FREE Internet Dictionary that may be an invaluable tool for assisting in your understanding of these new words and concepts.	Netdictionary
There may be times when you need information that is a bit more technical than is offered in the above Dictionary. When that is the case, try this Web Encyclopedia.	Webmaster's Encyclopedia
If run into an computer-related acronym that is not listed in either of the above locations, you will most likely find it here. It's a rather lengthy list of just about every computer term ever created by computer theorists to keep their profession a mystery to the rest of us.	Babel

Internet Training
If you are a true "Newbie" to the Internet, you may want to start with this web site. It provides a good training overview on what the Internet is really all about. After reviewing the material at this site, you will be better armed to move on to more complex topics.	Beginners Guide
The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland has put together an excellent set of Internet training materials that deserves a visit. You will find information about learning, teaching, navigating abd searching the Internet plus a wealth of other valuable Internet educational resources.	Robert Gordon University
Newbie-U is an Internet University for (as the name implies) new users of the Internet. They offer 5 excellent courses that you may want to check out: FTP, E-Mail, IRC, News and, of course, the Web.	New User University
French, Italian, German, Spanish & English: Internet training in 5 different languages!	Learn The Net Multi-lingual

Free Internet Magazines
There are many on-line magazines designed to help the Internet Newbie quickly gain a knowledge and understanding about what this new technology is all about. This link points to one such magazine and it is FREE.	Web Novice
There are also many on-line magazines for the more experienced Internet user and Web Site designer. This link points to one such magazine and it, too, is FREE.	WebMaster OnLine

H T M L
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is what Webm@sters use to create and maintain their web sites. It is a fairly easy "language" to learn and use.
This is one of the finest sites on the Internet to learn about HTML. In addition to overviews and quick references, it includes tutorials for everyone from the Newbie to the computer guru. It also has tons of technical information, language specifications and links to other helpful HTML web sites.	Web Mastery
This is another truly excellent web site that offers a superb tutorial on Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML). It's well worth a look even if you are a computer guru.	HTML

Web Site Design Courses
At some point, you are going to have to take all of this newfound knowledge and do something productive with it -- like design your Masonic web site. This link provides an excellent overview of what to do and how to do it.	Introductory Level
When you finished reviewing and implementing the ideas setforth in the previous link, it will be time to tackle more advanced topics. This link will take you to the second part of this training course.	Advanced Level
One web site design technique used by a few Brethren is something called "Frames." This technique allows the designer the "break up" a display screen into multiple sections. To learn more about this technique, you can visit this site.	Frames Tutorial

Backgrounds, Buttons & Colors
Many of our Member Webm@sters will want to use different Backgrounds on their Masonic Web Sites. There are many excellent web site locations that make available non-copyrighted Backgrounds for your use. This link points to one such Web Site and, best of all, it is FREE.	Just Backgrounds
You may even want to add Buttons to act as pointers or change the ones you already have. This link points to one the many Web Sites that make available non-copyrighted Buttons you can use for FREE. It also has some nice Backgrounds and Borders.	Dreamfires
Color contrasts for your background and text can dramatically enhance the physical appearance of your Masonic Web Site. This link points to a FREE service that will allow you to create visually pleasing combinations for backgrounds and text.	RGB Color Chart
Another excellent source to assist you in putting together highly effective color combinations for your Masonic Web Site can be found at this FREE link.	Color Specifier

Español, Si!
For those of our Spanish-speaking Brethren that are not completely fluent in Ingles, you may like to visit this web site. It offers a number of educational offerings and other FREE resources in Spanish. We sincerely hope this will be of benefit.	Español

Web Site Music
At some point, you may want to add music to your Masonic Web Site. There are many packages that will allow you to do so. However, it is probably best to use Crescendo because, not only is it FREE, it is currently the most widely-used music package. The FIRST step is to download Crescendo to your PC.	Crescendo
The SECOND step then becomes finding suitable music (MIDI files). And, of course, "suitable" means different things to different people. The following Web Site is a place where you can spend hours searching though files to find the type of music you like.	MIDI Music Files
If you are looking for religious music, this is probably one of the best web sites on the Internet to begin your search.	Religious Music

Publicizing Your Masonic Web Site
After you have spent countless hours building and refining (and re-refining) your Masonic Web Site, you are are finished. Right? Well, not quite. The next IMPORTANT step is to tell other Internet denizens and users that your web site is now available for access and viewing. To do that requires you to have your web site listed in as many Internet Directories as possible. Why? Because most Internet users start their Searches using an Internet Browser -- and these Browsers go to their own and other Internet Directories. Adding your Masonic Web Site is (relatively) easy, and there are FREE services you can use. There is absolutely no need to ever pay someone to do it for you.
This FREE service will allow you to add your Masonic Web Site to 34 important Internet Browser Directories.	Add Me!
This FREE service will allow you to add your Masonic Web Site to 200 Internet Browser Directories!	Global Links
NOTE: To make sure you receive the maximum impact from this exercise, give SPECIAL attention to the Keywords entry in your HTML META statement. Your Keywords entry is the real secret for attracting visitors that are searching the Internet!

Copyright Your Work!
A common mistake made by many Masonic webm@sters is their failure to copyright their work. Even though copyright laws have been updated to provide a greater degree of protection, you owe it to yourself to protect your investment of time, creativity, and even money spent in developing your web site. A simple one-line statement at the bottom of your web site page (actually, put it on all of your pages) will provide you with the maximum protection the law allows. So unless you don't mind being "ripped off" by others, take a few minutes and check out this link. It provides up-to-date information on copyrighting.	Copyright Information

A common mistake made by many Masonic webm@sters is their failure to copyright their work. Even though copyright laws have been updated to provide a greater degree of protection, you owe it to yourself to protect your investment of time, creativity, and even money spent in developing your web site. A simple one-line statement at the bottom of your web site page (actually, put it on all of your pages) will provide you with the maximum protection the law allows. So unless you don't mind being "ripped off" by others, take a few minutes and check out this link. It provides up-to-date information on copyrighting.

Copyright Information

We Need YOUR Help
	Brethren, we need YOUR help. This is YOUR Guild and we know that you want it to be as much of a success as we do. Therefore, we are asking that if you know of any web sites or have ideas and suggestions that will assist our Members to construct a Masonic web site that will become a Shining Light on the Internet for our Beloved Craft, please send them to us. Thank You, Brother, for your help, participation and support.

We Need YOUR Help

Brethren, we need YOUR help. This is YOUR Guild and we know that you want it to be as much of a success as we do.

Therefore, we are asking that if you know of any web sites or have ideas and suggestions that will assist our Members to construct a Masonic web site that will become a Shining Light on the Internet for our Beloved Craft, please send them to us.

Thank You, Brother, for your help, participation and support.

Product Disclaimer
Although we mention several different commercial software packages on this web site, we DO NOT necessarily recommend one package over another. There are many excellent software packages that will perform essentially the same functions. Nor do we receive (nor would we accept) any type of remuneration or special consideration from any company for mentioning their product(s). Our intent is to remain unbiased. We will, however, recommend what we know to work.

Product Disclaimer

Although we mention several different commercial software packages on this web site, we DO NOT necessarily recommend one package over another. There are many excellent software packages that will perform essentially the same functions. Nor do we receive (nor would we accept) any type of remuneration or special consideration from any company for mentioning their product(s). Our intent is to remain unbiased. We will, however, recommend what we know to work.

Last Updated 5th June 1999
*Disclaimer: This marks the end of this Masonic Page any Advertising or Sponsorship links below are not part of this Masonic Page, also the URL address at the top of this browser is also not a part of this Masonic Page.