What do your really need to maintain and improve your own website? A few basic programs and services will ensure that you have all the facilities necessary: (alert: PC-centric comments follow!)

Basic Tools:

• Web Browsers- at least the 2 most popular ones, Netscape and IE. IE also offers a composition tool (FrontPage) which should be avoided, since it has strange file management problems that make it useful only for 2-3 page personal homepages on a Windows webserver. Most HTML-coding programs have many serious limitations. It's also a good idea to have an older version of Netscape 3 to compare rendering of your pages. You cannot have more than one type of IE, and if you use AOL, installing it will break IE (wallpaper) for larger screen resolutions.

  Using Microsoft software is a major security hazard for your computing safety, it's major flaws include keeping generic, same name files in the same directory structure on every computer, making your system and its network behaviors easy to spy upon and extremely virus vulnerable. Dangerous "unsigned" languages like VBscript and their imitation of Javascript that can completely compromise your computer. IE is disgustingly fault tolerant, displaying HTML pages that are seriously flawed and would appear completely blank to a normal web browser. Never use a Microsoft email product, 90% of all virus's are written to take advantage of it's endless flaws. If you have foolishly filled in registration and personal information into your Windows installation, IE can broadcast it (using Jscript or VBscript) freely to the world, wherever you browse with it! On a network, hacker software such as "Sub7" and "Back Orifice" can completely take total control of your computer without your knowledge! Hundreds of other peoples software programs that they have re-"innovated" into their own versions have made them many, many dangerous enemies! If you use Windows, use as much third-party software as possible to keep safe! If you still insist, make sure you make a weekly pilgrimage to the Microsoft bandage heap to apply all of the available salves and patches. To investigate your system security, visit Sheilds Up!.

• File Transfer- FTP program that allows multi-paned file transfer is essential to view, copy, replace and coordinate the local and server copies of your site. CuteFTP and WSFTP are great programs that no webmaster should be without. They allow you to directly upload finished html and image files to your servers site directories, and to delete or create new directories there. They allow you to compare your local copy of the site with the version that is on the server, and allow editing ot the fly with any external text editor. Ftp also allows you to upload server script programs and turn them "on" so that the server can provide program services by writing pages, building databases, sending you mail and so on. You can also make files on the server "writable" by your server scripts for these purposes. The most important benefit of a FTP program is that you can back up older copies of your pages, before you change them, something publish-only thingies like FrontPage don't do!

• Graphics Programs- You should have a good graphics program that supports JPG and GIF filetypes. These include Paint Shop Pro, Polyview, Photoshop, Corel Draw, and many others. At least one of, or the first two of these are a good basic choice.

• Text Editor- A plain text editor, or HTML Assistant that will allow you to edit and produce HTML documents. Hyper Text Markup Language is one of the easiest languages to learn, and the HTML files are just plain text! You do not really need and should avoid fancy crutchware composers, although both Netscape 4(Composer) and IE4(FrontPage) come with clumsy overcomplicated page composer software that may be of some benefit to quickly 'knock off' disposable documents.

• A GIF Animator- like the GIF Construction Set or Polyview is also handy, as the few graphics programs support this utility.

• Advanced text and web Tools- Also an add-on, some wonderful tools like Linkbot and CodeSwitcher are good choices. Linkbot checks your site for stale or broken links, while CodeSwitcher allow you do do mass search and replace operations on entire folders full of pages at once!

• Advanced Web Page Analysers- Fantastic little keyword extracting and searching utilities from AnalogX. Keyword Live let's you see what words people are looking for on the internet Keyword Extractor lets you see which keywords are strongest in any webpage! Many more excellent programs are also there!

• A Submission tool and Analyzer- Many are now using WebPosition Gold to tailor and submit their pages to the searchengines. This may save you countless hours of work, making sure that your website is publicized on the web, but it is very complicated, rather expensive and now banned or defeated by many search engines. There are also other programs like Swiss Army App and many other free ones. CAVEAT: Submitting your pages manually is always best!

• A News Reader- While not necessary for making or using your website, it is a very important tool for promoting your site to the world-wide web community! One discreet message about your website in the right newsgroup can produce BIG results!