For the record, it is unwise to let any ISP pick your home page or to use their email account. You may change ISP's at some point and your email account with them would then become inactive. All that I desire from my ISP is internet access, period! Usenet access would also be nice, but ISP's get away with not providing that service anymore, in a cost-saving measure on their part.
Here are the reasons to create your own home page from scratch:
1. You do not become a tool of your ISP - no need to guess at their agenda
2. No ads, either blatant or subtle. Uh, yeah, this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, here, because my blog has ads, but hey... I gotta make a living, ya know. Besides, this is your home page we're talking about. You have to eyeball it every day. Do you plan to view my blog every day? I won't discourage you, but really don't expect that level of devotion.
3. No ugliness (you are the creator, so obviously your home page is beautiful in every way)
4. All the right links for you
5. A little bit more privacy than would be the case if your ISP handled all of your links in your home page - do you want them to know what bank you use?
6. Pride of ownership - because you made something! You! Not the ISP!
In order to design your own home page, you do need to know the rudiments of hyper-text mark-up language (HTML). If you would like to learn about the language underpinning this and most web pages, try this specialized search. Even I refer to Google on a regular basis in order to jog my memory on various html commands. Few of us are gifted with a perfect memory when it comes to computer languages.
These days, everybody and their grandmother knows html, and I am hardly the first person to propose making a home page. The advanced trick lies in incorporating the search boxes from various search engines so that I can search google, IMDB, Wikipedia, YouTube, and so on from my home page without having to navigate to these pages. This way, not only do I conserve bandwidth on my end, but I save the search engine some bandwidth too. Maybe they should pay me for that. Hmm. Somehow, that seems unlikely. But I have finally found a way to get compensated for my inventions. Surely you have noticed the ads on this blog. I don't expect to get rich from them--not hardly. Maybe they will pay for a six pack of beer one of these days. A couple of years from now.
Here is an example of how to add the search engine for Wikipedia:
Search Wikipedia
Nice, huh? Be sure to click your "Back" button to come back here and read the rest of my blog. Don't get lost in Wikipedia as often happens to me. (I love Wikipedia.) Here is the actual html code:
Another useful feature your home page should have is the ability to look up definitions of words. This way, you will no longer have to use a printed dictionary. This is easily accomplished with the following code:
I still keep my trusty 1980 edition of Webster's NewWorld Dictionary beside my computer just in case the online definition fails to satisfy, which happens once a month or so. Online definitions tend to be short and snappy, to say the least. Also, I believe that there are some words for which you cannot find online definitions.
The other requirement for a decent home page is a place where you can check the local weather forecast. Now there are many commercial web sites offering the weather, but I prefer the site maintained by the U.S. government, which is only interested in my taxes (I hope) and not in selling me anything. The web site for the National Oceanic and Atmopheric Administration offers a free local forecast at: http://www.noaa.gov/. Navigate to your locality and then save that link, but not by using a bookmark, because we are getting more advanced than that. Bookmarks are fine for temporary links, but for something that you intend to use on a daily basis, forever, you really want that link to appear your home page. It is simpler to click within your home page than have to click on the menu for bookmarks and select from a long list of bookmarks.
When a nifty search engine comes to my attention, I study the html source code to try and cobble together code for my home page. The challenge is to find the code you need, while eliminating the extraneous code. Crisp and clean search engines like Google are easier to incorporate into your home page than busy web sites like IMDB or YouTube that have a hundred different things going on at once. Sometimes, you have to make adaptations. Here is my search box for IMDB:
It should be mentioned that adding a search box for Google is hardly necessary anymore, since Firefox adds such a search box to the upper right portion of the header bar. However, there are other functions that can be added as well that call upon the power of Google, such as a link for finding directions from your house to any other place in the world. Why should you have to enter your home address each time that you wish to search for directions? You should not, and with the help of Igor, will never do so again after modifying your home page with this little nugget.
First, you should navigate to http://maps.google.com/. Click on "Get Directions," and enter your home address. Do not enter a destination. Just press "Get Directions" and Google will show you a map of your home address. Next, click on the link over to the right that says, "Link," and Google will kindly generate for you the html that you require for your home page. You can insert this html directly into your home page and presto! You will never need to input your home address again! I am a big fan of this service and have used it often whenever my guests need directions to get somewhere.
I hope that these technical tips help you. In the past, I used to share the source code to my entire home page for free on internet forums in the interest of making the world a better place. But instead of gratitude, I was condemned as a "script-kiddy." People are paranoid these days and just won't accept html from anyone. For that reason, I have just outlined some of the main concepts of my home page here, and leave the rest to my reader's imagination.
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