I. Planning Your Website

A. Introduction

So, you want to make a Zelda fansite, huh? Making a fansite (for any series) is a rewarding experience, but only if you're willing to work for it. There is no "easy way" to make a site; you may find yourself spending hours just trying to align a picture on the layout, but that is what it takes. You also have to have an idea and goal you want to achieve. Your site is almost destined to fail without a preconceived goal in mind and a strong work ethic. This guide is meant to help answer questions that I myself had when making a site and also to give advice for your growing Zelda website.

B. How do I make my website different?

Now that I told you all that, you're ready to start making a layout, right? Wrong. Like I said above, you need an idea before you just dive in. You need a unique idea preferable, and it won't come easily. To be perfectly honest, no one wants another Zelda site that just has game content except maybe yourself. Sure, you can have game content, and I admire that, but there are so many sites providing the same exact information. If you're just making a site for money or hits, then you aren't making one for the right reasons.

To come up with a unique idea for content, first visit your other interests. Maybe you're an artist. Why not make a Zelda site that just has Zelda art? Same with music, video game making, writing, and a variety of other things. Sure maybe there is one other site that does it, but at least you'll be different than 90% sites out there. Now I'm sure not everyone's passions transfer into a Zelda site idea, so my advice to you is to visit all sorts of fansites and see what you like and what is possible. Maybe your idea will just be one section of the website, but that is just fine.

Think of any good ideas? If so, great, you're off to a great start. If not, just give it time, you are bound to come up with something.

C. Getting a layout concept

Unless you intend on using one of the premade layouts on Joomla! or Word Press, you're going to have to learn HTML and possibly some PHP too. This is a huge commitment, so I will recommend some sites I use. W3Schools is good for essentially learning the scripts, while I use Funky Chickens for quick HTML reference. If you have any classes at school, I would take them also. HTML isn't too hard to learn (I learned it in 6th grade), and you learn it a lot more when you use it.

Assuming you know your HTML from now on, let me continue. You can't just type up a layout in a couple hours unfortunately, so again, we are going to plan a little. Look around the Zelda community, and what do you notice about most of the layouts? They are organized into 3 columns, Menu 1, Content, Menu 2 with a banner at the top. Here is an example with the imaginary site, Zelda Thing:

Now obviously that is the extremely basic skeleton of a website. What you really want to base your layout on, organization-wise, is what you need. For instance, I didn't need a second menu for Zelda Portal, so I simply didn't add it. Most Zelda sites have all their games listed for quick access, so that is something to consider. There is usually a footer with copyright information (so people don't sue you), so maybe your layout will look something more like this:

Again, this is all based on what you and your site need. If you have a login area, then that should go near the top and so on. Now that you have a basic idea of what your site will have as far as content goes and how your layout will be organized, you're ready to move onto the next chapter where I explain the rest of the layout-making process.