A Plan For most of us making detailed plans isn't normal. We have a rough idea, some general objectives and off we go. For a lot of things, especially familiar activities, this works out just fine. If you make a 6 hour car trip once a week, you don't have to think much about it, you just grab the things that worked last time and you're all set. If it's new to you, you might take a little longer. Websites are the same. Really experienced web designers can spend less time planning than new ones, but they do spend some time on it. From my own experience, I can say that when I don't start with a few notes and ideas, I often wind up having to scrap my first pass and start over. To avoid that, all you need is a plan. The plan should include what kinds of things you want on your site and some idea of how they'll be organized. By doing this up front, you can save yourself a lot of time later. The first thing to think about is what sorts of pages will be on your site. Most sites will have: Home Page The main page of the site, the one you expect people to see first. About page A little more about you and why you need help. Donate/Contact A page explaining how to donate or get in touch with you. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page A page that answers some of the questions you get most often. Other pages you might have on your site would include: Tally Page A page showing how much you've collected so far. Thank you page A page where you thank and list your donors. Log or Journal A page where you explain what you've been doing lately. This could just focus on the site or it could be about your life. Humor Pages A page or pages where you share some jokes or funny stories. Content Pages A page where you talk about your hobbies and interests in hopes of attracting more visitors or donors. Guestbook A page where visitors can sign in and leave a comment about you or your site (these can be risky). Email Page A page where you show some of the emails you've received and your responses. Once you've decided which kinds of pages to have, you can start to think abot organizing them. If you only plan to have 6 or 8 pages, you can probably just link each page to every other page. If you have more, you may want to think about categories of pages that then link to other pages (kind of like this site does). It can help to draw it out on paper. It doesn't have to be incredibly detailed, but the more detailed your plan, the easier it will be to follow. You should try for two drawings. First one that shows your overall organization then one that shows what a "typical" page will look like. By doing this, you can save yourself a lot of wasted steps later. Now, armed with your plan, you're ready to think about tools you need and where to host your page. Note that sometimes you'll have to change your plan because you don't have the tools you need or can't find the right kind of hosting at a price you can afford. Knowing what you want helps you decide what you need.