Make a new folder (part 2):

Now we are ready to create your new folder. We open our windows explorer by double clicking the icon in our Quick Launch tray. From there you will see you have a double paned window. On the left side you have a list of the things on your computer. You are looking for your main drive (usually C:)

While we are here lets take a little side trip and learn something about this system.

My mother worked 40 years with NCR teaching Cobal to would be programmers. One day when exasperated with how to find anything on my desktop computer she sat me down and had me open this window and said: "Look at this as a giant file cabinet. In this window the first thing listed on the left side is DESKTOP it is the big cabinet itself. Notice that everything under DESKTOP we will call drawers in that main file cabinet that we call DESKTOP. In this case those drawers (directories) are:

My Documents
My Computer
My Network Places
Recycle Bin
My Bluetooth Places
latest (my important junk folder)

Notice to the left side of the folder names is a little green arrow ... well you probably have a little plus (my system is running a fancy desktop called window blinds ... so it is different than most). Anytime you see the little plus in front of your directory (drawer) it means there is something inside that drawer (directory)... so inside the drawer (directory) with my arrow or your plus are hanging files, folders (sub-directories).

Notice that my little arrows (your +) turned yellow (yours turned to -) and now point up for the directories (drawers) that are open and under the directories (drawers) are little green arrows that have something in them folders (sub-directories) ... this filing system can go on and on. I suggest right from the start you set up something you can remember. Like if you have digital images you take. Then create a directory called say digital ... but do not dump everything inside there or later you will have a mess. Create folders (sub-directories) like family, landscapes, seascapes. Then under say family you could have another folder (sub-directory) with all the pictures of Suzie so call that folder Suzie and for the cat ... muffie.

Finally we are ready to make that new folder.

Open your windows explorer by going to the little folder icon on Quick Launch taskbar or start....programs....accessories....windows explorer.
A window will open that looks like this:

Click your C:\ drive on the left pane.....then somewhere in the empty area on the right pane click with your right mouse key....then go to new and a little window will open and select folder.

This will create a brand new folder (which is highlighted) ready for you to type its name. In this case we will call our new folder 0Downloads (that is the number 0 (zero) not a capital O) ... the reason we put the zero is your new folder will be placed at the top of your C:\ drive path.

When you are finished typing your folder name hit the enter key on your keyboard twice and that will finish the naming of your folder and open it at the same time. If you notice you now have an open (empty) 0Downloads folder on the right pane of your window and a 0Downloads folder right under your C:\ drive on the left pane of the window. Also note the address path in the top of the window it will always reflect the written path to where you are in your file system. This can be handy if you want to save a document and find it later. As an example you write a letter to your lawyer give it a name and save it where? Simply highlight that address and copy it then paste it at the top of your document ... print it out and now you have not only a hard copy for your records but you know where to find it later on your computer if necessary.

While you are at it repeat this process only name your new folder 0HTML and that is where we will be saving all of our practice documents from now on for these tutorials.

On my own computers I save all of my HTML (Web Documents and files) in this folder. It makes it easy to back up my work in an emergency and that should be done on a regular basis anyway. You will soon find when creating web pages you accumulate a lot of work and best you always have a backup copy. When one of my rented servers went belly up and was closed down for lack of payment by my host I was one of the only ones who did not loose all of their work. The others who shared the server relied on the host to back up the system and they were most of them out many hours because of their trust in someone else.

If you do not already have a good filing system worked out on your own ... you will find this one pretty handy. One last thing ALL of my internet downloads go into my 0Downloads folder with sub folders inside to let me know what I have downloaded ... since windows will arrange your folders in alphabetical order things are ALWAYS easy to find.

Practice and enjoy!