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By Katy (Age 21, UK)
 Katy's fansite YouKnowYouLoveMe.Org Do you have a favourite person you've always loved? Lots of people do, from musicians, to actors, to sports stars and fashion designers. So what better thing to do, than to take to the web, and make a site dedicated to them, aka the fansite. I currently have 3 fansites, one which I have been running for nearly 4 years, so I have decided to pool all my fansites know how, into a guide to making you very own fansite.
First off you need to pick the topic of your fansite. It could be your ultimate fav TV show, your favourite new star, it totally up to you/ For the purpose of the article, I am choosing the topic of one of my current sites, Gossip Girl. Next you need to research your topic. I good idea to start with, if your not use to fansites, is to Google your topic and the word fansite, to see what is already out there. This will give you and idea of what you might like to include on your site, and also show you what fansites look like. Rule number 1 though, do not copy anything, this is just to get use to fansites. Then gather all the information you know on your topic, eg, "The history of Gossip Girl", Cast, Characters, ect. Also have a look online, as there might be some information that you didn't know.
Planning your fansite is always a great idea. Most fansites have the same basic structure, and sections. If you top was a TV show like Gossip Girl, your fansite might look like this:
01 Home 02.1 About 02.2 Cast 02.3 Episodes 02.4 Characters 04.1 Art 04.2 Videos 05.1 Affiliates 05.2 Apply 05.3 Link Buttons 06.1 About 06.2 Awards 06.3 Disclaimer 06.4 Contacts Some sites also like to include a forum for visitors to chat on, but it is not a necessity. Do a quick plan of what information you would like to include on each page. This will help when you come to do your actual live pages. 003. Learning With programs like Wordpress, it had become easier to build fansites, without the knowledge behind them. But I suggest that you do start by learning the art of coding. Most websites are written in a language called HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). It is a set of tags which you put together to create a page. There are far to many to explain in this article, however there are some great sites which will explain it all and include templates. W3 Schools is the best site, so take some time to look through it. Another language you should also know is CSS (Cascading style Sheet). A stylesheet is exactly like it sounds. It is a document, in which you choose the style and look of your website, including fonts, colours, size ect. W3 Schools also has lots of information on CSS to!
A layout for a website, is the graphics, the columns, the look. The layout is what you site looks like. Most fansites need a main graphics, which usually includes pictures of your topic. You can usually find these on Google. You can create your own layout graphic yourself, using programs like Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and Gimp. But if you don't know graphics that well, there are some really great fansite design sites, which charge very reasonable prices. Stick to ones you have seen used by other fansites, and don't give any money upfront. Once you have your graphic, and basic first page, it's time to get online.
For your fansite online, you need a URL. A URL is your websites address. URL's are relatively cheap, and can cost from under $20, for 2 years. GoDaddy is a really good URL provider, but have a look around. You also need a host. A host is simply someone, who will store you website files for you. You can also pay for these, but they are quite expensive. There are some superb free hosts online. I use fan-sites.org, who are fantastic. Some host offer free URL's if your site looks good, and some offer fansite adoption, which is where they will let you have a fansite, no one wants anymore. Once you have this, you are ready to go.
I use Wordpress on all my websites. Wordpress is really good to use one websites, because once you have a Wordpress layout template, you don't need a whole lot of coding, as Wordpress has functions like Microsoft Word, so it formats it for you. To find out more on Wordpress, visit Wordpress.Org. Coppermine is a gallery program, which nearly every site uses to show images. It is so easy to use, and there official website is packed with helpful information, find out more here.
To run a fansite, you need resources. To keep up with news, Google alerts sends you emails with all the latest news on your topic. For pictures, there are some really good free picture forums online, including HQParadise, and Celebutopia. You also need to network with other sites, and webmasters. Most sites have affiliates, where you link to one and others websites. Fansites hosts also have forums, where you can chat with fellow fansite runners. You also need to be aware of legality issues. Some fansites offer downloads of tracks, programmes, movie ect. I personally do not agree with this because a, it's 100% illegal, and b, if you are a true fan, you will go out and buy a product to support it.
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