There are two ways of creating a Web Hypertext: you may use WORD or you may do it in html. The first option is definitely easier to do, although it requires that the reader have WORD on their computer in order to read it and the format is not as classy. If you aren't rather adept with html, you should use WORD.
Using the WORD Comment Feature.
First you should copy the text into a WORD file, and make sure it is correct. When you wish to annotate a word or a passage (be careful here--once you mark more than one word, you cannot make inner notations), mark it. Then click on Insert/Comment. A box will come up at the bottom where you can type all that you wish to say. (there's a running spell check) and you can edit there. After the file is saved, clicking on the word (in yellow) will bring up the comment that you wrote; you may also add more comments and Edit /Comments. You could also copy the full comment file and paste it into a new file.
Anyone who reads the file in WORD will be able to see what you have written and can even add/edit the comments and then save to their own computer.Here is an example: "Sonnet--To Science"
Creating an HTML Web Text with boxes.
1. Open Wordpad [in Windows, from Programs/Accessories]--or Netscape Communicator 6.2/Microsoft Front Page/Dreamweaver/Homesite or any other program in which you can edit the html code directly. Note: if you do this with Netscape Composer, there's a bit of a shortcut with the link function, but I'd have to show you that.
2. Download the template from http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/popuptemplate.html or a template from me which includes the text that you are going to be working with.
3. Open the template in your editor.
4. At the top, you will see <TITLE>Name of the text</TITLE>. Substitute the name of the text you are working with.
5. Further down the page, substitute the Title of the Work, the Author, your name and school in the places indicated [lines 21-23?].
6. If you do not have a text already there, paste in your text, replacing [TEXT]. You may need to prepare it by putting <br> at the end of a line (especially necessary for poetry) and <p> for every paragraph break.
7. To create a pop-up annotation for a word or brief passage:
Before the word or passage to be marked, copy and paste the following coding.
<A HREF="javascript:void(0);" onClick="return overlib('XXX', STICKY)" onMouseOut="nd();" CLASS="popup">
After the marked passage, type or paste in </A>.
Replace the XXX with your notes and questions [you cannot link from here]. Make sure that you add a backward slash \ before an apostrophe and " in place of quotation marks. Do not make any link breaks or extra spaces in your note text. If you must, because you are quoting something, then mark the line break and paragraph coding, as described in 6.8. To link to another file:
Before the word or passage to be marked, type <a href="http://XX"> with XX being the full url you are calling for. After the word or passage, add </a>.9. To link within your file:
Sometimes you may want the reader to move to another point in your file. For example, you may be tracing a pattern or repetition. Make a popup (see above) to explain what you are going to do just before your "take-off point." To begin your movement, you will need to create an anchor (which is the word or image from which you begin) and a target (which is the point in the text you are moving to.) [You may wish to use an arrow to indicate what you are doing: insert ← for a left arrow ←, → for a right arrow →, ↑ for an up arrow ↑ and ↓ for a down arrow ↓]. Your start point should be preceded by <a href="#X"> where X is the target name or number (for example, <a href="#1">, followed by </a>>. Then at the point in the text where you want the reader to go, type in <a name="x"> (for example, <a name="1">.) Again, close with </a> after the word you have linked to (or if you are just linking to a place in the text, you can put the two codes next to each other--<a name="1"></a>.Here is an example: "The Yellow Wallpaper"