Tips for creating Home Pages
There are many sites to advise you about designing web pages. You can find them via any search engine. However, since I get asked for my ideas on the subject, I will give them here. I don't claim to be the expert on the subject - these are just things that seem to work well for me. Some of this may sound like an advertisement for the software I use - but it is not. I don't believe in wasting money. I just look for what works for me at the cheapest price.
Index
The Mission
We should design pages that:
1. most browsers will be able to display,
2. no-one will have to strain their eyes to read,
3. no-one will have to wait too long to download,
4. and implement the newest technologies (if they don't violate the first three).
Good looking Graphics is not the main point
When it comes to Web page design it's not about art. Graphic artists and designers always like to think it's about art, but it isn't. It's also not about ego, how cool your page is, how many design tricks you know, how many plug-ins you're expert with, or anything like that.
Where's the Beef
Look at your site and ask yourself
1. What is the purpose of the site?
2. Who are we trying to reach?
3. Will the visitors find what they need?
4. Why would they come to this site a second time?
There are many complicated and expensive web page authoring software programs available. I find most of them are overkill and most will get you into trouble with links etc. I use Microsoft Word 97 and Microsoft Front Page 97. Word 97 has some drawbacks such as renaming background graphics, but overall I find it works the well for me. (I use the "view HTML" to rename the background to the original name and later I delete the graphic Word created. Word 6 and Word 7 can be used with free downloads to enable them to create html pages. Version 97 added the ability to view backgrounds and move directly to other pages that are linked.
What is best for you depends on what your system is like and what you are used to using.
The best possible is if you learn html language and build pages directly in that. I find I have to modify pages in html, but I like the ease of using Word.
After saying all that - I have started using Microsoft Front Page 97. I only use the editor part of it. It still appears to have some problems handling links, but it gives me the ability to add link maps to graphics. If you use it, keep an eye on those links. At times after you have the page posted to the site and appears to be working fine, you may find it is still using your hard drive to get graphics. That means you have posted a page that only you can see fully - not much use to anyone is it?
Web Page Uploads
I upload my files via FTP. The software I use is Norton Navigator. After you connect to the site you can treat it the same as files on your drives. It reduces the amount of unique language you have to learn.
Graphic Software
Again, there are a lot of complex, expensive software to scan, modify, and create graphics. But I find one of the cheapest to be one of the best. Most of the time I use Micrographx Webtricity Picture Publisher. I have Corel, but it is normally overkill. The new Microsoft Photo Editor that comes with Office 97 works well with my scanner.
Animated Gifs
For creating animated Gifs and titles, I use GIF Construction Set by Alchemy Mindworks Inc. and PhotoImpact GIF Animator. Both programs are available as shareware over the internet. Both programs have their good points and shortcomings. I find I need both. If you use them to create images for use on the Web, I recommend you register the software. It amazes me how many people are creating graphics with unregistered software and even posting them on commercial sites. If you consider yourself professional enough to create graphics for the Web, shouldn't you be professional enough to own your own software?
You can use an internet aid called GIF Wizard to help reduce the size of gif files, but both types of software allow you to optimize the files too.
Things to keep in mind when creating your pages
Make an outline of what you want to accomplish with your pages before you create the pages. Sounds simple, but we often start before we think and find ourselves stuck with something just because that's the way we started or have to spend time redoing the work. When you think before you write, the pages will be more consistent. They will look more like they had a creator and didn't just evolve by accident. The contents will be easier to access if you use a little forethought.
Organize your pages so people can navigate through them. Having the best pages on the net would be of little use if nobody can maneuver through them! Make good use of links to related pages, and give the viewer the ability to move through the pages on site by some form of button bar. Also on longer pages put an index to the various sections at the top of the page.
Make your pages readable to all. Viewers are using different browsers and computer configurations. Checking your pages with just one browser is not good enough. You need to check your pages on at least 3 different browsers, with and without graphic loading and at different monitor resolutions. This should give you a good idea of what you site will look to the vast majority of visitors to your site and allow you to make changes to the html which will make it better for all.
Provide a means for a reader to contact the author of the page. Making it easy for a person to contact the author can help by giving people the chance to comment on the site and report on things that might have been missed.
Don't let your pages go dormant - update them!! This shows visitors that the site is very much 'alive.' You may provide a "What's New" page on your site, or make use of the 'New' Gif flashers to bring attention to the new parts of your site.
Design for the viewer. This means the pages you design will be accessible and easily navigated by the user. If you did your job well, they will be able to navigate and locate the information they desire with ease.
There are many problems with the technology. We have some hurdles that are almost out of our control. The Web is overburdened at the moment and most users experience slow throughput rates. There is a war between the browsers and nobody seems to be following standards anymore. New technological advances appear so often that it is difficult for designers to keep up!
Not all browsers are Graphical!
Many people surfing the web don't ever see your graphics! Some users are using browsers that don't support graphics, others have turned them off. This is something you MUST consider when designing your pages.
Always ensure that you offer text based alternatives to everything. If you use an image map, be sure to provide a text version as well. Sure it doesn't always look as nice, but try turning off graphics and see how far you can get!
We can not control the methods by which people connect to our Web Site, the technology they are using, or what options they have selected in their browser.
So don't make assumptions that can easily be false. Not everyone that visits your web site will have graphic ability. Even if you are a "Graphic Designer" or an "Artist" you should allow for text only browsers. Maybe they want to download your images and take them to another computer? Maybe the only access they have to the web is text only. Maybe they're tired of slow pages and have graphics turned off!
Not all browsers support tables!
There are a lot of dangers with tables. First of all, people who will be surfing your web document are using different screen resolutions. Thus we should be careful in using Tables to control the location of elements on the screen. Most importantly, however, we should be aware of what happens when a browser does not support Tables.
Keep those images small.
The most important things about the web, the Internet and your web page are content and ease of access. Putting a large image (i.e. greater than about 40k in length) at the top of your page, will put off everybody except those with high speed links. Even with a perfect faultless 28.8K modem link and no delays, that 40k image will take about 11 seconds to come down - longer with a slower modem. Normally you will be looking at about 45 seconds for a 40k image to appear, and that is not taking into account that you might be downloading other images off the same page.
However large images do have their place, as long as you give people the option as to whether they want to download them or not. Remember - most people are adding to their phone bill when they access your page. I like using a small version of your image (a thumbnail) and allowing them to click on it to download a larger picture.
Specify the dimensions of the image in the img tag.
There are still a number of pages still out there that don't use the ability to include the width and height of an image in the img tag. Why should you include it? Basically in all cases it will speed up the displaying of your page, and remove the refreshing of your page each time the browser comes across an image. Providing the image width and height allows the browser to work out how to lay out your page before it receives the images, thereby reserving space into which the images load.
When you use Word 97 to add the image, it automatically creates the img tag.
Always provide a textual alternative to an image
Not all people surfing the web do so with their browsers set to download the graphical images. They do this for many reasons; faster access and hence cheaper phone bills is probably the main reason, although the reason may be as simple as their browser not supporting graphics! Providing a textual alternative to be displayed where the image would have appeared allows those without graphics to gain an appreciation of what your page would look like with graphics. Also if your images were clickable, the text will provide people with something to click instead.
Alternative text can be added via Word 97 or Front Page 97.
I am very much opposed to the use of frames. Many monitors and browsers do not use them effectively and even fewer web page designers know when they should be used. There are a few data intensive pages that can benefit by the use of frames. But the result of most uses of frames is to discourage people from viewing your pages. If that is your goal, why would you have pages in the first place? I suggest avoiding frames until we reach the time (in maybe 3-4 years) when the majority of people can see them.
If you have to use frames be conservative in your use of frames. Better to use less frames than too many! Practically you should not require more than about 3 frames on screen at any one time. More than that and people will think (and probably be right) you are using frames just for the sake of it and not as an aid in the presentation of your site. Also the greater the number of frames the more screen area is lost to the borders and boundaries of the frames themselves, giving you less room in which to present your contents.
How big should background images be?
A good rule of thumb is less than 5k.
Background images that are too large can upset even the most avid web surfer. Also, keep in mind that when you view your page, the graphics are already cached on your system. Many developers see the graphics quite quickly and are amazed when people complain. Be sure to empty your cache and then test the speed of your page.
If you use the same background for several pages, they will load faster than if they use different images.
The size of the background image can be reduced by limiting the number of colors in them or by making them gray scale. So bring the dimensions down a little and reduce the colors. By doing both of these, you can get your background images to reasonable sizes.
Anything that could adversely affect a large chunk of your target audience is worth looking into and avoiding. Validating your HTML can help to ensure that there are no nasty surprises waiting to grab you or your client unawares.
How does one validate thy HTML?
One way is to use an online validator such as WebTech's Validator (Previously known as HALSOFT.) There are other validators, but be sure you are using an SGML validator, otherwise the validator may not validate your HTML properly.
Also remember to test your images! Get your hands on as many different browsers as you can. Configure your system to use different window sizes and bit depths (8 bit, 16 bit, 24 bit). People will be looking at your pages from different platforms and with different browsers.
The bottom line?
By validating your HTML, you are ensuring you have not left any quotes unclosed, or tried to use tags that will cause problems with other browsers. It is okay to use some tags and elements that don't pass the HTML validation process. But it is important that these tags and elements be used carefully.
What if I changed my text to gray and the background to white because I liked the look of dark gray text on a white background? Sounds kosher, but what if the browser doesn't support changing the background color? Well, it would probably default to a gray background. And what if the browser DID accept changing the text color to dark gray?
We'd end up with dark gray text on the default gray background! This could render our HTML document unreadable! This is why it is so important that you are aware of how HTML works and how all of the browsers implement extended or non-standard HTML codes before using them.
Whenever a validator tells you your HTML is not standard, look at the offending HTML closely. Are there other correct tags that would accomplish the same function? Will there be any adverse effect if a browser does not recognize the tag in question?
Mission Statements or Statements of Belief
Mission statements and Statements Belief should be a sentence or less or placed on a separate page and linked to. If you must have a Mission Statement, make it a link so your visitors can decide whether they want to read it or not.
Counters
Counters are a way to track how few people actually visit your web site. Generally, your ISP will provide you with weekly or monthly statistics about your site's activity so you really don't need a counter. That doesn't stop businesses new to the web. They want a counter the whole world can see -- for a couple of months until the low figures become embarrassing. So many businesses and people operate under the "Field of Dreams Fallacy" -- build it and they will come. It doesn't work that way. You've got to have a site worth visiting and you've got to market the site just as you'd market a new product.
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