Web Page Creation - WYSIWYG and Other Methods

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Web Page Creation:
WYSIWYG and Other Methods

Creating the Page
K.I.S.S.
Resources

Creating the Page

There are basically three ways to create code for your site:

Text Editor with HTML extensions
WYSIWYG Editor
Have Someone Do It For You

Text Editor with HTML Extension:

This option is the best of both editing worlds -- you can easily see how HTML works, which facilitates learning, and you don't have to know very much HTML to get started creating your pages -- most editors have basic HTML "templates" for creating your first pages.

Pick a text editor that is extensible -- you won't have to buy a new editor every 6 months to get the "latest and greatest" extensions to the HTML to your pages.

WYSIWYG:

You don't need to learn HTML if you go this route -- but eventually you'll want to if only to fine tune your pages to get the "look and feel" you want.

Don't forget that a WYSIWYG editor requires constant updates to keep up with changes in the HTML standard -- if you use a WYSIWYG editor keep a text editor on hand to add the "latest and greatest" extensions to the HTML to your pages manually.

Have Someone Do It For You:

See my "Computer Taming " page for the full spectrum of Web Site Design and Creation Services I offer.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Guidelines:

Make your home page fit into one screen if possible, never more than three -- people don't like to have to scroll to get to the "point" of the site.
Remove all extraneous images and text from all pages -- if it takes more than 20 seconds to view your page they'll go elsewhere.
Made it easy to navigate throughout the site by providing navigation links at the top and bottom of each page -- use a consistent "style" so that they can navigate your site easily.
Keep each page to a specific topic -- don't try to "say" everything on one page.
Use the ALT attribute of the < IMG ...> tag extensively -- 1 out of 5 people browse WITHOUT graphics visible or use a text-only browser.
Try to keep image sizes to a minimum -- your page should contain no more than 35K of HTML and inline graphics.
Write the message you want to get across, THEN add any graphics and enhancements -- many sites get so caught up in graphics, that there's little message left to be conveyed.
Don't use "the latest and greatest" technology just to be "kewl" -- your goal is to communicate, not to show off.
Do use the simplest device that works to convey a message -- a good site doesn't let the technology get in the way.

Basically, keep everything simple and don't try to throw everything on a single page -- if people can follow your train of thought in terms of web site layout and design, they'll find the information they're looking for. Many sites have pages that are unduly hard to read. What looks good on one monitor, with your eyes, may not look good on another, with someone else's. Don't assume that if you can read it, so can everyone. The commonest mistakes are poor choice of background and foreground colors, and image detail interfering with the text.

HTML became so incredibly popular because it empowers us to communicate in ways previously only dreamt of. You get a real kick the first time you see your words and pictures nicely arranged on the screen -- and you realize that your creation is available worldwide! Then you can go on to discover the power of Java, Java Script, animation, etc., and the end result is that if ever there was something useful on your site, it's buried. Remember that most people will be accessing the Web from a dial-up line -- they won't have the high-bandwidth needed for all the "kewl" animation, sound effects and video clips and these may even "crash" their computers.

You may -- as many do -- emphasize one aspect and neglect the others. The typical case is that a site looks 'kewl', but isn't easy to get around. This may be appropriate for some sites, e.g., small ones acting as billboards on the Internet. They want to get their message across as effectively as possible, and the user is not expected to be spending much time there. Navigation is important and I've occasionally had people say they couldn't find such-and-such on a site, when what they were looking for, was perhaps only a couple of clicks down from the home page. Don't change the method of navigation, or placement of navigation tools on a site if you want people to be able to get to the information they want easily and consistently.

Resources:

HTML Editors

If you want to try out some HTML editors, surf on over to TuCows and see what's available in Shareware and Demo's for your platform.

Learning HTML

There are many resources available for learning HTML on the Internet itself. A good starting point is Yahoo -- Try Computers_and_Internet/Information_and_Documentation/Data_Formats/HTML/ for a start. Here are some others:

Web Page Design

Check out these sites for information on designing web pages . A good starting point is Yahoo -- Try Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Page_Design_and_Layout/ for a start. Here are some others: