Saturday, March 14, 2009

WEB DESIGNING

Web Design Basics

Jennifer Kyrnin, About.com Guide to Web Design / HTML
web design uses all the same elements as print design. You need to explore the space and layout, handle fonts and colors, and put it all together in a format that puts your message across. These resources will help you learn Web design whether you are already a professional Web developer or just getting started in the Web arena.



Elements of Good Design
Good Web design is the same as good design. If you understand the elements that make up good design, you'll have a Web page that works well. These elements of good design apply whether you are writing a Web page, a business card, or a t-shirt and once you understand them you'll have the skills to be a great designer.


Fonts and Typography
Fonts are the way your text looks on a Web page. And most Web pages have large amounts of text. When you're thinking of design, you need to think about how the text looks on a micro-level (the font glyphs, what font family, etc.) as well as the macro-level (positioning blocks of text and adjusting the size and shape of the text). These resources explain how to work with fonts on Web pages.




How to Use Color
Color is everywhere. It's how we dress up our world and how we see things. Color has meaning beyond just "red" or "blue" and color is an important design element. These color resources teach how to use color effectively in Web design.



Graphics and Images
Graphics are the fun part of most Web pages. As the saying goes "a picture is worth 1,000 words" and that's also true in Web design. Learn how to get the most out of your Web images with the following links.
How to Add Images
Taking Great Photos for Web Sites
When to Use JPG or GIF Formats
Make Your Images Small
How to Protect Your Digital Images
Graphics Glossary
How to Build an Image Map
How to Choose Graphics Software
More Help with Graphics and Images


Web Layout Basics
When people think of Web design often what they mean is the layout. Layout is the organization of elements on a Web page. First you need to start with basic design principles. Once you understand them, you can move through how to place elements on your Web page. These links and resources will take you through the steps to learn good Web layout design.
How to Decide Where Your Elements Should go in the Layout
Once You've Decided the Placement, Learn the Basics of How to Lay Out Web Pages
Definition of White Space
What's the Difference Between Padding and Margins?
Fixed Width Layouts Versus Liquid Layouts
Use Real Text for Testing Page Layouts
Web Design Gallery - Layout Ideas
Layout Glossary
More About Web Layout




Tackling Web Navigation
Navigation is how your customers get around from one page to another on a Web site. Navigation provides movement and gives your customers the chance to find other elements of your site. You need to make sure that the structure of your Web site (the information architecture) makes sense so that your customers aren't forced to simply use search.
Designing Effective Web Navigation
Navigating Web Sites
Organization will Help Your Navigation
Link Rot: Are You a Culprit?
Web Pages Should Go Away
Adding Search to Your Web Site
What is Information Architecture?
Additional Web Navigation Resources




Accessibility and Usability
Accessibility and usability are often seen as a detriment to Web design, but a good designer focuses on making their site useful to as many people as possible. The links below take you through the basics of making an accessible site without compromising the design.
What is Accessibility?
What is Usability?
What do the Accessibility Guidelines Mean to Me?
How to Write Accessible Web Pages
Creating Color Blind Friendly Web Pages
Validating for Accessibility
Advanced Topics in Accessibility and Usability

Web Design Software
Most Web designers prefer to work in WYSIWYG or "What You See Is What You Get" editors because they provide a visual interface to the design. But finding the best Web design software is more than just WYSIWYG or not. Plus there are other tools you will need to build Web pages beyond just the Web editor.
Find the Right Web Design Software for You
Before You Buy a Web Design Editor
Myths and Facts About Modern WYSIWYG Editors
WYSIWYG Isn't Really
The Best WYSIWYG Editors for Windows
The Best WYSIWYG Editors for Macintosh
The Best Web Design Suites for Windows
The Best Web Design Suites for Macintosh
Dreamweaver Resources
Other Web Design Software Needs


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Web Design


Web design authoring resources and tips and my three-pronged Pitchfork Approach to Web authoring:



.choose a web site design standard for your pages like 'world wide accessibility' versus something less universal.
.test, test, test.. to make sure your design features degrade gracefully in diverse web browsing environments and screen configurations.
use commonly accepted good site design practices


Create Google XML sitemap online for free!


Designing For Multiple Browsers Without Being Bland
A concise, sober, and BRIEF description of a good Web authoring strategy. Other fine articles by the author include What You See is Not What Others Get and Widen Your Web Site's Audience. Stephen Traub.
Getting Started with HTML
A primer to Learning HTML 3.2 by Examples, this is a comprehensive and succinct guide to writing standard HTML.
Web Site Design Tips
Web site design tips for the beginner to the expert. A great collection of classic web site design tips that will build a strong foundation for any new web designer.
The Web Design Group Reference Section
Excellent background information and technical details on HTML authoring. Web Design Group.
Designing for The Web
A series of informative articles on Web site design, including A Web Site is a Harsh Mistress & Rules of Thumb. The special focus is on complementing Web design skills with competence in interface design. Don't miss Web Site Design. Diane Wilson.
Useit.com: Usable Information Technology
An expansive resource on usability and user interface issues -- featuring several extremely challenging and well-researched essays on Web design and style. Jakob Nielsen.
Understanding HTML
An outstanding presentation of HTML basics by an Australian with a fine writing style. Dianne Gorman.
Hints for Web Authors
A short yet insightful historical analysis of conventional vs. Web publishing, Hints for Web Authors is replete with solid recommendations on how to succeed with the latter, including a few pragmatic suggestions mixed in there for good measure, "...in hopes that others may find 'em useful." Warren Steel.
Dan's Web Tips
This huge resource contains a balanced summary review of most of today's important Web authoring topics. Daniel Tobias.
PHP Scripts
A good site we recommend for “PHP scripts” is ScriptsBank.com, it offers over 4000 interesting scripts.
HyperText Markup Language
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) home page for HTML. Here you will find pointers to specifications for HTML, guidelines for how to use HTML to the best effect and pointers to related work at W3C. W3C.



Good Website Design Practices


These tips will help beginners to create highly functional and accessible Web pages. Some of the tips focus on writing valid HTML syntax while others focus on designing pages for "ease-of-use."



General Tips
Write your pages for multiple types of Web browsers--to provide trouble-free access to the widest possible audience. The World Wide Web is a multi-platform, non-browser specific medium. It should not matter whether people browse your Web pages using Netscape, Explorer, Opera, Lynx, WebTV, NetPhonic's Web-On-Call, Mobile Telephones, or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs, or palmtops, the little computers with screens the size of a credit card). Each browser ought to render your informational Web pages without problems. If a Web page is designed properly, blind individuals, or anyone using text-to-voice or Braille displays, can easily listen to and review your work.
What You See Is Not What Others Get On The Web
Bobby
Run Web pages through a validator to test their compliance with common HTML (HyperText Markup Language) specifications. Modify pages until they validate, because compliant pages have a better chance of being rendered by various Web browsers, as the writer intends. However, if you intend something that is impractical with HTML, it will be no less impractical for being syntactically valid. Work with the strengths of HTML rather than trying to batter it into a WYSIWYG page design system. (WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get.)
Specifications for HTML
WDG HTML Validator
W3C HTML Validation Service
Condense textual content to fit the time and attention constraints of today's busy Web users.
Thoughts on Web Style
Inverted Pyramids in Cyberspace
Use small (byte-wise) graphics so graphics load more quickly in graphics-capable browsers. (It is not advisable to use GIFs for everything. It's of the first importance to make the right choice between JPEG and a palette-based format. Avoid blindly choosing GIF and then trying to rescue yourself from the resulting problems.)
JPEG Image Compression Frequently Asked Questions
When using graphics, provide textual alternatives for image-disabled or text-only Web browsers and indexing agents. Some people never turn images on.
Use of ALT Texts In IMGs
Test. Every visitor will see your pages differently. Test your pages with as many browsers and platforms as you can. For example, run pages through a browser like Lynx to see how the "text-only" world sees your documents. Note that search engines are, in effect, text-only browsers. Make documents Lynx-friendly. Try different preferences, color and font settings, and window sizes. Always check how pages look with higher/lower monitor brightness settings.
Lynx Viewer
Lynx-me
Lynx
For the future, to add presentational effects and Web page style, validate documents at the HTML 4.0 level (for the cleanest possible markup), so pages contain little or no HTML 3.2 presentational markup or proprietary stylistic hacks, and use the World Wide Web Consortium's Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) language to add stylistic effects to your pages.
W3C's HTML Home Page
Web Style Sheets
Spell check and proof-read your documents.
Free Website Spell checker
Establish a routine for locating and fixing broken internal and external Web site links.
Include contact information and a copyright notice.
Sign It!
If your Web site URL or email address will change occasionally, consider using a service that provides email forwarding and URL redirection.
Pobox
Persistent Uniform Resource Locator
Submit your Web site address to an appropriate newsgroup for a critical peer review.
Newsgroups
Promote your Web site by adding your Web address to search engine indices and subject directories. To ensure that people can easily find your Web site, it may be necessary to modify your pages to take best advantage of current search technologies.
Search Engine Watch
Special Tips
Be aware of the pitfalls of character sets. (Here comes a pound sign £ what did you get?) Currency signs are a real danger. It might be safer to write the currency in full. It is not just the signs that fail in some way; even those that do display may be misinterpreted. Let's say you are in the USA and write $25.00 without qualification. How much does that look like to a browser in Australia, Canada, or Hong Kong? If the local $ is worth more than the US$ then you risk someone dismissing a product as overpriced. If the local $ is less, your strangely eager customer may suddenly turn sour when she or he thinks you have been deliberately misleading.
ISO 8859-1 Character Set Overview
If you specify a background color or image, but don't specify text and link colors, the user's text and link colors will be used against your background. In some cases, there won't be contrast between the user's text and link colors and your background color or image, so your text and links will disappear. The rule of thumb is that if you set one color, then you need to set them all.
Acknowledgements
Critical feedback, editorial assistance, and numerous snippets provided by Alan J. Flavell, Sue Jordan and Susan Lesch.



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