Archive for June, 2009

Using Dreamweaver Templates Makes Large Sites Manageable

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

If your website is large, with dozens and dozens (if not hundreds and hundreds) of pages, you will need to use a method that allows you to store all the non-variable information that appears on each page of your website into one file, so that you will only need to update the non-variable information once, rather than dozens (if not hundreds) of times.

Here’s a screen capture of the Dreamweaver Template function:

template

This functions much like a server-side include, allowing you to update many pages at once with the same non-variable text.

Using Dreamweaver’s Tempate function not only makes the web designer’s task easier, it ensures accuracy: nothing generates errors more quickly into a website than the recopying of material from page to page. The smart choice is to establish a navigation template that doesn’t vary in content, and then construct that template using the Dreamweaver Template function.

Why Do My Images Take So Long to Download?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

If you’ve noticed that the images that you have placed on your website seem to take a long time to download, this is probably because you’ve failed to OPTIMIZE these images.

Image editing programs such as Photoshop and GIMP.org allow you to reduce the size of the image file considerably for quick download on the web.

Closeup of Washington's eye showing pixelation

Closeup of Washington's eye showing pixelization

Computer screens display at a screen resolution of 72 d.p.i (or 72 pixels per inch). A PIXEL is the smallest unit that can be viewed on a computer screen. Standard photos that you print out display at a much greater density (usually 300 d.p.i.) than is needed on the web. An optimized image at 72 d.p.i. looks the same on a computer screen as the same image at 300 d.p.i.; so it’s possible to reduce the density of the images for display on the web so that the image downloads much more quickly (because there is actually less information in the file).

The difference in size between an image that has not been optimized and an image that has been optimized can be considerable. For example, a standard photo that you might take with your digital camera could be 3,000 K before optimization, while the same image optimized could be 60 K.

If possible, it’s best to keep images to a size of 60K or less.

Your Contact Information Should Be Everywhere

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Perhaps the most common web design mistake is putting your all-important contact information in a place that is difficult for users to find. I recommend that your contact information appear at the top and bottom of every single page of your web site. That way, if a user decides to contact you, the information will be easy for them to find.

Redundancy can be a good thing.Don’t hesitate to create a separate “contact us” link as well. With web sites, redundancy can be a very good thing. Make it possible for users to find your contact information in several different ways. That way, if they come back to your site, and forget how they found your contact information the first time, they can find it again easily.

Also, make sure that there is a prominent “home” link on all internal pages: this is one of the easiest things for the new web designer to overlook when assembling a design. Even if your home pages doesn’t contain particularly important information, users may want to return to it, just to see how your web site presented itself on first glance.

Transparent Gifs Give You Choices

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Unlike with the jpg image format, transparent gifs (image files with a suffix of .gif) provide an empty background to your image, allowing the background to become whatever is behind the .gif on the web page.

Transparent GifsThe image on the top left here shows what the original transparent .gif file looks like in Photoshop. The other three images show what that same .gif file will look like against different backgrounds.

Photographs can be edited to remove the background, allowing the main image in the photograph to blend in with the rest of the page, rather than framing it as a separate picture. The result can add substantial visual power to your web pages, giving them a strong, clean professional look without a lot of expense — an especially efficient way to spice up your web site.

The effect is strongest when the colors in the background are relatively uniform — the results may not be as strong if the background contains many different colors.

To learn more about Gifs, see Wikipedia’s entry describing them.

Splash Pages Can Become Tiresome

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

A splash page is an introductory page on a website.

splash-pageMany of my clients come to me wanting a splash page for their web site, thinking that a splash page will add to its appeal: WARNING: while the splash page may be exciting for the viewer the first time it is viewed, it can become very tiresome after the first few viewings when the user would rather skip the display and get to the “meat” of the web site (especially if there isn’t a prominent “skip display” link on the splash page).

One compromise can be to display the site’s navigation link structure directly on the page with the splash display, so as to allow the user to access the inner links easily when the splash display comes up.

Another disadvantage of the splash display is the cost: by adding a splash page to the site, the client is essentially requesting a second design in addition to the site template that the web designer will create for the inner pages of the site. This can add substantially to the cost of the site.

Use Background Music Carefully!

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

note1Background music and sounds for your site can be effective, but it is important to use a file format that allows for quick downloading—otherwise, the music or sound will suddenly begin to play well after the user has opened the page, often startling them when they are not anticipating the sound.

Music selections can be set to loop (repeat) indefinitely so that continuous sound will be heard.

Some people (myself included) do not like to have sound play on websites without being warned ahead of time, so background music should be use sparingly.

The Mp3 format is useful for background music on Web sites.