WEB SITES

ICANN

Not sure why these people are qualified to set rules/standards.  I cannot help feeling like they elected themselves.  The same weird feeling I got when I realized someone was selling real estate on the moon.

InternetTrafficReport/InternetWorldStats

These sites were mildly amusing.  I do not have much faith in statistics.   There are no guarantees a Web site will be successful or last.  Healthy research is wise.  Know your audience and grow with them if you need to.  Generalities and specificities could be doom.

CAIDA

This group are more credible. Instead of doling dated dribble, they give links to documents to inform visitors.

PEW

These folks display raw data.  I appreciate this.  If I want entertainment, then I look at entertaining things on the internet.   When I want data, then spare me everything but the facts.  Oh, and I want to be able to verify them too.

Nielsen Ratings

I have been a part of several focus groups. I am not a huge fan of the Nielsens’.  They are an industry standard and work hard to obtain accurate figures.  They reflect current average opinion, which has underpinnings from the past.  I would try to be less mainstream, even developing a library’s Web site.

MacDONALD

Ch 5: XHTML Elements

Oh boy.  I am having a hard time with this.  It is my fault.  In chronological  order I am using DW5 (@home), DW3  (@class), Godaddy, Squarespace, and MSPublisher.  I am now juggling all of them trying to get one perfect fit.  Also, I am attempted to use CSS.  Sometimes they work but sometimes they do not and I have no idea why.

I am a hot mess.  It started because one builder will let me do one thing that another will not.  For example, I tried to find I font I liked in DW but could not.  I  imported from a Word Doc and it worked.  Then, I started developing a new site and the same tactic did not work.  I spent 2 hours trying to paste or import this single Heading Font Style.  I was so mad I decided to try other builders.  Sadly, I have wasted time on each.  Where is a Rosetta Stone for Web creation when you need one?

MacDonald starts out by breaking things down for us.  Web sites are two documents.  A document for structure and a document for format.  They be separated or contained within each other, in various levels.  Structure/logical elements yield the hierarchical part and physical/format elements lend how they are viewed.

There are some useful tips given.  For example, to prevent a line break <&nbsp>; this might be useful for product recognition.  Pre-formatted text (<pre>) to maintain text fidelity when desired.

Ch 6: Style Sheets

All you get with a Style Sheet are rules, whether 1 or 100′s. There are only three ingredients to create a rule:

Rule = selector {property; value}

  • Selector = type of content to format
  • Property = type of formatting to apply
  • Value= sets the value for the property

We are given instructions to apply style sheets within our document using the <link> element.  Also, to find suitable colors ColorPicker is listed.   I found and love Color Scheme Designer!  Aesthetically, the font selection is my biggest problem the web builders and this book  (see above).  Truly aggravating.

BEAIRD

Ch 1: Layout and Composition

When creating a Web site it is important to first consider the clients needs.  Start by sketching ideas and researching other similar companies/entities. The basic anatomy of a page consists of: content block, logo, navigation, and white space.

The spatial layout of a Web page is important too.  Visually useful and pleasing depictions may be created using: Mondrian “Grid Theory”; Pythagoras ” Golden Ratio”; or the “Rule of Thirds” (AKA Rule of Turds).  The author had some colorful design theory professor’s :) .

After you access user needs and rough an idea about layout, the next step are the details of the page.  Balance is typically achieved using the horizontal symmetry imposed by columns.  Proximity can create unity among objects in a page. Conversely, isolation of object(s) will create emphasis.

I liked the example for contrast using a “I want one” button as opposed to an “Add/ Add to cart” button.  It reminded me to be more open minded about this prototypical device.  The Morgue File was a clever idea too.  Having a sort of quick view of sites which in some way stirred interest would come in handy for inspiration.  It reminded me of the Data Drop I used to do.   At the start of an examine, I would find a blank space and write down every equation I had memorized.  It prevented much agony.  Keeping handy files of information close at hand is a huge time saver.

Super cool idea the fixed-variable hybrid.  I do not the variable but I can see why other people would not like the fixed too.  I think I can figure out all my other issues with DW5 I might try the variable-fixed design.  (Yes, I know, I am eternally hopeful).  For resolution, I think I will walk the line above 800×600 but not totally 1024×768.  Somewhere in the middle and I may not alienate anyone.  We shall see.

(More adventure in Web site creation  . . .)