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Chris
Fox-Mapletoft gave us an interesting insight into the development
of a website. As you are probably aware, Chris has developed and
maintains our own website. I am sure you will agree, that he has
done an excellent job – so how did he do it?
Chris’s
presentation started at the very beginning, showing us how to
build a website from scratch. He emphasized that prior preparation
is the key to a successful web design. It is important to know
what you want from the beginning – is it for friends &
family use, a club or even a business venture. Knowing what the
aim of the site is will help in its ultimate development.
Having
decided on the purpose, the designer must then consider the organization
and navigation of the site. A too cluttered web page will put
the surfer off, not a very good ploy if it is a business website.
Also as important is the ability to navigate around the site.
Getting in and out of the individual pages and back to the beginning
again is a must. Disappearing down black holes due to poor design
will not endear you to your prospective customers. The musts are
a logical structure, consistent navigation and well-labeled pages.
Using a nice clear typeface is also good practice. Try to make
your type consistent throughout the site was one of Chris’s
many tips to good website design.
Chris
explained that web page structures are created using html (HyperText
Markup Language). This is the language that the computer disseminates
to create the web pages that you designed. Luckily, by using one
of the numerous website design packages like Macromedia DreamWeaver,
Microsoft Front Page or Hot Metal Pro eliminates the need for
the individual to have to understand the language and the developer
can create the pages simply, within the chosen software package.
Having
described the background to designing the site, Chris went on
to develop a very simple site using DreamWeaver. He explained
that he preferred to use tables to position the text and pictures.
This gives greater control on where the information will be positioned
on the page. First the developer creates the home or front page.
From here he created hyperlinks to the other pages. These links
allow for correct navigation around the site.
Another
tip from Chris, to do with images, for photos use compressed .jpeg
pictures. For line drawing used .gif files which will handle up
to 256 colours. This way the size of the site will be kept down
and its download speed will be increased – not everyone
out there is on broadband yet. Do not be tempted to use .bmp files,
as they are far too large. Once you have created the pages, test
all the hyperlinks thoroughly to ensure good navigation of the
site.
Chris
then went on to show some extra software that can enhance the
look of the site. Xara Webstyle offers all sorts of extras to
make the site look professional including, buttons, banneradds,
3D headings, backgrounds, bullets and headlines to name a few.
All these added extras give the site that professional feel. Other
packages available include Macromedia Flash that creates web animations
for the site.
Once
the site has been created, all the hyperlinks go where they are
supposed to and the designer is happy, and then it is time to
upload to your web space. A couple of packages that will do this
for you are Freeola and Freeuk.com. Both require a dial up facility
to do this – this is how their revenue is created. Our website
is administered by Freeola. Another useful tip from Chris –
when updating files on the site, always remove the old file first.
Otherwise peculiar thing occur.
Finally
we looked at our own site and how it is developing. We also discussed
search engines and their ability to find the site. The best and
cheapest way to get lots of hits is to create a unique site name.
The other is to pay an annual retainer to Googol or Yahoo etc
to force the site up the search listing.
Our
thanks to Chris for a most informative evening which was full
of interesting and useful tips on website development.
Dave
Robb
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