More Information and Design Ideas
Module 11

There's lots more we won't cover right now.  This has been a very basic introduction to making Web pages where the price is right! ($0).  But a few bits of information may be appropriate at this point.

1. Open Page1 on the screen in Navigator, pull down VIEW>Page Source.  This is the actual HTML code that was produced by the program and this is what will actually be sent out over the Internet. The browser interprets the code to produce web pages.

 Notice the line that should start off:
 

 <IMG SRC="Pictures/ds.GIF....

This is the line that sends the picture to your browser and causes it to be displayed where you planned when you created the page.  It says, "The Image Source is found by looking in the Pictures folder for a file named ds.GIF."  

Be aware that if you rename the picture, it will cause the link to be broken.  In fact, if you MOVE the picture after you have linked it, you will lose the link, since the computer (in this case) "knows" where the picture is supposed to be (the same relative location- inside the Pictures folder with the name ds.GIF)  This is why we made a point that EVERYTHING goes into the folder before links are made.

If you change either of these (the location or the name), your picture will lose its place on the page).  You can edit the picture, but be sure to save under the same exact name, in the same location.  Otherwise, you will need to re-link the picture.

2. Close the Page Source Window.

In reality, you should set up your website by (gasp!!!!) planning it out ahead of time.

When you send your website to a server, you copy the CONTENTS of the entire folder, so the names and relative locations remain the same.  Some servers do not handle spaces in file or folder names, so that is why you needed to call the folder WebProject, rather than Web Project.   Also, upper and lower case may matter, depending on the server.  To be safe, you may wish to ALWAYS use lowercase file names, although we did not do that here.
 

There are many other things that need to be covered before you set off to create your perfect web site.  You should have additional information on different file formats, converting from one to another, Scanning, copyright responsibilities, making backgrounds, and lots of other concepts... be sure to look for those workshops or modules as they are offered. Be careful of placing images on the Internet that you are not absolutely certain of copyright or licensing.  When you publish web pages to the world, you are in the same "leagues" as national television networks or book publishers.
 

You may notice websites with fancy fonts and lots of extras.  Since, as you may recall, there really are no fonts or sizes, in reality these websites use "pictures" of the wording using the special font, rather than the font itself.

Also, text size is relative.  The computer is told to use a basic font and then "increase the font size by 2", rather than to a specific font size.  Tabs and indents really don't exist but the code tells the browser to move text over a certain amount that may vary with different machines.  Colors are also non-standard.  If you produce a picture for a machine that has millions of colors and then view it on a machine that only has 16 colors, the result will be vastly different.  Colors vary with Macintosh or PC and from one monitor to another and some browsers recognize different colors than others.

All these "limits" go back to the fact that you are sending text and files across the Internet and each machine may interpret this information differently.  In reality, you may want to write for the "lowest common denominator" and then check out the result on several machines before deciding you are "finished."

Also realize that you are using a free HTML editor in Netscape.  If you purchase a specialized editor, you will have many other options. However, a website with dancing babies, lots of pictures, sounds, and other niceties may be impressive but if it takes forever to download or only works on certain machines, it may not be worth the time for a user on a slower connection to download it.  Be very careful before creating a web page that is dependent on someone having a specific piece of software on their computer (like Flash or Microsoft Word.  It's easy to overdo things and the best working rule is to keep things simple but organized and logical.  A simple but clean website is preferable to a cluttered and "fancy" site any day!

Here are some guidelines for web pages that may help explain these concepts.

Some of the old stand-by desktop publishing rules apply to web page design.  "White-space" is very important.  Good web pages may only be one screen in size and download to a compter rather quickly.  However, electronic display lends itself to a different set of consumer tendencies and needs.  When in doubt, use yourself- your own preferences may help determine to you what a user-friendly web page looks like.  Also, test web pages with someone who knows very little of your website and consider all observations.