- The Web is not WYSIWYG.
It's frustrating but true. The Web is not
What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get. Well, actually, that's not
exactly true. What you see is what
you get, of course.
The problem arises when you mistakenly assume that
what you see is what
everyone else gets. The
key thing to remember here is that there are millions of
Websurfers out there who don't use your favorite browser,
your video card, your screen settings, or even the same kind
of computer as you.
- HTML is a structural markup language,
not a page-description language.
When you write HTML, you are defining
the structure of a document, not specifying its layout. Yes,
HTML does include some basic formatting and alignment tags.
But it's very easy to misunderstand and misuse these tags.
You heard right -- it's possible to
misuse HTML tags. In HTML, there are actually
rules for what tags are okay, and where they are okay.
There are even tools available to check
your pages to see if they follow these basic rules of HTML.
- Web authoring is not
word-processing.
When you create a word-processing document, you can exercise
precise typographical control over some or all of a printed page.
Defining the structure of a Web page is a much less predictable
process.
Get over the urge to control every little formatting feature of your
Web pages. The surest way to create a Web page that looks good
to all your readers is to trust that your readers' browser will render
your page the best it can, if not exactly the way you'd like.
- Not everyone browses
graphically.
Graphics are a great way to spice up a Web page. But there are
at least a million people in the world
who, whether of necessity or by choice, don't browse graphically.
That's a lot of readers. Build pages that convey their message
and navigate easily, even without graphics.
- Most "cool tricks" aren't really all
that cool.
When you're new to the WWW, pages that automatically load
other pages seem almost magical. But most of the cool stuff
you're encountering for the first time has actually been around
for quite a while. It's been done already. Truth be told, it's been
done to death.
- Gear-driven Web pages get very old,
very fast.
The Web is like a high-tech toy store. Everyday, someone
comes up with some cool new toy that's the absolute latest
in smell-o-matic-blur-o-vision technology. And like all good
toys, these new techno-gadgets are undeniably fun to play with.
Here's the problem: twenty bazillion other people are also rushing
to employ this latest breakthrough in trendy technology. And
after you've seen 10,000 smell-o-matic-blur-o-vision pages, it's
hard to get excited about seeing number 10,001.
- Original content is the key to a good
Web page.
Presentation is an undeniably important element of good Web
design. But more folks use the Web as information source
than as an entertainment source.
By implication, there is simply no substitute for good content
on a Website. Individuals and organizations alike
can make a unique contribution to the World
Wide Web. Simply share what you know and think about
the things that interest you.
It doesn't really matter whether it's needlepoint, or motorcycle
engines, or landscape architecture, or stupid Unix tricks. After
all, you think it's interesting, so it's a good bet that
there's other folks who think so, too. Building a good set of
Web pages means putting some of yourself into your Webspace.
- Don't use reports of your browser's popularity
as an excuse for invalid, exclusionary, non-HTML markup
tags.
Statements like "97% of all people use Netscape or MSIE"
are:
- statistically suspect and verifiably untrue
- irrelevant
There's actually a fairly complex set of statistical reasons why
these reports are inherently suspect and
statistically
invalid. But you don't have to be a statistician
to understand that if you build a page that
only works in, say, MSIE, pretty soon, all the
people who come to your Web page use MSIE! (Surprise!)
The reason it's irrelevant is that there
are literally dozens of versions of these two programs
floating around out there. Thus, the terms "Netscape"
and "MSIE" actually refer to dozens of different feature
sets, quirks, etc.
Web clients are unpredictable, idiosyncratic, and buggy.
Structuring your pages to accommodate or exploit
browser quirks is a fairly spectacular example of letting
the tail wag the dog. (It's also a great way to build a
very high-maintenance Website.)
- Fast-loading pages make for
happy Websurfers.
Most folks' biggest beef about the Web is piggish, slow-loading
pages. Fast-loading pages make for more (and happier!)
visitors to your Website. The key to building fast-loading
pages is simple:
Send less data.
There are two key elements to building fast-loading pages. One
is to build relatively small pages, and then use hyperlinks to
connect these smaller pages into a larger Website. The other
key is to reduce the size of your graphics
files; it's really fairly easy to do, and your visitors will love you
for it. Honest.
- Watch your step
Web design is undeniably fun and exciting. As your Webspinning
skills evolve, you'll probably find yourself interested in exploring
new avenues for your technical and creative talents.
As you explore, it's important to bear in mind that "the
Web" is actually dozens of different technologies under a
single name. All of these technologies are still very young, and
many are still fairly unstable. Some are even
downright dangerous.
Proceed cautiously, and realize that a lot of uncertainty still exists
about almost everything Web. In fact, about the only thing you
can be sure of is: you'll never be bored.
