Creating Web Pages Overview

Design – Start with a Purpose Before you start any web page, you need to design the website. The first question that should be asked is why are you creating a website? –To entertain or educate –To sell products –To create a useful reference –More…

Describe the website Determine: –Who is the audience? –What content and pictures are available to be used? –How should the site be organized? –What colors or graphics should be used? –What should the web site be able to do? Once you have answered these questions, the entire site should be sketched out, either on paper, or in a graphics program.

Create The Web Pages A web page is simply a text file, like you might write in Notepad, or simple text. Web pages contain tags that tell a web browser, like Internet Explorer (IE), how to display the page. You can view these tags before IE uses them by opening any web page in IE and selecting View on the drop down menu, then Source. Try this on the Creating Web Pages page, or the links page.

Creating Web Pages There are many ways to create web pages. –Hand Coding – Using Notepad or SimpleText, you type the tags yourself. –Template – You start with a basic design, already containing tags, and add content. –A What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) Program – This program creates the tags for you.

The spectrum of web page creation Hand coded HTML Pay someone to make you a web page WYSIWYG program More work Less work More money Less money Using a template

Hand Coding Web Pages Hand coding web pages involves using a simple text editor to manually insert tags into a document. There are several free text editors that help with coding HTML by using different colors for tags, indicating which open and close tags are related, and spellchecking the document.

Using a Template There are many sites on the web which offer pre-made web template. You take their design, and add your content. Some very basic knowledge of HTML is required in order to determine where to place your content.

WYSIWYG Most WYSIWYGs require no knowledge of HTML. You simply drag and drop your content where you would like it, and the program creates the tags for you. Both Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint can be used as a basic WYSIWYG. Simply save as html when you finish the document.

Hand Coding vs. WYSIWYG Hand Coding allows greater control over the result. WYSIWYG created web pages are often loaded with extra and inefficient code which increases the download time and makes the page hard to modify later. Using a WYSIWYG is significantly faster.

Testing During the web page creation process, you should test the page frequently. Testing usually involves an outsider viewing the site and attempting to determine the purpose of the site (Get It Testing) and trying to complete tasks on the site (Key Task Testing) –What is the purpose of this site? (Get It) –Can I find the contact information quickly? (Key Task)

Accessibility Web sites for companies that receive government funds are required by law to make them handicapped accessible. All other sites should be accessible. This may include: –Alternate versions for the blind –For the deaf no key information should be in sound effects. Since the Internet is global, accessibility includes making your site friendly and usable for multiple cultures.

Compatibility Web sites will look different from computer to computer. How they look is affected by: –Operating System –Browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) –Computer Hardware Your goal is to make them look good on ALL systems. (Good luck) out a simple webpage and drag the file in, or File, open…

Hosting A completed web site needs to be on a server in order to be on the Internet. A server is a computer that is always on, has a program to distribute web pages, and has been given an address that doesn’t change. You can purchase space on a server to put your web page, or find a free service.