Monday, November 6, 2000		Article

Weaving attractive Web pages
by Vishal Verma

WITH the cyber world coming to the forefront, addresses that start with www and end with .com, .net are in fashion. Everyone is busy making his or her presence felt on the Net through Web pages.

A Web page is basically an HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language) file with links. It is called HTML because the Web page documents have .html or .htm as file extensions. To create or format a Web page one has to have an HTML editor like Microsoft Word, Notepad, CodeEdit, Notetab Lite, and a Web page editor like Front Page Express, Netscape Composer, America Online or MSN. The Web page editor enables the developer to see the formatting and layout of the Web Page. Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer are the two frequently used browser used to view a Web page.

Before the Web page is designed, objectives of the Web site should be thought of. The objectives should preferably be aimed to the class of potential users. For instance, if the site is designed to market a product on a global basis then facility of translation in various languages is a must. Modifications should be done on a continuous basis to attract audiences.

The first file of a Web site must have distinct frames to accommodate the menu structure and the objectives. Menu structure with links constitutes a major part of the site. It is always advisable to group the links on a separate page or a frame, away from the contents of the main page. These links organise the site in a proper manner. Important features should be linked from the first page to provide a clear view of the site. Provision of downloading and search are essential features for a good site. Graphics are components that are a key to the success of the site. Adequate use of the graphics is essential. However, using too many graphics slows down the loading of the Web page.

One way to reduce the size of the Web page, and thus decrease downloading time, is to reduce the dimensions of the graphics. Cutting the length and width in half reduces the image to one-fourth the size in kilobytes. Reducing colours also cuts down the size and helps in fast downloading of the page. The problem can further be reduced by providing thumbnails of images on the relevant page along with its links, so that only those interested may access the full image. The best image type for a Web page is Graphic Interchange Format (GIF). The size of these images is smaller than that of other types like Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG). The JPEG images are full-colour, 24-bit, or true colour, unlike GIFs, which are limited to 256 colours.

Animations on a site look attractive, however, the browser gets choked up trying to display it because of the sheer size as animated graphics are basically a series of GIF files displayed one after another. A lot of data is required to be loaded again and again. The solution is to cut the image into a steady and an animated part and display it as a table.

Graphics are also utilised as navigational aids on the site. Navigational aid in the form of buttons must be able to link the user to the home page and other important pages of the site. Most of the Web pages are bigger than the average display screen. Page footers can be provided to offer the user a set of links to other pages.

A good site must also be interactive. Some additional features like feedback through e-mail add value to the site. Many sites contain a counter that detects the number of hits and signs up for a guest book. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages are generally an integral part of a site having specialised material. These reduces the time spent on answering routine questions.

It is also possible for the designer to password protect the Web page for access to limited members. Password protection is available on limited Web servers through which the Web page is launched.

Other aspects of a good page design are the background colours, background images, adequate selection of text size, font type, format, font colour, section headings, link colours, line breaks, paragraph aligning, centring, special characters, image dimensions, coloured lines, simple links, e-mail links and image links.

The length of a Web page is yet another important aspect to be considered. Certain sites favour long pages. But such pages, along with too many graphics, can end up taking too long to download and may exceed the RAM allocation to the browser. Many pages are data heavy. Tables can be generated to accommodate these data on a Web site. The consideration of screen resolution is very essential for a Web page designer. The most commonly used display is about 14-inches diagonal measurement, and projects a desktop of 640 x 480 pixels. Hence the header of the page should be placed such that it is visible to every user.

Naming the files is an important issue. The first file that introduces the user to other pages is named index.html. Other files can be kept in the same directory with appropriate names.

Designing a page with a Web page editor, such as FrontPage Express, relieves the designer of the burden of writing complex codes. With easy-to-use features of FrontPage Express, sophisticated Web pages can be created. The software applies HTML tags from the list on the toolbar without having to manually type them on the page. Cosmetic work like scrolling text can also be generated to draw the attention of a user. Background and watermarks can also be selected with the click of a mouse. It uses WebBot components to add current time and search features to the Web pages. (WebBot is a "dynamic object" on a Web page that runs when the Web author saves the page on the Web server or, in some cases, when the user views the page). The software is distributed free with Microsoft Windows.

Another equally good Web page editor is Netscape Composer, which is distributed along with the Netscape navigator suite. The other option is using JavaScript, which enables the Web page to create pop-up windows, buttons with mouse rollover, etc. It also ensures correct entries in the form on site, e-mail feedback, chat and other imaginations beyond the HTML codes.