Tapsa's Programming Corner

Back to Articles

master webmastering

Webmastering is not as easy as it look likes. Here I've gathered some of the main ideas that should be consider before starting to build a new site. In the end you can also find the methods and rules for web designing that I have defined for myself.

content is everything

The most important thing on a website is content. The nice decoration is irrelevant if nobody doesn't have a reason to visit your pages. And that reason is usually either information or entertainment.

When having a new site in mind first think for whom they are and what you want to give them. Players may want to have game reviews and Java games to play when students probably need background information for their researches. If you want to make a personal site about yourself then the likely target group is your friends. Think what they'd want to see: photos, news etc. about you and your opinions and reviews about some interest.

Most annoying thing in the internet is probably the "Under Construction" sign with a note telling you that the site will be opened soon. Well of course this is okay if the site is really going to be opened soon, but that's not the case if the page tells you that the last update was made two years ago! Build the sites only if you really have the time to put some content there, otherwise don't.

decoration

Decoration can be done three ways. First way is that you don't have one. You just have the content there and that's it. It's actually not a bad thing especially when you're not having much content. Learn how to use the basic html elements such as tables, lists, paragraphs, links plus headings and you might got sites worth of visiting already.

The second way and at the same the wrong way is to fill your page with shiny and blinking objects that are not even located rationally. This is the most common mistake that starting webmasters do. They put all the things they can find that look nice and forgot that they look nice only when used solely and in proper place. After this it is hard to find anything from the page and the blinking "friends" start to annoy so much that the user won't never return. Use rather no decoration at all than too much.

The third and the last way is maybe the most time consuming in site building. To create nice looking decoration is very hard. I recommed of using some webdesigning tool such as Frontpage in this part. If you feel you wasn't born to be an artist then you can always look from the other sites how they've done it. Try to find a site with a style that pleases you the most. Then use that page as an example while giving your own page a personal touch. Don't use too many blinking or moving objects and be careful with the colors. When done the right way the decorating can be the most rewarding part in the site building!

Solely the colors can improve your site's appearance greatly. Some things should be considered with them though. Avoid having many different color scales on the pages. For example if you mix green and blue elements on your page then the green ones seem to "float" over the blue ones. This happens because of the way brains process seen images. Also avoid using bright colors and try always have a dark font over a light background. Reading white text with black colored background strains eyes real fast.

functionality

The most important thing in site functionality is that they can be viewed correctly at least with most of the browsers. Avoid using frames and keep the html code simple. You heard right! When coming more advanced site designer it is essential to learn the html code (and likely css and Javascript as well). Page designing programs are great when designing the appearance but many time it's necessary to fine tune the source code by yourself. Don't be afraid in this: it's really not that hard as it might seem at the first look.

Make page navigation easy when having multiple pages on your site. Most of the sites use a special navigation bar with all the pages listed there to make it easy to jump from page to another. Avoid having too many levels and complex or illogical site map. Non of the pages should not be behind more than 4-5 hyperlink clicks. Also it should be easily understood of from where you can jump to the place where's the information you was looking for located.

define methods

Here's my current methods. I encourage all webmasters to define a similar kinds of rules for themselves since far too often can one run into sites that aren't working as they were intended to. With these figured out before other the later job comes easier.

Have content and have it for someone
Sites must be as flexible as possible
Pages should load fast even with 28k modem
Style sheets (css v1.0 compatible) should be used in all styling
JavaScript (v1.2 compatible) is used when client side dynamical actions are needed
No framesets to maintain full compatibility with different kinds of browsers
Page source is in accordance with xhtml 1.0 standard
Pages are viewable even with 640x480 screen resolution
Sites should have a peaceful and well deliberated appearance that is simply to use

epilogue

Here I've just listed a few of the most important things of web designing but you can find more useful and detailed information from the net (sorry that I'm not providing the links here but it's 1 am when I'm writing this and want some sleep!). You can start by viewing the source code of this site. It should be close standards and I've written it 100% with notepad so should be readable as well. Good luck and remember at least what I wrote about the content!

Tapani Talvitie
17.9.2003