~*~odds n ins~*~
Took me awhile to think about what I was
going to make this section out as. And then it hit me...Why not have it as
little tips on graphics and websites...basically the do's and don'ts of
webdesign. So, let's get started...LOL
~*~
~*~Graphics~*~
What more could you want than to create your
own graphics for your site? I mean let's face it if you created the
graphics yourself and created the website with them...then technically it ALL
belongs to you, UNLESS of course you use artwork by an artist...but still the
graphics are yours.
Keep in mind when creating your graphics for a website or an email that you want
to try to keep it compressed as much as possible but you don't want to compress
it too much that it looses it's value. What I do when I'm creating
graphics in Paintshop Pro is I always try to save it in .jpg or .jpeg format
with a compression rate of 25. Now I'm sure most of you know how to do
that right? If not I'll explain...After I finish with my graphic and I'm
happy with the way it looks I'm usually ready to save it so I can put it on my
site. Okay so I go to File in the menu of PSP and then down to Export
then to JPEG Optimizer. You can use the wizard here but I prefer to do
this on my own...In the first tab of the window that is up called Quality and
set that to 25. Now go to the Format tab in the same window and set
it to Standard (after this you can then check the download times, I usually look
at the time for the 56K modem since it's the most popular and more used).
Then press okay name your file and save it in the folder of your choice where
you will remember and is easy to access.
Also try not to save in .gif format UNLESS you have too. A lot of times
you can get a transparent look by just applying your background to the .psp file
(which usually has no background until you apply one). I would suggest to
use .gif format ONLY for animation graphics. But also be careful with that
for if you get too many frames in an animation it can make the .gif file big and
hard to compress and could take awhile to download for some PCs.
The trick to graphics is to make them pleasing to the eye but also fast to load
on a website.
~*~
~*~Websites~*~
This one is a little more complicated than
dealing with graphics by themselves. On websites you have to deal with how
much coding you have done AND the size of the graphics on your site.
DHTML is cool and looks great yes...BUT too much of it and it can take awhile
for pages to load. Java is awesome as well...but just like DHTML if you
have too much it can take awhile for pages to load. So, sure play around
with all the neat codes just be careful on how much you use of it.
Okay so you've got the codes that you want and the graphics made for your
website and you're ready to layout your site. Question? How many
graphics per page? Well, actually this depends on what kind of site you have and
what you are trying to present to your viewers. Since I not only have this
site but a webgraphics site as well I try to minimize the amount of graphics I
put on one page. Sometimes this can be hard but it can be done. But
I also recommend to keep graphics small and easy to read and that will help out
on compression of graphics. I wouldn't recommend putting 25 graphics on
one page but keep it to a minimum without taking away the beauty of your site or
your site content.
Now for the MOST important part of your site other than the content. Your
navigation. How will people navigate through your site? Will they be
using menu buttons? a menu table? or what about a navigation bar? The key
to good navigation is to try to have multiple options...which I know it's hard
to do that. You also want it to go with your site you don't want to have a
bulky navigation system that stands out too much because people wouldn't be
looking at your content but at that. You also want to make navigation as
easy to navigate as possible and easy to find on your pages. And yes you
DO need to have navigation on every page of your site UNLESS you have something
that opens up in another window.
Keep in mind that this is your site, but you want to make it pleasing to the eye
of the viewers. And make sure your content is interesting to keep them
coming back for more.
~*~
This web page created
and maintained by Charity
Mc Afee, Webmistress.
The page design within this site is made by and copyrighted to ©Charity Mc
Afee,
unless stated otherwise, and is NOT be removed from this site without
express written permission from the owner, Charity Mc Afee.
Charity's
Dream Designs
Copyright ©2002, 2003 Charity Mc Afee, Webmistress.
All rights reserved.
Graphics and site Created by:
Charity Mc Afee
Charity's
Dream Designs
~*~
