What do I need to consider before making a website?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I know content and easy navigation are the main considerations rather than a flash site that is hard to navigate and has no or next to no content. I know you need to optimize graphics and such and that you want something that doesn't turn viewers off, never to return.

Can someone tell me (or point me to) all the evils of websites so I don't fall into those traps?

I have some experience in website creation, but not much and I'm not the programming sort. I use Adobe Photoshop and ImageReady, Macromedia Dreamweaver and I'm going to use Flash for a little intro movie I'm creating.

So if anyone can help me it would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

[Esoteric]

I know content and easy navigation are the main considerations rather than a flash site that is hard to navigate and has no or next to no content. I know you need to optimize graphics and such and that you want something that doesn't turn viewers off, never to return.

Hmm, I don't know if I can answer this question, but since there aren't any other replies yet.... You already know the basics. Optimized graphics...good navigation...plenty of content.

Your content is the key, it's the whole point of your website. It's why someone is going to visit in the first place.

You already know that beginners tend to get caught up in making big flashy buttons that take up half the screen, or stupid looking animated Gifs, or they fill up the screen with as much as they can. Navigation should not draw anymore of the user's attention than necessary, and certainly not more than the content. Same goes for graphics. Graphics are there to compliment the content, not overpower.

I recomend you visit a lot of sites that you like the feel of and study them. What tricks do they use to make a user friendly website that looks good too? There are books on this topic you can read too. That's all I can offer.
Maybe an HTML coder can offer more.

BTW I've seen awesome Flash sites that were super easy to navigate and full of content. Because they obeyed the rules of functional design. Or, did you mean flashy?

[MyrrhLynn]

Yeah really it's impossible to cover everything in just a post here...

There are some awesome books out there, you just got to find them. Here's a tutorial I wrote on the Elements of web design: http://www.myrrhlynn.net/daystar/tutorialwebtips.php

And it's pretty good since I basically summarized a book I had to read for my web design class.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Thanks a lot MyrrhLynn and Esoteric! You've been a great help.
Esoteric, I did mean flashy not Flash as in the program. Sorry about the mixup. (after all Homestarrunner.com is my second favourite site and its made in Flash and still a breeze to navigate). So thanks for the help!

Oh dear! MyrrhLynn your link doesn't appear to work.

[MyrrhLynn]

That's cause my site was done for some reason. It should work now.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I finally understand your username Myrrh Lynn (Mer Lin) Merlin, aha!

Okay thanks, it works now. I like the elements of design article you wrote (very helpful) but bishies? ha ha (sorry not being mean, its just funny).

Anyway do I design webpages for 800 x 600 resolution or 1024 x 768?
I've been told by my one of my graphic design lecturer's to not worry about using websafe colours these days and that you should design for 800 x 600.
Is this still the case?

Thanks!

[MyrrhLynn]

I finally understand your username Myrrh Lynn (Mer Lin) Merlin, aha!

Okay thanks, it works now. I like the elements of design article you wrote (very helpful) but bishies? ha ha (sorry not being mean, its just funny).

Anyway do I design webpages for 800 x 600 resolution or 1024 x 768?
I've been told by my one of my graphic design lecturer's to not worry about using websafe colours these days and that you should design for 800 x 600.
Is this still the case?

Thanks!

Lol, yes I made up my name to be a female version of Merlin.

Usually it depends on your audience but in most cases you don't have to worry about websafe colors, and yes you should design for 800x600 resolution. I am constantly amazed at the amount of 800x600 traffic my site gets. Lots of people have newer computers but older monitors, or they just like the resolutions high.

[Kireihana]

Lol... I thought her username had something to do with Myrrh, like the wiseman's gift.

That tutorial was really great, Myrrhlynn! Here are some other things (mainly technical stuff) that annoy me on sites:

- Broken links and images (test all your links and images to make sure they work!)

- layout not displaying properly (once again, test to make sure everything looks ok. Sometimes with complicated layouts like tables it takes a couple of tries to get it right.)

- Background music. It's really annoying when it suddenly blares out of your speakers. If you must have music, have a form or something where a visitor can choose to play the music if they want to

- Too many brushes/special effects. An overload of bright image blends, sparkly brushes, etc. can be overpowering. A balanced amount can make the site look really nice, though.

- Color scheme, which has already been mentioned. I'd advise you avoid using complimentary colors together.

As for resolution, I design my sites to look the best in 1024 x 768 but are also compatible in lower resolutions without them having to scroll.

[LorentzForce]

I don't think I can add anymore to the above tips, maybe except one for time when you feel like there's nothing more you can do to the website.

They're all just guide lines. You can break them and bend them, but do so only if you're truly talented, or want to get 'out of the square'. I've seen a website with music in the background, rainbow colours (literally), Flash, IE only, barely any navigation options, and all other nasties except frames. It still was the most awesome website I have ever seen, period.

So don't get discouraged with these 'rules'. They're nice guidelines, but only that. Experimentation is the way to go.

[Fsiphskilm]

[b]Quicky

[agasfas]

Tip 1: If at all possible use tables. Tables make things more organized and easier to navigate.

Tip 2: Stay away from background images. They strain the eyes and make text reading hard. Solid color works better. But make sure the color isn't too bright or too dark. If you use a bright background, us a dark text that will be easy on the eyes. Same applies to dark backgrounds--use light colored text.

Tip three: You can design things to work best w/ the 1024x768, but it may be more user friendly to make it in 800x600. It really just depends, it's more of a personal opinion.

Tip four: Don't abuse pictures. Meaning, don't flood a page with a million pictures. And if your creating a image gallery where you need a lot of pictures heres a hint for faster load time:
Make a duplicate image and resize it to about 100x100 (or whatever your personal preference is). Then link the original size image to the small image. This provides blazing fast load times. So instead of someone waiting to see a "resized" image (same kilobytes size) that's about 200-700 kilobytes they only have to wait a fraction of a second to see the image that is about 2-10 kilobytes.

-or-
If you want to keep the original picture size w/o editing and duplicating it, put no more than 6 images on a page. Though, you still need to use the resize html tag so it doesn't take 10 pages to scroll through them.


Tip 5: keep your page simple
Tip 6: have a central theme. Who is your audence. Don't put a bunch of random things on a page, have a purpose. Is it anime related? Is it a personal web page? Is it to inform someone about something? There good page has a central theme. Take CAA for example, the theme is quite evident-- a bunch of people who love the Lord and anime andlove to talk about it.

Tip 7: Have fun!

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Agasfas, the subject of my website is a Christian-themed novel I'm working on, some pictures I've drawn/will draw and a little comic I've done.
Even though I knew most of the stuff you said I'll take those things you mentioned into consideration. Thanks!

[MyrrhLynn]

Thanks MyrrhLynn! That was a great tutorial! I'm more of a programming/scripting guy so I'm not real good with graphic/layout design. This was really helpful for me! Thanks again!!!!

Wow glad my little tutorial helped so many people. I basically copied it from my web design textbook though so I don't deserve that much credit.

[Kaligraphic]

The most important element is to have a central point to the existence of the site. The site should be wrapped carfully around that central point.

[anime4christ]

One thing I can say is browser incompatibilities are probably a web designers worst nightmare when it comes to client-side script, so you should be careful with that. Server-side is much safer. If you need any help, just PM me. ^_^

[Mithrandir]

Or you *could* just post to the group here. Some of us know a little bit about running dynamic websites.

[anime4christ]

good idea, oldphil