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nondog Web Design
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The information below is an outline of what's involved
in putting up a web site. This is to provide a starting point for
people interested in posting their own web pages. It's also for my
potential customers get an idea of what I can do for them.
In addition to the basic web pages you need a web
server (computer connected directly to the internet) to put the pages
on. This will cost in the order of nothing to US$100 per month. The
free ones usually have other people's adverts on them and sometimes
are not allowed to be commercial (you will have noticed the horrible
pop-up ads on this site which are added by HyperMart until I start
paying for the space). You should be able to get advert-free space
suitable for a smallish site for about US$10-20/month. You can then
offset your expenses by putting up ads for others if you so wish.
Click here for links to web hosting companies
The choice of web host is not crucial as it can be
changed any time with no noticeable difference to the site (i.e the
address is not tied to the physical location of the pages though a new
location does take a few days to be updated).
You should decide whether to use a local server
(located in Hong Kong) or a server in another country (e.g. United
States). A local server should be faster if most readers will be
local - the connection will make less jumps but it also depends on how
busy the other sites on the server are (i.e. how much bandwidth the
server has and how many sites are sharing it). A server belonging to
an unscrupulous local company could easily be slower than a quality
commercial server in the States. Also there is a lot of spam flying
around in Hong Kong that can clog things up quite a bit.
The physical location of the server has no bearing on
your choice of Internet domain name.
You'll probably want a domain name - e.g.
www.your_name.com. Or you may want
.org on the end if the site is for a non-profit group.
You don't have to have a domain name - most web hosters will give you
a name like
yourUsername.hostingCoName.net which
you can use right away.
In Hong Kong you can also get a
something.co.hk name which is
registered by a local authorised company and cost less per year.
(Other countries also do this using other letters).
Also obviously the name has to be not taken by some one else.
Find out if a name is available from: Whois at Network Solutions
http://www.networksolutions.org/cgi-bin/whois/whois
The Domain Name Suffix.
| .com |
Commercial. |
Easy to remember. |
| .org |
Non-profit. |
Very P-C. |
| .net |
Groups? |
Makes you sound big! |
| .co.hk |
Local. |
Possibly more choice of names. Possibly faster. |
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Here listed are the contents you might find in web pages for a club or
society:
Text Content.
Start with plain text(.txt) or rich text format(.rtf) files of
written contents.
You need lists of links to other sites that will be incorporated
(plain text).
Biographies, names and addresses, phone nos., email addresses, etc for the
people associated with the site (plain text).
Any data base files and spreadsheets you will be using for
dynamic data should be ready in native format (schedules, member lists,
etc).
Certificates, etc, can be optical-scanned or provided as compressed .jpg
files.
Document's that should appear as the printed version should be .rtf format to
begin with (MS .doc if you must!).
Before formatting any text editing/proof reading and any translation should be
carried out. The customer usually does this themselves - nondog has people
that can carry out these tasks if needs be.
Usually one starts with .bmp or .jpg image files or graphics that can be
optically scanned . Normally these are converted to transparent .gif or .png
for web use. The Fireworks program from Macromedia is excellent for
this kind of work.
Graphics and photos can be optically scanned if not already available as
true/high color .jpg files (colour depth is more important than a high
resolution).
These are sophisticated animations/movies designed for web use and widely
supported by web browsers. The Flash program from Macromedia is needed for
creating this type of file. I'd recommend getting a fairly static site up and
running first then adding the fancy bits later. Maybe a simple gif animation
or two to begin with.
Hopefully you don't really want this but it's usually a simple link to an
image or animation on another site. Yuk!!
These are usually set up in a table or navigation bar often with an
associated image(icon) that can be made to change when the mouse cursor is
over the link(rollover). This element is normally used on all of the main
pages to give the site an overall consistency.
Links to Associated Sites (e.g. Members sites).
As above. These can be made to open in a new browser window or as a new
page in the original window.
Many sites open links to other sites in a new window to indicate the user
is leaving the original site.
Usually simple JavaScript but can be done with 'www forms' for better
browser compatibility.
Users can enter info into text boxes on the site which is auto-forwarded to
the site owner's email account in readable format. Very useful and
reliable.
Various methods. Usually a combination of JavaScript www forms and CGI
scripting. [See comments below].
Similar to above 3 items. This is basically a way of making a list of
email names and addresses to which users can subscribe and unsubscribe.
Messages sent to the list address are forwarded to everyone on the list. A
simpler alternative is to send subscribers a regular news letter with replies
going to the list administrator.
Similar to above accept that messages are posted on web pages through a web
interface. It's a good idea to have this accessible through passworded user
login to keep the spammers out.
Cookies can be used so that members don't have to enter the password every
time.
There are various ways to make sure pages come out OK if the user prints
them. e.g. Browsers don't usually print the background so yellow text on a
dark blue page is a disaster to print! Probably a good idea to do this with
your schedule pages, etc.
No matter how idiot-proof it is, they'll always make a better idiot!
Probably not needed for most sites.
How P-C do you want to be?
A very good idea in principle, but in Hong Kong....?
Frames can be useful and can be a pain. It's a good idea, but badly
designed and poorly implemented. Non-frame pages can usually be the ones you
already have. Frames can make a site much faster and you can make other
peoples pages look like they are on your site, though a lot of people think
this is rude!
Of course there are on end of bells and whistles that can be added to
web sites, but that about covers the basics.
Of all the things that you might find
on an average web site, the only thing I don't feel confident about doing is
anything to do with credit cards and such. For now, I don't have enough
experience with security issues to feel confident about doing stuff with
sensitive personal data. I would recommend against this kind of facility
anyway for Hong Kong customers. If most users will be local, commerce can be
handled through standard e-banking channels. There are web-hosting providers
that offer e-commerce solutions built-in if the ability to handle
credit card transactions is important.
Tasks Involved in Developing a Web site.
The more you know about what you want, the easier it is do create pages
quickly. Initial consultation is usually free.
These have to be paid for on a yearly basis so it's better if the final
transaction is done by the client.
As above. The choice depends on your specific requirements.
Small changes can throw a highly formatted page completely out of whack.
It is very important that all text content editing is completed before page
building begins. If contents are to be changed often allowances for this can
be made within the pages.
This is the main structuring of the site (what goes where). The main
content for the pages needs to be decided before this process can begin. It's
good to come up with a basic template that is used on all the main pages. The
length of time this takes depends on how many version have to be made before
the client is satisfied. The further the site is developed the harder it is
to change basic things, so it's important to get fundamentals decided on and
fixed early in the process.
It's better to have small images on the pages with text, and links to
larger images on pages of their own. Pages of thumbnails can be made for large
amounts of images. JavaScript can be used to display images in a slide
show.
You can use this to make schedules and contact lists easily updateable.
MySql is the free open-source database software recommended.
This is where the real work begins. Different browsers, different
platforms, different screen resolutions and colour depths, all make the pages
look different possibly with some bits not working properly. There are various
standards of compatibility from extreme to extremely lax. Do you want your
pages to be readable to someone using Lynx on a Unix terminal? Many HK
web sites seem to be content to test their pages on the latest version of
internet explorer on a PC and maybe some version of Netscape on an iMac and
leave it at that! I would think that in most cases full compatibility with V4
browsers with no major problems for V3 browsers on PC and Mac platforms is
acceptable (maybe also 68k Mac).
Most debugging can be done offline or on a local server, but the final
proof of the pudding.... Testing email lists and message boards can be a time
consuming exercise.
This isn't such a big deal as some of the big web design houses would have
you believe. Mostly you can do it yourself. It's very easy really - just a
bit tedious!
