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MY FIRST WEB SITE: TIPS AND WISDOMS. tip. wisdom. Michael W. Piczak Carol D. Rice. AGENDA. Costs - budgeting Software selection Registering a domain name ISP selection Design considerations Building and uploading To the next level. COSTS FOR BUDGETING.
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MY FIRST WEB SITE:TIPS AND WISDOMS tip wisdom Michael W. Piczak Carol D. Rice
AGENDA • Costs - budgeting • Software selection • Registering a domain name • ISP selection • Design considerations • Building and uploading • To the next level
COSTS FOR BUDGETING • One time design ($1000 to $10000+) • Ongoing maintenance ($100 to $500+) • ISP hosting services ($15 to $50/month) • Registering ($15/yr) • Software for ‘DIY’ (varies)
SOFTWARE SELECTION • Many choices for designer: • Notepad and html • FrontPage • Dreamweaver • BBedit • Hotdog • Easy web editor • Html Kit
REGISTERING A DOMAIN • www.networksolutions.com • www.tucows.com • www.discountdomainsource.com • Domain registry Canada • Do a ‘whois’ • Choose name • Ready with credit card • Put registration information in safe place • Assign responsibility to one department/position
DOMAIN NAME SHOPPING Many Places Offer Domain Name Shopping
DOMAIN NAME SHOPPING DIFFERENT OPTIONS
DOMAIN NAME SHOPPING STEP 1 OF THE REGISTRATION PROCESS CHECKING AVAILABILITY
RESULTS OF A NAME SEARCH Good News Well Beyond .com
DOMAIN NAME SEARCH RESULTS SEARCH RESULTS CHOOSING A NAME NAME OPTIONS GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY
RESULTS OF A WHOIS RENEWAL DATE DOMAIN REGISTRANT CONTACTS
DON’T IGNORE THIS E-MAIL EXPIRY DATE RENEWAL OPTIONS
BEWARE: THIS WILL PRECEDE YOUR EXPIRY DATE www.droc.ca
DROC PRACTICES “Register.com sued DROC in its native New York this week, alleging unfair competition, false advertising, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. The larger firm alleges DROC engages in a "deceptive and misleading scheme" - a marketing practice known as "domain slamming" - that is costing it thousands of customers. Slamming is the name given to the practice when a registrar sends a solicitation to a customer of a competitor, asking them to transfer their business, but makes the solicitation look like a renewal notice or an expiration notice, to confuse them into making the switch.” From National Post, July 2003
ISP SELECTION • Price – how much does it cost? • Support – 24/7/365 • Company server • Supports Outlook or your e-mail system • Free mailboxes (negotiate)
Solid content No dead ends Keeps the client at the site Easy to navigate 800x600 for all pages Loads fast Visually appealing without being too much Not need ‘easy as 1-2-3’ downloads, plug-ins etc. ELEMENTS OF GOOD WEB SITE
Long download times (> 10 secs) Multimedia overkill Use of frames Dead links Awkward navigation Orphan pages (where am I?) Long, scrolling pages Horizontal scrolling Poor content – nice to have vs must have ELEMENTS OF POOR WEB SITE
OTHER DO’S • Use thumbnails for images • Use images to break up text • Resample images to improve load times • Be consistent across all pages (logos, fonts, colours, layout) • Content is #1 objective • Everything works • ‘less is better’
OTHER DON’T’S • Choose fonts that are too small/exotic • Use an editing feature ‘just because’ • Go for ‘too much’ on a page • Design the site solely for high end browsers • Allow form to precede substance • Allow a page / site to get dated
SITE CONTENTS • Home / welcome page • Products / services offered • Your advantage • Navigation bar • How to find us • Business philosophy, mission statement, business policies • Testimonials • Links to other related sites
SITE CONTENTS • On-line product /service ordering • Price lists • Product use instructions • Employment opportunities • ‘Coming soon’ • Providing feedback • Search device for site / internet
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS • Keep an ‘inspirational file’ • Keep a ‘things to avoid file’ too • What is the goal? • Information • Sell a product or service • Corporate image • Target audience?
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS • Create a map of your site • How will the site be structured? • Location of Navigation bars • Frames versus tables • Add images • Compress images • Good quality
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS • Use meta tags • File management (image and page folders) • Consider browsers (800x600) • Update site regularly • Want to bring people back • Avoid time sensitive material • Humanize the company but be careful • Hire a professional/assign one person only
KEY WEB EDITING COMMANDS • Tables • Set hyperlink • File, Save As • File, Save • Insert, Picture, From File • Preview in browser • Check html code • Properties: tables, page, cell, marquee, etc.
HTML CODE <HTML> < META name=‘descriptions’ CONTENT=“this information appears on your home page. Display is limited to between 150 and 395 characters in search engine”> <META name=“keywords” CONTENT=“list of keywords you enter appear here. Use singular and plural forms of nouns, some synonyms and appropriate abbreviations listed in order of importance. Maximum 1024 characters”> <HEAD> <TITLE>your title: describe your title. Appears in browser on title bar <Title> </HEAD> <BODY> </BODY> </HTML>
UPLOADING • ‘free’, limited web space by local ISPs where you have email account • COGECO, Sympatico, Geocities, Tripod, MSN • www.members.tripod.com/loudinimagicshop • www.loudini.com • Register with web hosting company • Use freeware such as WS FTP LE for FTP transfers (free at www.tucows.com)
BUILDING AND UPLOADING WS FTP LE Server Side Your computer Moving Files Back and Forth
CREATING & SAVING AN UPLOAD PROFILE Different Profiles for Different Webs
ENTERING ACCESS CODES Naming the Upload Profile Click Here to Set Up New Profile ISP Supplied Your Choice Your Choice Enter Password Here
FILE STRUCTURES LOCALLY AND SERVER SIDE Folders for Various Web Sites
LEFT SIDE VS. RIGHT SIDE Logged on and Ready to Receive Files Pages & Images Ready for Uploading HIT IT! & Look at Your Work on the Internet
RESOURCES • Magazines • Books • Dummy series • Classroom in a book series • Microsoft website • Gurus – mentors
GET THE WORD OUT… • List with search engines • www.google.com; www.yahoo.com; www.msn.ca • Update all marketing material • Letterhead, brochures, business cards, building, vehicles, envelopes, flyers, invoices, posters, all corporate image materials • Trade links with other companies • Ezines – collect visitor’s email addresses to invite back to your site
THE NEXT LEVEL • Learn ‘what’s new’ in design features • Upgrade image enhancement skills with Photoshop, Illustrator, Visio, etc. • Digital camera for photos • Use scanner • Database applications (surveys, product information, restricted access)
THE NEXT LEVEL • Check other sites’ code for “how” they did it • Finding and pasting in scripting for animation, marquees, interesting design tricks • Join a user group to pick up tips and be part of network
FINAL TIPS AND WISDOMS • Keep a master of the site in secure alternate, location • Maintenance duties: • When sharing, use server for latest files • Have a backup person • Identify a web master to ensure consistency of web presentation • Go for content first followed by form • Almost anything you want to do is on the internet somewhere
THE FUSION • A web site represents the confluence or fusion of: • A business • graphics • web technology
MY FIRST WEB SITE:TIPS AND WISDOMS Michael W. Piczak 905.730.1385 Carol D. Rice 905.631.1453
THE END Michael W. Piczak OCCAM Consulting Associates Limited Carol D. Rice Essentials Computer Training