What is the purpose of your web site?
Are you designing a simple web page of links to other documents? Class curriculum or individual tutorials? Research material to share with other educators or professionals? All of the above? It is important that your objectives are clear. When designing web pages for publication you must have a clear vision of what you are trying to communicate. If the purpose of your web site is to serve the academic needs of your internal users your web site will look much different than if you are designing it as a pr omotional page for your organization.
Determine your audience
Who is your primary audience? Educators and on-site students? Off-site students? Educators and students from other institutions? The general public? Also, it is important to consider the type of Internet connection your user have--are they connected via h igh speed digital lines, 28.8 baud modems, or slower 14.4 baud modems. Do they have access to graphical browsers or are they using text only browsers? Issues such as these are important to consider if you want to guarentee that the majority of your users will have easy access to your information.
Plan your pages before you begin design.
Before you begin your markup you need to know the structure of your pages. Determine how your pages relate to your home page and to each other. Will you be using a hierarchical design, a linear design, or a combination of the two? Make sure that you als o include links back to your home page, as well as appropriate links to other pages higher up in the hierarchy, or backwards in a linear structure. Your goal is to provide a clear and logical structure for your readers.
Be consistent!!
Use consistent headings and graphics across your pages. Your pages should all look as if they are a part of the same web site, and each page should be able to stand on its own. Remember, the web is a decentered network of interconnected links, your pages should provide the user with clues that they have not moved on to another web site.
Identify the author(s), publisher, date of publication and edition of your pages. Also, provide a useful title to every page. This information will aid others, such as librarians and OCLC, in indexing your site.
Let users know if you are using browser specific markup.
Let your users know if you are using Netscape or Microsoft extensions. Also, with the introduction of HTML 3.0 you should let your users know what version of HTML you are using. Many users will not upgrade their browser right away and may only be able to read HTML 3.0 markup for quite some time.
Don't put useless stuff on your pages, and make sure that your pages are useful.
Every image should have a purpose on your page. If it does not, leave it off--images are memory hogs and your views don't want to wait 5 minutes for your page to load. Also, no one really cares if your pages are rated in the top 5 or 10 percent of all w eb pages. This rating is meaningless, and too many people waste bandwidth putting on these images.
Don't put up pages that are under construction! Nobody wants to read a book that is half written, just the same, readers don't want to visit a web site that is half done. My rule of thumb is that a web site should not be published unless it is at least 9 0% complete. This does not mean that you won't be adding new things to your site in the future. However, your initial pages should stand on their own and be complete before they are mounted on your server. So, think of your web pages as a book you wish to publish. You would never publish a book that isn't complete, but you may make future changes and publish a 2nd or 3rd edition.
Check your pages before they are put on your server.
Check your spelling, your sentence structure, and your links. You should know that all the links in your pages work before you let your readers see your pages. You must also make sure that your HTML is valid. Editors like HotMeTaL PRO have a bu ilt in rules checker. If your HTML editor does not validate your HTML code you can use on-line HTML validators (see the links to HTML validators below).
