Number 220 - September 2001

Ten Reasons Why You Might Hate Web Publishing
by Butch Blasingame, HAL-PC User Group Magazine, May 2001
You know the scenario. You've got the page the way you like it on your computer. You even check it in your browser. Then you upload it to the Web server. You go to the site and look at the page and ARRRGGG! what happened? 1. The text looks bad.     Take it from me, a graphic artist, that the Web is a frustrating place to set type. The conventional rules don't apply - you're in the land of HTML. You are limited to fonts that you think everyone has on their machine. If they don't, and you use your favorite, Hansonbrotheren Demi Light, it will default to something lovely like Times Old Style and mess up all your formatting. If you get skilled in using Cascading Style Sheet technology, that may help - but as of now there is no really complete way of controlling text in HTML land. 2. My pictures are missing.     Umhhhnmm! no pictures, just boxes with little red x's in the corner. "What happened?" you say as you stare at the screen. What has happened is that your web page can't find the graphic to put in that box. Either you didn't get it to the server, or where you put it isn't where the server knows where to find it. It's very important that in transferring your files to the web server that the file structure - your folders, etc. - be duplicated on the server. You can keep up with this yourself, especially on a small site, but software like Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver can keep up with this for you. These are almost essential on a large web site. 3. The page takes too long to download.     You have a masterpiece right, but folks with slow connections hate you because it takes so long - no one likes to wait! Before they start to picket your web "building", look over what you have done. Do you just have too much stuff? Are the pictures large? And the biggest culprit of them all - are the pictures the wrong resolution? Many folks don't understand and put pictures straight out of digital cameras on their site. The extra info they have makes for good printing, but huge file size. Translation, slow loading pages, my friend. Also, another culprit, those cool animated thingies that you "borrowed" from another site. Ditch them for sure. 4. My page won't fit on the screen.     If Big Brother were to take over, the first thing he'd do is make everybody have the same size screen. The world of the web is a place where people get different views - not only are their screens different sizes, but set to different resolutions. Old setups with small monitors set to 640X480 pixels are still around and if you designed your page on a seventeen-inch monitor at 800X600 - it isn't going to fit. Likewise, if your page is displayed on a 1000 plus setting, then it may be thrown off, and the text may be tiny. You can plan for this, but at best it will be a compromise. I design for 800X600 these days because I think that is what most people have. 5. Why is the background pink on my mother's computer?     Your mother loves pink I bet, but that's not what you had in mind. She either found out, or stumbled onto, or little brother as a prank - set the default background color in her browser to pink. If you don't set the background color on your pages, remember that the viewer will see the default color on the browser, whether pink, purple, or persimmon. So remember to set that background color.	6. Nobody can find my page.     This has to do with a gripe I heard Bill Gates say about the web - it is just to complex in its addressing scheme. He didn't say how to fix it, however. It's very easy to get something wrong in an http://www.mygreatsite.com/hello-there/getting_closer/closer_still/heres_mypage_finally.htm address. Understand? Also, you may or may not be easy to find in a search engine. Be sure to put keyword metatags that are germane to your site and a description of your site in the head section of your HTML code. That way you'll have the best chance of being found in a search. If you don't know how to do this, search at Google.com (www.google.com) for a tutorial on metatags. 7. I used some really cool stuff I "found," and now it doesn't work.     They don't call it the "cutting edge" for nothing. Just because you're up on the latest trend in web design and it looks wonderful on your computer doesn't mean that it looks right on everybody else's. Cool stuff from new technology takes a while to get around and get on the average surfer's computer. By then it has cooled off its coolness and has become passe, so what are we to do? Go ahead and be cool if you like, but just realize that that's how the Web is. 8. You mean my page is old already?     Content is the "Elvis" of the Web. You can never get enough. Think about it, how many times do you go back to a page that has the same stuff on it to see it again? Well, maybe content isn't Elvis, because people went back to see him again and again. But he was a rare exception. You're getting the picture now. Unless you're a big-time pro, it makes a lot of sense to keep your site solid and simple and UPDATED, rather than cool and great looking. Enough said. (I need to take my own advice here) 9. Why am I getting all this spam now?     If you put your own email addy on the site as a contact, you are opening yourself up to be spammed. It makes it available and there are even robots that comb the Web looking for these. Use an email address that you won't mind some spam, like a Hotmail or Yahoo address. It'll serve you well in the future. By the way - there is a debate about the new turkey Spam, is it really Spam - does Spam have to be ham "stuff" to be Spam? 10. It's supposed to be easy, my third grader knows all about making web pages.     Aha, there's the rub. Yes, it is easy - we make it too hard many times. A childlike attitude of discovery is great. So is a child's ability to see things plainly without pretense. As far as kids understanding computer stuff more than adults, that's a given. Remember that you knew far more about cars, TV's, and stereos than your father and mother. It's the march of time and technology. So the Web is a natural to young folk. They grew up with that for a neighborhood just like we grew up with our surrounding streets.     Hey, I know it's frustrating, but it is worth it. Web publishing is a form of communication like no other. Get out there on the info highway, watch the directions, and use your turn signals. You'll find it'll get you where you want to go.     Butch Blasingame is a web developer, author and reviewer who's a member of HAL-PC and helps with the Scanning and Digital Imaging and Web Design SIGs. His website offers more info, links and articles and can found at www.butchb.com.
Number 220 - September 2001