What Makes a Good Page? [from ADV-HTML ListServ; Oct. 22, 1997]
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ADV-HTML Digest - 20 Oct 1997 to 21 Oct 1997
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There are 2 messages totalling 337 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. SUMMARY: CALL FOR QUOTES ON WEB DESIGN
2. SUMMARY(Modified): limiting output to 2 decimal spaces
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Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 10:49:25 -0400
From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
Subject: SUMMARY: CALL FOR QUOTES ON WEB DESIGN
On Mon, 20 Oct 1997 I wrote:
>> Your fearless listowner is working on an article for the InterNIC News
>> (http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/), and I am looking for some quotes
>> from Web designers on what makes a good Web page.
Here are the responses so far:
-----
From: leanne waldal
user help.
*so* many web sites don't include basic user help with their bells and
whistles. one of my clients recently said to me "we just tell them to get
the plugin and use a javascript-enabled browser. i don't understand why a
lot of our users are complaining about not being able to use our site."
a lot of users don't know what a plugin is ... much less where to get
it, how to download it and how to install it. most of them don't even
know what browser they're using.
the burden is partially on the developer to educate users with brief
<![CDATA[ content or <body> content (for javascript browser-sniffed
pages). teach them how to upgrade their browser.
if you give someone a videotape and tell them they need a vcr to use the
video but they don't know what a vcr is ...
leanne waldal, chief scientist
lwaldal@otivo.com
-----
From: "Peter J. Schoenster" <webmaster@rede.com>
I hope not to lead you astray.
>From what perspective is the "web-page" judged from? It seems that
so much on the web is just a translation from print media with bogus
animation, video and audio. It's as if the designers are thinking,
"gee wouldn't it be neat if Joe Camel could do a dance or say hello
and the smoke could just drift away?". All bogus.
The best web pages are those that provide interfaces to databases!
And the best of those are the ones that do a good job of searching.
I recently found some page that allowed me to look up the blue book
value of my car; very good.
Search engine pages. They are nearly all good.
A web page that lets me search the archives of mailing lists.
Deja news et. al. that let me search usenet.
-----
From: Peter Fox <peter@eminent.demon.co.uk>
1.
This is the top of one of my pages at
<http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk/gom.htm>
Design notes for WWW authors
Use lists efficiently
How to avoid acne-vision
Communicate clearly and efficiently
Apply a way with words to sculpt a viewing experience
Use different styles for different effect
Be nice to your readers
Maintain interest
2.
If you want a very appropriate quote from 1687 then look at
<http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk/gom3.htm>
-----
From: Hans Lohmander <hans.lohmander@ei.sigma.se>
First, you need a well structured site. When outlining it - think in
hieracies, then you do "associations", weawing...
Some key points that I live by:
-- Don't use any widgets that does not contribute to what you want to say
It only confuses your audiance. It's fun to show off, but it does NOT
have a value of it's own. If you are showing that you know how, well
then...:-)
-- Don't use frames, unless they realy contribute. Frames makes bookmarking
akward and messy. If you bookmark a frameset you will always start from
scratch and that's not the purpose of a bookmark. As a consekvens, there
is no navigation in "framed" pages so if bookmarked you have lost the
viewer from the rest of your site. You can double some or all of your
navigation but then it starts to look a bit peculiar and over done.
Frames are excellent for things like shopping where you always start
from the same spot anyway but otherwise it the easy way out for skipping
information and target group analysis. A good structure with no frames
is allways better. And, please, do design a nice navigation based on
metaphors that are well known for your target group or at least
established where you "meet" the first time
-- Keep in mind loading time. Get the page to load fast. Use "height" and
"width" attributes on ALL your images. If you do the text will show
quickly.
-- See to that your page is no larger than the smallest vdu of your target
group. (640x480?)
-- Don't use more colors than the poorest video curcuitry of your target group.
See to that ALL images are using the same color palette to avoid funny
looking images. The 216 ns/ie clut is a good start unless your audience have
16 colors PC's. Then it is the Windows systems clut that is to be used.
-----
From: bellona@sn.no (The Bellona Foundation)
For me information is paramount. What makes s good web _site_ (also)
page) is interesting information (interesting to _somebody_).
This is far more important than "design". When looking how the web
develops, this statement is not so blatantly banal as it may look.
Also, designs should follow "standards", i.e. not require some
specific browser.
For multi-page web-sites good and logical organisation of material
is very important. Linking within a document and (multiple) indices
to documents. You quicly get lost if this is not well thought-out.
Consideration for visitors always pleases me, e.g. long multi-page
ducuments also available as _one_ downloadable file.
And this concludes my experience of 5 years writing html and browsing :)
-----
From: "Tim Ashley" <tim@wickedweb.co.uk>
Without hesitation I would answer that the single most important thing is
that the design of the page be directed towards real users in real-world
situations. Most web site reviewers and awards judges are overly biased
towards sites which use a lot of multimedia and high bandwidth graphics.
They are blissfully unaware of the modem using, low video RAM systemed,
plug-in shy public. The Golden Rule is: The more leading edge you want your
site to be, the fewer people will be able to access it.
Of course it is always possible to design with 'graceful degradation' in
mind, and to browser sniff, provising different versions for different
users, but this gets very expensive and can turn into a logistical nightmare
when it comes to updating content.
So what we do is, focus on the basics: What the client wants the web site to
do & what the site's visitors will expect. Clarity of navigation. The
highest quality of design and build, both in terms of the coding and the
quality of the graphics. Huge attention to detail in things like correct
colour palette handling.
-----
From: design2@laseredge.com (Joel Fisher)
Background:
23 year old professional Graphic Designer for Web and Print.
Work: The Laser's Edge, Inc. in Wilmington, DE.
Education: BFA in Electronic Imaging/Photography with a minor in
Visual Communications
Question: What makes a good Web Page.
"A good web page is different than a "QUALITY" web site. You can create a
good wed PAGE in a limited amount of time whereas a SITE obviously takes a
lot more planning, naviagation, and of course more content. But the
question is for a web page..so I will attack that part only.
A good web page is a balance between content, layout (a.k.a. visual
appeal), use of graphics, and most importantly purpose. How many web pages
have you seen showcasing some persons' personal pet or car? Come on is that
needed..does Mr. Joe Public care if you have a persian kitten or a
Corvette? I think not. I am from the school of thought saying that if it
"isn't broke..don't fix it" and "if it isn't needed..do do it." The web
obviously shows much of the other side. My suggestion..have a PURPOSE!
Tell the world some peice of knowledge, a joke, sell something, display
something..allow me to come tou your page and actually learn something..or
let me come to your site FOR something..I hate when I search for something
and I get these lame pages that have nothing to do with the subject matter.
So, to answer your question..having a purpose makes a good web page."
-----
From: "Mendizabal, Jose A." <jtm9@cdc.gov>
A good web page provides information relevant to its title. Its design
is attractive and intuitive for the visitor to browse and find what he/she
is looking for. It should be displayed fast thus not heavily loaded with
complex graphics. A good web page will build on its own its list of loyal
visitors.
-----
From: hgoodman@interbang.com (H Goodman)
web download advice-- Page download time should be no longer than you can
hold your breath.
-----
From: jhillis@iag.net
A good site makes it easy for the user to access the most important
information on the site in no more than three clicks.
-----
From: Harry Yeatts <hyeatts@vt.edu>
Four Rules for Good Web Pages
1) Quick to Load
Slow downloads put the user in a bad frame of mind right off the get-go.
2) Easy to Use
Difficult interfaces are not comfortable for the user...and they'll stay
away in droves.
3) Useful
There should be some real "meat" on the page (or promise that some will
come immediately).
4) Attractive
An attractive page is nice on the eyes while users are looking at the
page...and nice on the memory when they've gone.
-----
From: Susanna Wong Herndon <herndon@mail.utexas.edu>
"Good taste dictates good design"
"It is important to let the content drives the design"
"I advocate the functional use of color..."
"Good web design is not as much above making your page pretty as it is to
make your message visually clean and immediate."
-----
From: Sundman Jani <jani.sundman@vikingline.se>
My advise for a good webpage is that the should not have to much of heavy
images because the speed on internet is not the best. Blinking and lot of
frames is not good either..
But the best way is to share up the whole team who are working on the page
by art director, html-coders and so on so that your fantasy and creative
ideas will not dry out..
.~~~. ))
(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
/o o \/ .~ Network Solutions Inc. / The InterNIC
{o_, \ { Business E-mail: crispen@internic.net
/ , , ) \ Personal E-mail: crispen@brigadoon.com
`~ '-' \ } )) http://www.brigadoon.com/~crispen/
_( ( )_.'
'---..{____} Warning: squirrels.
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Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 12:42:30 -0400
From: Hassib Amiryar <hamiryar@thetsn.com>
Subject: SUMMARY(Modified): limiting output to 2 decimal spaces
I had posted the following question last week:
... if I have the following code, how can I modify it so
that the output is limited to two decimal spaces:
var firstnumber = 39
var secondnumber = 5
var percentage = secondnumber/firstnumber * 100
write(percentage);
I wrote a summary to this. But after I wrote it, I got an answer from J.
Lester Novros II that I feel I should post. So here it is:
---------------------------------------------------------------
. . .It seems to me you could transform your numerical into a string
literal using the toString() method and then take off all unneeded
decimals using a substring() method.
If, for example, my numerical is a variable named 'num' and it contains
123.45678, I could do
newnum = num.toString();
newnum = newnum.substring(0, newnum.lastIndexOf('.') + 3);
This would return 'newnum' as string literal '123.45'.
If you want to do more artihmetic with the percentage after that you'll
have to turn it back into a numerical using parseFloat(), i.e.
newnum = parseFloat(newnum);
This would return 'newnum' as the floating point number 123.45.
--------------------------------------------------------------
So in my example, I would change it to:
var firstnumber = 39
var secondnumber = 5
var percentage = secondnumber/firstnumber * 100
pstring = percentage.toString();
pstring = pstring.substring(0, pstring.lastIndexOf('.') + 3);
write(pstring);
-Hassib Amiryar
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End of ADV-HTML Digest - 20 Oct 1997 to 21 Oct 1997
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