Web-start tutorial

Setting up a website can be a big deal, but it doesn't have to be.  The staff of Community Web Design is here to guide you through the process.  We don't expect our clients to be computer scientists, but we find that a basic understanding of how websites are built and how they work helps our clients make better decisions when putting it all together.

Starting a website?

Community Web Design can make it very easy to get your ideas online, but maybe you'd like to roll up your sleeves and see what the mystery is about.  Take a look in our web-start tutorial, and you can find out about what really powers the web, what you can do to make the most of it, avoid common pitfalls, find answers to questions that you already have, or maybe you'll think of new ones.  To help guide you to what is most useful, we've split our tutorial into seven sections:

• Web basics 101 describes fundamental terminology and concepts that power the internet
• Web basics 102 opens the hood of a webpage and talks about what's inside
• Your idea is what your website is about
• Your audience is important to remember
• Your message explains how to put your thoughts into web form in a clear and effective way
• Spreading the word is as important as building it
• Nuts & Bolts is a checklist of things that you should consider when starting a website

So if you are interested in finding out more, feel free to browse from the links above.  We've also included a list of further resources which may help you take advantage of the information already posted on the internet.

Web basics 101

Basically the web is a network of computers that talk to each other, which then allows people to make connections and find information from far flung places.  The thread that ties all that information together is a computer program called a web browser.  The most popular of which are Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's Navigator, followed by some alternative ones like Mozilla's Firefox and Lucent's Opera. There are differences between them, but for the most part, they all do the same thing: help people reach out to a vast body of information through the click of a mouse.

The web browser is a computer program that turns computer talk into things that you and I can read and understand.  It takes information that is posted on a special computer called an Internet server, and converts that to the things your see and hear on your computer.  Servers have special rules called protocol, and that is what browsers really specialize in.  There are different types of protocol, but you would never notice because the browser takes care of all that.

Most servers are available to anyone with an Internet connection.  So theoretically, anything that is posted on a server can be found by anyone else connected to the Internet. The idea of publishing on the web is really about getting information onto a web server, and making it available to anyone who wants it.  The ability to make information available cheaply and easily to the broadest audience possible is the essence of web publishing; and it can be used to serve many different purposes.

Most websites are found out through a website called a search engine; these are sites that sift vast amounts of data to connect people with the information that they are looking for.  Usually an internet user enters a few key words, and the engine produces a list of related sites.  Search engines like Google.com, Yahoo.com, and altavista.com, represent a continuing sophistication in the way they can recognize the content of the web and produce a list of sites you are looking for.

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Web basics 102

Nearly all web pages are made up of a particular computer language called HTML, which is an acronym for HyperText Markup Language.  Hypertext refers to the web links and connections that a web page provides, and a markup language is one that is "marked-up" with tags that specify special treatment for certain words, phrases, or other blocks of text.  For example, try to guess what the computer will do to the following HTML code:

<P>The brown cow <EM>jumped</EM> over the moon.</P>

One advantage of this style is that a regular reader of English can get a general idea of how the content is to appear on the computer screen by just reading the source code directly.

Unlike a lot of computer languages, HTML is very tolerant if its rules are bent a little.  Even if a web page is written entirely in English, it is nearly impossible for a webpage to crash.  This tolerance makes it easier for computers of all types to understand the content of the web page, and its compatibility with the regular written word is a big reason why HTML has become the standard language of the World Wide Web.  With a few tags and a little practice, regular text can be dressed up and let loose on a whole world of internet users.

A website is made up of one or more web pages that are related to each other through hyperlinks.  These are special words that have the ability to tell a browser to go from one place to another.  Within a website, they are typically used as a navigation tool, to guide users from one page to the next.  In other cases, they can connect whole websites to one another by providing seamless address information at the click of a mouse.  Hyperlinks are at the core of what makes the internet so interconnected.

As web technology has become more important and more complex, it requires a growing amount of skill.  Knowing what the web can and can’t do is necessary to making the most out of your web page.  Community Web Design can help you to build web pages that allow your audience to reach information in a visually rich and convenient way--and this doesn't mean using every trick in the book.  We can provide you with the perspective you need to choose among all types of ways to present your information and to get the message across.  If you can come up with the idea, then we’ll help you get it online.

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Your idea

An idea is all it takes to get started on a website.  Give some thought about who your audience is, and what you want to say to them.  Think about what you want to achieve by setting up a website.  Do you want to sell something?  Do you want to spread the word about some upcoming event?  In a broad sense, you want to answer, "Why do it?"

Use the list of questions below as a guide

1. Describe what people are looking for when they visit your website.
2. How long do you expect someone to visit your site?
3. Do you expect many repeat visitors?
4. Would you rather your website tell more stories or provide more information?
5. Would you rather provide content through more pictures or more text?
6. Does your site require any mercantile features, like purchases or donations?

Feel free to jot down your responses.  It may be very helpful to refer to them later when actually creating your website.

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Your audience

The audience is your most important partner to consider when setting up a website.  For someone to visit a website, it has to be important to them.  You need to make it rewarding and useful and relevant to the person reading.  A lot of new websites have a tendency to forget the audience, and consequently they have a hard time generating a lot of traffic, even though so much work was put into it.

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Your message

The content of the website is just as important as attracting readers, because one cannot happen without the other.  The content could be a variety of static things like words, pictures, movies, or any combination that you can think of.  Static web content is that which the user cannot change by simply looking at it or operating it.  In contrast there is dynamic web content.  Dynamic web content changes as people use it.  For example a multi-player game, or an electronic storefront, or a comment form is dynamic.

The simplest websites are ones that use static content.  In many cases this is all that is needed to get the point across.  The text that you are reading right now is static.  However, there are other times when the very purpose of the website is to interact with the reader.

There are many ways to take advantage of the web’s special characteristics.  There is no rule that says how much of one should be used with some amount of the other.  Its all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

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Spreading the word

Once the website is built, you have to tell people it is there.  (Because if no one visits, then what is it really accomplishing?)  There are a few ways of doing this, and some are more effective than others.  There are those who advertize on other websites in order to generate traffic on their own.  You've probably seen banners on any number of popular websites that entice you to click here.  This is most useful for commercial enterprises who can afford the cost.

Still others do it the old fashioned way by "word-of-mouth."  This could be like emails, conversations, newspapers, and fliers, and sometimes, indirect references from other sites, like product reviews.  For most smaller sites, this is the most effective.  Usually, the only cost is the time you spend conversing with people and convincing them to check out your site.

The most common way people find new websites is through search engines.  If someone is looking for your website, there is a good chance that a search engine will get them there.  However, if someone is looking for a generalized topic that your site addresses, then there is a less chance the search engine turn up your site at the top of the suggested list.  Although there are ways to increase that likelihood, you should exercise caution when anyone claims that they can artificially increase search engine traffic to your site.  There is a constant sort of "arms-race" between search engines and advertisers, and anyone caught in the middle is likely to be paying money for little gain.

An attractive website might look very simple, but oftentimes it takes a big effort to maintain the message and integrate it throughout the whole site.  The web has evolved to the extent that really impressive things can be achieved.  What you can do with a website is for the most part limited only to your imagination and resources.

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Nuts and Bolts

The cost of a new web site depends on a few factors.  Depending on the complexity, a simple start-up website could cost between $100 and $500 or more.  There are always ways you can bring the cost down.  The easiest one is to plan ahead and know exactly the type of website you want.  We understand that not every one will be able to do that from the start, but we can help fill the gaps.  With the right ingredients, a single-page website could be set up in just a few hours.

Set up costs:

• cost of new domain name, i.e. BostonClothier.com
• the graphical design of the website
• the complexity of web links and pages
• if the website needs mercantile features, like purchases or donations

And the maintenance costs:

• the annual cost the registration company charges to keep your domain name
• the monthly cost the internet web hosting company charges
• the frequency of the updates

Set-up costs are usually a one-time expense, whereas maintenance costs may happen annually or even month to month.  Part of this you can do yourself, and part of this we can do for you.  If you feel like taking the next step, or have more detailed questions, then contact us.  We'll be glad to help.

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Further resources

HTML Goodies is if you know what the notion of a website is–but that's about it–then this non-technical introduction is for you!

Open Source Web Design is a community of designers and site owners sharing free web design templates as well as web design information.  Helping to make the internet a prettier place!

The Internet Digest Web-Safe Fonts.  Choosing the right typeface for your website copy is important, since it will affect the way your readers perceive your page (serious and formal, or friendly and casual).  Aside from this, there are also important usability concerns.  For example, some font types are more easily readable than others, and some are more widely available.

VisiBone Color Lab You know great color when you see it.  Based on this meager but staggering fact, the color lab help you see hundreds of combinations in minutes.  Every click on its color wheel is a new color and a new combination.

The Icon Archive is a collection of desktop icon sets of over 10,000 high quality icons in gif & ico format.

CoolArchive is a free vault of 1000+ clipart images, 950+ fonts, 4000+ icons, hundreds of animations, buttons, bullets, arrows, bars, html and photoshop tips, sounds.  Plus an online logo generator and button maker to create your own graphics.

W3Schools provides full web building tutorials - all free.  At W3Schools you will find all the Web-building tutorials you need, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, Multimedia and WAP.

Character Map is a visual illustration of many characters that can be entered into a webpage, from the ordinary to the ε×ø†їç.  Browse around nearly 10,000 of them with ease.

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