|
Where
you are:
» Home »
Web Design
Web
Terminology
Web design has changed a lot since I built my first site
back in 1996. You can make your site interactive, personalize it for the
specific visitor and so much more. Still, the basics haven't changed and
it never hurts to know about the basics. That's what this section is all
about. Want the whole story? Try reading our web
design overview!
In-Depth
on Bit Depth
A "bit"
in computer language refers to the smallest amount of information that
a computer can understand. It is an electronic pulse that contains one
of two characters. It contains either a 1 or a 0 and can either signal
on or off. Bit depth refers to the number of bits found in a graphics
file or that can be displayed on a monitor. Pixels,
which make up a monitor's screen to display an image,...read
more
About
Bookmarks & Favorites
 You've
found sites that you'd like to return to (this site, perhaps) while surfing
the Web. Web browsers, like the one you're using to view this page, give
you an easy way to "remember" a site's address with built-in
"bookmarking" features. When you bookmark a site, you add its
URL, or web address, to a list that your browser saves. After you've bookmarked
a page, its name appears in a list that you can find in your browser's
menu. Netscape Navigator and FireFox call these saved addresses ...read
more
A
Little Discussion About Chat
We've
all heard about chat rooms on the news. Perverts talk to young kids and
are then nailed by police when the perverts try to meet the kids and do
God knows what to them in-person. Chat has gotten a bad rap. But, those
of you who have used chat areas know that those centered around an interesting
topic can be a very useful and a helpful form of communication. I myself
have learned many things about a number of subjects by taking part in
chat room conversations. But, enough chatter (pun intended). What is chat?
Chat is...read
more
Encryption
or #%@$^&*!
Did you
ever use secret codes when you were a kid to send messages to your friends
that only they could read? Though encryption is a far cry from our days
of writing with jumbled alphabets and lemon juice, the idea is basically
the same. Encryption is the use of specialized codes that scramble messages.
Once a message is encrypted, it can be read only by the intended recipient
who would use a "key" to decrypt the message. Once decoded...read
more
Web
and Hexadecimal Colors
As
most any web-designer knows, there are 216-colors that can be seen withconsistency
by most people on the Web. This goes on the assumption that most everyone
is using at least a 256-color monitor and are viewing the Web on either
a Windows or a Macintosh computer. So, with that in mind, why aren't we
talking about 256-colors if a 256-color monitor is the baseline? Well,
Windows and Macintosh systems actually use different 256-color palates.
When broken down, it turns out that...read
more
What
Is Index Color Mode?
Index
color is a product of the Internet revolution and is kind of a strange
animal. If a graphic image has been saved in this color mode then it can
contain up to 256 colors and has 8-bit
depth. That may sound like a lot but, when you consider that an RGB
image has 16 million colors, 256 doesn't sound like much. The
objective in web graphics is to reduce file size as much as possible while
not abandoning image quality. One wants smaller images so they will download
to a browser quickly. Index color images are created...read
more
Introduction
to HTML
 It
seems like only yesterday that I designed my first website and submitted
it to Yahoo. The site was added to Yahoo's listings that same day and
I even received a personal e-mail confirming it. How times have changed.
The web has become so vast that it can now take months for a Yahoo listing
to appear, if at all. The basics of web pages, however, have not changed
all that much. HTML (Hypertext
Markup Language) coding is still what a web browser reads
to display a web page. Through the use of essential,
link, alignment,
list, table,
rule and image
tags, most anyone can...read
more
All
the Newsgroups Aren't Fit to Print
Like
chat rooms,
there are a ton of newsgroups that discuss most every subject under the
sun. Unlike chat however, one doesn't need to be present to be part of
an ongoing conversation. Huh? Well, I'll explain what I mean. Newsgroups
are a series of messages that are left by individuals that are interested
in sharing information about a certain subject. If you find a newsgroup
area of interest , you can check...read
more
Backgrounds
Should Stay There!
If
I were to give any potential web designer a piece of advice, I would tell
them to choose their background colors and patterns carefully. All too
often I am confronted with a page that sports a supposedly "really
cool" background that obscures the page's text. You'd think these
people wanted to keep the content a secret. Every HTML document has a
<BODY> tag which is where a browser obtains the information for a page's
background, be it an image or a flat color. If a background isn't specified,
viewers will see the default background color setting of their browsers.
...read more
A
Bit About Pixels
A
pixel, named after a pix (like "pic" from picture) element,
is the smallest unit on a display screen or monitor. Pictures are displayed
on monitors
by dividing the monitor up into rows and columns of pixels. The more pixels
that are squeezed into a monitor's surface, the smoother an image on the
screen will appear. Pixels are so close together that it appears that
they are connected. A monitor with more pixels will be more expensive
and will have more pixels per inch (PPI) than a cheaper monitor. The number
of bits used...read more
Web
& Monitor Resolution
If
one is going to use images for a Web page or an on-screen presentation,
it's important to understand what is not necessesary for the image's best
appearence. Sometimes, people make the mistake of putting image files,
of the same resolution that they use in printed materials, on the Web
or in presentations. As a result, the images take a long time to download
from the Web and presentation
programs run very slowly. Resolution
refers to...read more
Tip: There are Graphic Design
classes in your area. Sign
up for FREE information from top design schools.
 Some
Links You May Find Useful
- LogoJeez:
Custom Logo Designs
Pay After You See Your
Customized Logo. Unmatched Quality At Unbeatable Prices. 24/7 Support. Satisfaction
Guaranteed.
|
