| HTML Tips and Tricks If you are planning on creating a homepage but are not planning on using a
web development program, we have included this page to help you design and create an
effective and exciting web page. Although the hints and tips listed below will guide you
with basic HTML coding, the design and creativity rests on your shoulders.
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Good HTML style is a subtle thing and requires a high degree of consistency and editorial
sense. It is unlikely that anyone will succeed in stealing your "style" using
the "View Source" button, although they may pick up a few tricks. HTML is not
particularly complicated; it is essentially a simple language, and it is unlikely that any
HTML "trick" will remain secret for long. Remember, however, that web pages
saturated with tricks more than likely won't make the most impressive pages. The more
tricks and gadgets that you put into a page will take a longer amount of time to load that
page. This can be frustrating to a potential viewer who will stop the transmission if it
takes to long to load your web page. The most effective pages use HTML tricks that are
effective and are used to enhance the page, not just show off HTML knowledge.There are several web characteristics that you should avoid when creating
your web page. Some things to avoid in your web page are included below:
- Long Scrolling pages. In order to avoid this in your web pages, try to break up your site into
several smaller web pages centered on a single subject rather than encompassing several.
- Flashy Colors and Fonts. Pages that include loud colors, such as pink backgrounds with purple
lettering, may turn viewers from reading the content of your page. Place your focus on the
content of your page rather than the glitzy images and colors that you can put into your
pages. In addition, you should try to avoid using "blinking" text in your web
page. It can be distracting to the rest of your text.
- Excessive or Unnecessary Frames. Frames are page dividers that allow you to break a single page into
several sections. Frames are helpful if they contain a "table of contents" and
content pages. However, frames that are utilized to increase the amount of graphics that
can be placed on one page are unuseful. They slow down loading time and are a hindrance to
viewing the content of your web page.
- Inoperable Links and Counters. If your page is to include links to other pages, you should insure that
your links to those pages work. There is nothing more irritating than to find links that
take you nowhere. In addition, if you have a counter on your web page that is not working
properly, you should remove it or fix it. Remember that your web page will require
maintenance. Pages that are effective are the ones that show change and are dependable
reference sources.
Now that you have some idea of what to avoid in your web pages,
we will look into some useful tools and hints to making your web page an effective source
of information or fun.
- Basic page construction tips. Listed below are some tips that will make it easier for you to maintain
your web pages.
- When you create your web pages, it is often helpful to include
comments to sections in the code. This allows you put notes for yourself and others into
the code, so that when you edit your pages, you will see why or how you used code in your
publication.
- Place <!-- at the beginning of EACH line that is commented out and place a --> to close each line. (Note:
regular coding placed within a comment may not be automatically excluded for your
publication. In addition, you should not include the symbols -- inside the comment unless it appears at the
beginning or the end of the comment. Otherwise, you may prematurely end your comment and
include unwanted text in your publication).
- There are some helpful tools on the web that can be used to check for errors in your
HTML code. Both Webtechs and Interaccess have HTML
web page checking systems to help you identify problems with your coding.
- Background hints. Below are some hints on using background images and colors.
- Use the code <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> to
define the color of your web pages background. The "#ffffff" is the color in
hexadecimal notation. The first two letters refer to the amount of red in
the color; the second refers to the amount of green, and the third pair
of letters refers to the amount of blue. Therefore, if you are using an
image editor such as Adobe © PhotoShop, you can find the values for each color and convert them into
hexadecimal code by using your calculator.
- Use the code <BODY BACKGROUND="image.gif">
to define your web pages background image. This will tile the image you have selected into
the background. Remember that "loud" or "busy" background images make
it difficult to read the text on top of it. If you would like your background image to
remain permanent and not move with the rest of your page, you should use the code <BODY
BACKGROUND="yourimage.gif" BGPROPERTIES="fixed">.
- Text Hints. Below are some tips on
altering the text in your web page.
- To change the color of your text, you should use the code <FONT
COLOR="#fffff">text</FONT>. In this code, you will replace the
"text" portion with the text that you wish to have displayed in another color.
The information on using the color coding can be found under the background hints, tip
number 1.
- To insert special characters into your text, you need special
codes. For example, if you wanted to include the dollar symbol "$" in your code,
you would need to type ;$& into your text. For more information about
codes for special characters, please refer to list of helpful links below.
- Helpful references. Below are some sites that you may use as reference guides to building
your web page.
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