Q. Are these the web design Frequently Asked Questions?
A. Yes, at the moment anyway. Many other questions are asked, too, just not as frequently.
A. You did! But then, as so often happens ... you forgot where you put the answers!
Q1. Where can I find that image splitting program?
A. ImageReady and Fireworks do this. But you are thinking of Picture Dicer by Bill Phillips.
http://www.ziplink.net/~shoestring/dicer01.htm
A. Yes, but it adds bad html and messes up your code. Then you have to try to fix it. And where’s the fun in that?
Q3. Should I charge per hour or bid a whole job?
A. If you can, you should bid a whole job, but with a per-hour overage provision. And you should ALWAYS charge for the first hour of consultation, because it is when your design experience can be most valuable in choosing the right direction to take. Some people just like to charge by the hour. But no matter which way you do it, both sides seem to agree that their own way is best. For further discussion, stay tuned!
Q4. Why doesn’t my mouseover work?
A. Because your picture file is not named the same (don’t forget upper and lower case letters make a difference in names) in the script as on your site. Or maybe you put your .gifs in the wrong site directory, or you put it in a directory with no permissions at all.
Q5. Is my site loading too slowly? I’m not sure about the server/amount of images.
A. If it has less than 50K graphics it’s probably OK. If it has less than 3K, it will load within about a second even over a modem. In terms of speed, this is the way it should be.
A. According to this ongoing bandwidth report it will be mid-2004 before the broadband-to-modem ratio has climbed to fifty-fifty.
Q6. What image compression program is best?
A. For jpg ULEAD is best, but Photoshop and Debabelizer are both in the ballpark.
Q7. Why don’t my tables line up? I’m going crazy and am now bald!!! Help!
A. Try removing those extra spaces between your </TD> and your next
<TD>! Really!!
And make sure you have all the matching </table> tags. No kidding!
Q8. How do I get out of a nested frameset?
A. Use target= _top in your anchor. <a href="http://www.w3c.org"
target="_top">WWW</a>
Don't forget the underline!
Q9. What are the sizes for advertising banners?
A. Most major sites adhere to the following
IABanner specs: 468X60
usually w/ 2 requirements. 1) 8K or less and 2) 12K or less.
Some people will take 468X75 and 15K or less.
Full banner: 468x60
Full banner with vertical navigation bar 392x72
Half banner: 234x60
Square button: 125x125
button #1 120x90
button #2 120x60
Micro button 80x31
Vertical banner: 20x240
Q10.What are some good starting points for learning active server pages (ASP)
A. http://www.activeserverpages.com/
http://www.15seconds.com/
http://www.asphole.com/
Q11. Can you identify this font for me?
A. Yes, amazingly enough, in most cases someone can. You should still plan to buy the font, though.
A. You are not gonna believe this: WhatTheFont can identify it.
Q12. What are some good books to get started on web design?
A. There are some good books at http://www.theDailyChannel.com/books/webdesignbooks.html
Q13. What drawing program do you use?
A. Adobe Illustrator and in some cases Macromedia Freehand too. We all freely admit & encourage using pens pencils and markers & then scanning, too.
Q14. How do you pre-load images? Why?
A. You specify your images width=1 and height=1 and refer to them at the end of your first page. Then they’ll be in your user’s browser cache, ready to pop up right away when other pages which use them load.
Q15. How can I get my text content to load quickly?
A. Don’t put it in a table. If you put it in a table, the graphic at the top will load first, then there will be a wait while the table is processed. Version 5 browsers may change this, at least when the cells of table rows are identical in size from one row to the next.
Q16. How can I get started with...
A. Flash Macromedia
databases Mysql
SVG svg composer
cgi
dynamic html
audio
video
Q17. How do you get design business for your company?
A. Keep promoting and never give up. After a job, ask a client to write a brief referral letter, describing their ‘web’ experience. Join the chamber of commerce. Get a partner, pay a rep. Pay for referrals! Do a website for the best local PR firm in town. Do 5 cold calls a week. Send a brochure and a quarterly newsletter. Design your business cards well, and distribute them freely. People remember them.
Q18. Please take a look at my site and tell me what you think.
A. I liked your site a lot. I will say that the text was too small, my computer crashed on your huge graphic, and I gave up waiting for it to load. The way you got rid of frames is really effective, I didn’t like the red/black background for the white text, I totally missed any way of getting in touch with the company, I couldn’t believe you would use background sound which annoyed everyone in the office and which I could not turn off. Your site is really really cool. I’m not sure what it does, though. Did you know you misspelled a few words?
Q19. How can I improve my site loading speed?
A. Use smaller and smaller graphics. Always specify height= and width= values in each image tag, (matching the actual size of each image!). Split large files up into small ones. Get a faster ISP host? Don't use long nested tables
A. Andrew King has written an entire book on this topic: Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization [buy at amazon] and there is an accompanying website at websiteoptimization.com
Mac or Windows (officially a forbidden topic due to user-bias; anyway many of us use both, so the question is boring.)A.Dreamweaver (www.macromedia.com) or Frontpage (www.microsoft.com)
frames or nonframes?
liquid design or fixed-pixel design?
Active Server Pages (www.microsoft.com) or Cold Fusion (www.allaire.com)?
Q21. What’s wrong with frames anyway?
A. First, your user has to click in the frame she wants to scroll with her keyboard.
A. Search engines can’t get past the first frameset page. A partial
palliative:
1. Put your meta tags on the frame source and some descriptions in the
"<no frames>" section.
2. Put a link to your main page in your "<no frames>"
section. For example "View the non-framed version of this site<a
href="main.htm">by clicking here.</A>"
A. Oh, no, not again!
Q22. Anything else wrong with frames?
A. Yes. One major problem with frames that doesn’t get much discussion: they are often very difficult for screen readers to translate. i.e. the software that individuals who are visually impaired use to access web sites. Frames really give these readers problems. If universal accessibility or ADA compliance are concerns for you then frameless navigation is a real necessity.
Also, many people still prefer not to use frames or may not understand how to use them, especially when it comes to creating bookmarks or favorites entries.
Q23. Why doesn’t this javascript code work?
A. Because it looks like Chinese and I don’t have an IQ of 5000? Just be patient and work it out. Someone might be able to help, though.
Q24. How do I make my blends websafe?
Q25. Is it okay to copy graphics or code from another site, without permission?
A. No. This is a naughty no-no. Don’t do it, not even to “save time”.
Q26. How can I copy an entire web site onto my PC (Windows based).
A. Teleport Pro. http://www.tenmax.com
A. Websnake, trial version here: http://www.intermk.com/websnake.html
A. What’s wrong with ftp? ?? ???
Q27. what ftp program is good?
A. Fetch for FTP on a Mac.
A. ftp voyager (www.deerfield.com) for Windows. (Windows 2000 and Mac OS X both have built-in command line ftp: open a dos box or terminal window and type "ftp". Then type help at the ftp command line. Whew, have fun.)
Q28. How much of my design work do I own after the site’s done?
A. All that you explicitly keep and don’t give away in your contract. Contract, you know, that thing your clients signed at the beginning of the job?
Q29. What’s a good reference for legal advice?
A. You should consult a professional expert in legal advice.
Q30. Do you ever give up your original photoshop layered artwork files?
A. Not even for money.
...find out about search engines
http://www.searchenginewatch.com
...Spamming Search Engines http://www.graphic-design.com/WEB/Rip-Off/search/Default.html
...take a guided tour of Search Engines
http://www.graphic-design.com/WEB/Tools/SEARCH/Secrets.html
...Search all search engines
...get photography: http://www.drfphoto.com/
find clip art: www.arttoday.com
....find out about photoshop
The Photoshop list.
Write: listserv@vm.sc.edu
With the message:
subscribe photoshp firstname lastname
Notice the second "o" is missing from Photoshop.
...find out about web hosting alternatives
...promote the site once you’re done with it.
http://www.virtualpromote.com/promot1.html
...find out about writing for the web
http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/ : yale web style guide
Q32. Could you explain the difference between the Mac and PC screens, how fonts look?
A. You might profit from reading what Joe Gillespie has to say on this and many other topics, at http://www.wpdfd.com
Q33. Can I use cascading style sheets and have them work with all browsers?
A. You couldn't in the 20th century, but we have high hopes for the 21st.
Here are some CSS resources:
Intro to CSS Table layoutsQ34. What percentage of users have changed to what screen size and pixel depth?
A. It shouldn’t matter, it’s just a user preference which any user can change at any time. But check http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04
Q35. Where can I find old browser versions to test with?
A. www.netscape.com, www.microsoft.com.
Q36. Hi all: Someone can explain me, in easy words, what Cold Fusion
Do? Very Thanks.
A. http://www.allaire.com/products/coldfusion/overview/ is a good place to look.
Q37. How do I design the site to let the client update it after I’m done?
A. Set up server side includes (SSI), so they only have to replace the included file.
A. Another way is to use Frontier (http://www.userland.com) with dynauthor
Q38. How do you deal with clients who don’t pay?
A. Sue them, drop them, take down their site. Trick them by putting in 300 carriage returns so they’ll think the html source is hidden, unless they scroll down. (Yes, this has actually worked). Somehow identify who they are in advance, and collect a suitable advance payment.
Q39. I can’t align my images with the background image. Should I even be trying?
A. No. Browser differences will end your life, but not before you lose sanity.
Q40. What contract terms do you use to collect in different circumstances?
A. Use signed contracts stating billing practices.
A. Use "30-day progress billing" and "Net due in 15 days" for large, longer-term projects. If they fail to pay on time, stop working.
A. Get 30% to one-half before you begin work. Clearly and prominently mark invoices with the date due.
A. Somone who has been badly burned by "good clients" in the past recommends you open a new contract for each job. Clients will respect you for your business sense and treat you accordingly. Plus, many clients actually enjoy the moment of new contract signing.
Q41. When should I put background audio in my site?
A. Never ever and not even then. Not.
Q42. What’s XML and why should I care?
A. It’s a way of specifying data for interchange that is independent of applications.
A. Take a look at http://www.scripting.com/frontier5/xml/default.html for a somewhat partisan strategic overview.
A. http://www.projectcool.com/developer/xmlpub/xmlbasics/
Q43. Could you look at my site? I’m tough and I can take it.
A. Ok, but please don’t try to test us by putting in “deliberate design errors”. Someone did that once and then when he really needed a site critique everyone just said “good job, looks great!”
Q44.Oops I forgot the URL, here it is.
A. Can you believe it? When they're asking for a site review, people often forget! A tip: put in the URL in first, then write the note.
Q45. How do I change the contents of 2 frames at once?
A. Ken Duncan did this at www.kenduncan.com and has welcomed us to examine his code. But perhaps there is a simpler way?
Q46. How do I get two different images to flip in a mouse rollover?
A. How do you get an image of a mouse flipping in a rollover? Check out
this high-speed photographic image: http://www.dianahelgesen.com/misc08.htm
Seriously, though, here's a script
Q47. How do you search for things that link to you?
A. In the altavista search field type: link:http://www.mysite.com -host:http://www.mysite.com
Q48. How do I break out of someone else's frames?
A. here’s a small script that will work for version 4 browsers.
<SCRIPT Language="JavaScript">
<!-- var my_location = "http://www.mycom.com/folder/adventure.html";
function breakframe () {
if (parent.location) {
if (parent.location != my_location) {
parent.location = my_location; } } } //-->
</SCRIPT>
<BODY onLoad="breakframe()">
Q49. How do you-all feel about the framing of another site?
A. Some of us used to think it was okay, but now most of us don’t think so anymore.
A. description <meta name="description" content="Good books on cooking">
A. key for search engines <meta name="key" content="cookbooks, cooking, cuisine, recipes">
A. no search engines <meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">
A. 5second splash (timed automatic link)
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5; URL=http://www.hotstudio.com/">Q51. What is SSI and Why should I use it?
Subquestion: how do I let a client update certain areas of my site via a text file?A. Answer coming soon! Check this space often!
A. You can put it on the server. You could try “psyral phobia 3.0” which sort of scrambles it all up. Keep in mind the Rudyard Kipling quote. “They copied all they could follow, but they couldn’t copy my mind. So I left them sweating and stealing, a year and a half behind.”
Q53. How can I keep my graphic or photos from being copied?
A. Embed them in a java applet that scrolls them by too quickly for screen capture to be practical. Provide a digital watermark for the large ones (http://www.digimarc.com/). An intriquing thought which has been discussed and implemented by some: post the photo’s price on each page as part of a legal disclaimer (perhaps one should say ‘claimer’). Other than that, forget it.
Q54. How do I implement a database on my site?
A. Please be as specific as possible about this question, without going overboard, and ask it again.
Q55. What resolution are people REALLY using to browse? (i.e. What resolution should I develop for?)
A. You should really develop for all screen resolutions. But make sure you know the screen resolution your client will use to show his best friend or boss.
Q56. How can I transfer from Quark/PageMaker/Word/Excel/(take your pick) into HTML?
A.MS-Word.
Use MS-Word's HTML converter. Once it's converted, Use Find/Replace to
take out extraneous code and
to add code for things like apostrophes.
Not sure about good, but FrontPage98 normally does the job just fine,
and is significantly better than Word itself.
On the Mac, try Terry Morse's Myrmidon (shareware, demo available)
A. Quark-to-Gif, choose 'Save page as EPS' from the file menu. Open the *.eps in Photoshop, where you can resize it and export as .gif, .jpg, or whatever. If you want to convert the Quark file to HTML check out BeyondPress or Terry Morse's Myrmidon.
A. Excel
A. PageMaker
Q57.How do I fill in a subject line and new line of text in a "mailto:" link?
A. This opened a new mail message with the Subject filled in and a new
line of
text in the body of the message.
It worked with Win98 on a PC, using MSIE 4.0 and Netscape
4.07 with Eudora Pro 4 for e-mail.
<a href="mailto:archer@ionet.net?subject=Test%20Message?body=New%20Line%20Here. ">E-Mail</a>
Q58. I'm a complete web development newbie - what should I know? *grin*
A. This is a VERY GOOD QUESTION and you should by NO means hesitate to ask it.
The single most useful thing to know and remember is that filenames on the server may be case sensitive. This is absolutely the biggest time waster you can possibly imagine, so keep it in mind.
Believe it or not, you will be regarded as a web genius just for fixing people’s problems caused by filename case sensitivity! Restrict your filenames to lower case and be forever happy.
Q59. How do I get started in Web Commerce?
A. To start with, know the questions you need to ask your client. Some of these might include:
Q60. where can I find info about AOL's treatment of graphics?
A. Straight from the horse's mouth: http://webmaster.info.aol.com/
There you can find information about all versions of AOL for the PC and the Mac, what versions of JavaScript and HTML they support, and a list of AOL's proxy server addresses.
Q61.How should I write for the web?
A.Keep it brief, make it scannable. But don't lose your voice. Here are some things which make it easier for your readers to scan.
Q62. What is the following code useful for?
leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0"
A.Use it in your <body> statement to remove margins on netscape and explorer.
Q63. How do I get those little tooltips to pop up when a websurfer hovers her mouse over a link?
A. You can use the TITLE="this license plate was made by machine" tag inside your anchor tag. But be aware that without a lot of coding, this is currently an IE-only simple feature.
Q64. How do I link to a specific question in this list?
A. Each question has its own anchor, just use the following markup:
<a href="http://www.thedailychannel.com/design/webdesignfaq.htm#Q42">The
answer to question 42</a>
Q65. What about Gamma?
A. Here are some fun things to read, courtesy of kaourantin.net:
For corrections, additions, and suggestions, please
Historical note:
These are questions, many presented with (often composite) answers, which appeared on a popular web design mailing list in the late 1990s. The participants of the list were among the most knowledgeable and didactic web developers of that fast-paced time. That list came to an end, but many of the list members may still be found on thewebdesignlist @ topica.com
Today's note:
Above is an historical note, but this page is kept current.
Your next book?
Photoshop 7.0 Studio Techniques [buy at amazon]. by Ben Willmore. --companion website at digitalmastery.comSpeed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization [buy at amazon] by Andrew King -- accompanying website at websiteoptimization.com
The Elements of Typographic Style [buy at amazon] by Robert Bringhurst: the book Hermann Zapf wanted to become the typographer's bible (Not so useful for web work, but if you don't have a book on typography this is an astonishing place to start).
Cascading Style Sheets: Separating Content from Presentation by Owen Briggs.
Designing CSS Web Pages [buy at amazon] . by Christopher Schmidt.