Bad Web Design: Mistakes With Text

Written by Richard Lowe


Continued from page 1

Thank god most people understand that blinking characters are not cool (and not supported by Internet Explorer, which is a good thing).

Something which I see all ofrepparttar time is sites which use non-standard fonts. I know thatrepparttar 134627 special font which you paid a hundred dollars for is awesome, but believe me I'm not going to pay a hundred dollars just to see your web site display correctly.

You can get away with this, if you include a button to downloadrepparttar 134628 font and complete instructions for installing it. Be sure to include an alternate, more common font in your font list though, for those people who do not want to downloadrepparttar 134629 correct one.

You can use downloadable fonts, but be aware that browser support and standards are spotty at best. Even if you do include downloadable fonts, be sure and specify alternates in your tags just in caserepparttar 134630 browser did not dorepparttar 134631 download.

To sum it up, what I do is simple. I write my document, then sit back fromrepparttar 134632 screen about 4 feet. If I can still readrepparttar 134633 text without trouble, then I ask my wife to dorepparttar 134634 same thing. If we can both read it, thenrepparttar 134635 document is fine. Otherwise, something has to change.

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm Daily Tips: mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com


Web Site Design: How To Get Around

Written by Richard Lowe


Continued from page 1

Navigation should tell your visitors where they are - The best navigation systems not only allow visitors to get around a site, they inform them as to their location withinrepparttar site. Just look at how Yahoo works as you will see. Atrepparttar 134626 top of each page your location is shown like so: "Home > Arts > Art History >", which tellsrepparttar 134627 visitor he's looking at "Art History" inrepparttar 134628 directory "Art" underrepparttar 134629 "Home" directory. He can click on any of these to go higher inrepparttar 134630 list at any time.

Some pages should be referenced on every page of your site - You should have a "Home" button on every single page. It's also wise to include a way to signrepparttar 134631 guestbook and contactrepparttar 134632 webmaster on every page as well. I also like to include a link torepparttar 134633 privacy policy, copyright notice and legal information atrepparttar 134634 bottom of every page.

Avoid fancy navigation systems - I preferrepparttar 134635 Yahoo approach of straight HTML links myself, and I tend to surf longer on sites which include these kinds of navigation systems. JavaScript and Java menus look very good but if your visitors surf with these features disabled they will not have access to your menus. And givenrepparttar 134636 security scares lately, many people are turning these features off or limiting their use.

Avoid ActiveX and VBScript altogether - I love ActiveX and VBScript on an intranet. This is because on an intranet it is possible to guarantee that everyone who will accessrepparttar 134637 site uses Internet Explorer. However, you cannot ensure this onrepparttar 134638 web, so my recommendation is to avoid these entirely. In addition,repparttar 134639 security scheme of ActiveX is so weak that it's common for many people, especially corporate sites, to completely disallow ActiveX controls downloaded fromrepparttar 134640 internet. (Why is ActiveX security weak? Because it depends uponrepparttar 134641 user to make a decision as torepparttar 134642 security ofrepparttar 134643 ActiveX control. I know that when I am presented with a box saying "do I trust xyz control?", I don't usually have any idea. How would I know ifrepparttar 134644 code is trustworthy? My tendency is to just say no.)

To sum it all up, if you want your visitors to explore your site, then you have to make it easy for them. The easier and more straightforward you make your navigation,repparttar 134645 deeper people will tend to surf.

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm Daily Tips: mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com


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