• HTML Tools
• HTML Best Practice

When designing your web page or site, consider these questions. These questions must be addressed for any web page or site, whether personal, professional, educational, non-profit or corporate. Once you have addressed these questions, you can design your web page or site. Consider also who will do these things, and how often these things will be done:

1. What problem is the web site designed to solve?
2. Who is your audience?
3. How long will the site exist?
4. How often will the site be updated?
5. Is there an example to follow? Can you copy an existing site and modify it for your own use?
6. Are there best practices to follow? For example, images should be large and clear enough to see and read, but small enough to appear quickly on a user's computer.
7. Who is responsible for editorial review, copyright compliance, quality control, security and backups?
8. How, and how often, will the site be evaluated?
9. When the you are done with the site, will it be revised, replaced or retired?
10. Will the site be archived, along with your notes on why and how it was created?

Best practice requires that you pay careful attention to how users will navigate your site. It is critical to "map" out the topical, navigational and physical structure of your site, using paper, a white board or with index cards, before creating and publishing ANYTHING. Adhere to your topical anchor: what problem does this site solve and for who? This will keep you from digressing during the design phase of web site creation. Make notes about other ideas as they come up. New ideas can be incorporated into your web site as you revise it; these new ideas can be the impetus for and nucleus of a new web site. Here are some safety tips regarding web site design:

1. Set expectations appropriately by having a sense of project scope. Again, return to your original topic: what problem does this site solve and for who? You don't need to re-create the Amazon.com or CNN.com websites, or have a site that can handle large amounts of traffic. Odds are you'll have a small, focused group of users.
2. "Steal from the best." I'm not advocating larceny, and I am advocating respect for intellectual property rights. That said, find web sites you like and imitate them.
3. Design for usage first and then for users. Pay close attention to how the site will be used and by who. Consider different use styles, learning styles, and the physical abilities of prospective users.
4. Love your users and test often. Test the product against both your design and live users.
5. Your words are your responsibility. Editorial review, copyright compliance and quality control are essential.
6. Google and Yahoo Search have long memories. Even if you take your web site down, if it can be "seen" and indexed by one or more search engines, your site will stay "up" long after you've taken it down.
7. Don't let your web site to go weed. If you forget about your web site, it won't vanish, it can sit around indefinitely. There is nothing less useful than old content.

• A. Content for your audience must be fresh, organized and compelling.
• B. Web site navigation should be clear and consistent.
• C. Style must not impede content and navigation.
• D. Use a light background and dark text.
• E. Put navigational aids at the top of every page in the site.
• F. Use pictures where they help; don't use pictures otherwise.
• G. Remember who is visiting your site; remember who you want to visit your site.
• H. Be consistent.
• I. Be interesting, but not too interesting.
• J. Show your site, make changes, show your site again.
• K. Update content regularly.