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This is a pretty boring page, isn't it. It could, however, be
worse. I could have tried to hide the lack of content with Java
applets, animated GIFs and BLINK tags. --Matt Simmons
I kept several points in mind, when I designed this web site. If you
are interested in web design, take a look at the Alertbox, a column on
WebSiteUsability.
If you disagree with anything on this page, feel free to mail me. I'm
always interested in learning something new! ^_^
Many requirements I list on this page are easily maintained because
most pages are automatically generated using my WikiMode.
- Write valid HTML. I validate my web pages with a SGML parser before
publishing them on the Web.
- No client-side scripts. Client-side scripting doesn't work on my
text browser Lynx.
- No frames. Frames confuse me when I want to bookmark pages, frames
confuse me when I want to see the page source, frames confuse me
when I want to print a page, frames waste my screen real estate.
- No tables. Tables don't work on my text browser Lynx. Using tables
to layout a page is a very bad idea. Even when you need a table, a
list may still do the trick.
- No fancy graphics. Fancy graphics slow down page loading and
distract people looking for information. Graphics are provided when
they are a meaningfull way of bringing information across.
- Allow feedback. Every page contains my mail address and a
timesstamp.
- No authoring tools. The use of an authoring tool makes it difficult
to edit my HTML files with any other editor.
When my first provider Geocities started adding things to my
web-pages, I switched from Geocities to ProHosting. The stuff
Geocities added to my files caused my web pages to fail HTML
validation. At the same time ProHosting offered no banners. In
May 2000, however, they added banners to my pages and corrupted my
HTML (eg. the </var> closing tag was replaced with weird cruft). I
switched back to Geocities. Readers can get around Geocities banners
and popups by disabling java script . . . During that time I decided
to keep the following points in mind:
- Keep dead pages around. When I remove pages from the master copy of
the web site, I don't delete the pages from my webspace. Keeping
dead pages prevents broken links for my users. The timestamp on all
pages allows my users to take the time passed into account.
- Keep copies of the site on old servers. When I switch providers, I
leave a copy of my pages at the old site for the people that kept
the old URL in their bookmarks.
- Pages on old servers carry a HTTP refresh directive. This refresh
directive points browsers to the same page on the new server.
I have started to use the following items with caution:
- Stylesheets. I've started to use style sheets for my web pages for
color information. I don't want to change fonts, because I myself
have the default sizes set to my liking. Nobody is supposed to mess
with them.
And I'd like to use the following:
- Server-side scripts. Server-side scripting makes my site less
portable to other providers, but it would allow me to run a
collaborative web site. I'd like to have a part of my web page be
editable. A little private WikiWiki. Maybe Emacs related?
Here are some links to other sites with similar ideas:
SiteMap /
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Out /
kensanata@yahoo.com /
Last change: 2001-04-14