| Graphics
- making them RIGHT! - Friday, 31 July 1998 |
It is an undisputed fact that graphics are an integral part of web page
design. Without graphics your site will be dull and it will all be text. 99.999% of the
WWW uses graphics. So, if you can't beat em, join them, that way one doesn't look left out
hehee! But on a plus side, your site would be EXTRA fast loading, hehehe! But DULL! We
don't want dull, do we?
Here are some good hints for your graphics.
- BORDER="0" for graphical links!
For heaven's sake if you make a graphical link, please add
border="0" to your <IMG SRC="pic.gif"> tag. Why? Cause it looks
a bunch nicer! That's why! Look, compare these 2 links, ok? So which one appeals to you? I
hope you say the left one looks better, or I'll box your ears. Hehe!
- What's the CARDINAL SIN?
Cardinal sin = unforgivable web page design. Images strewn all over the
place, like a tornado just hit the site. Very bad very very bad. Web Masters/Mistresses
should ALWAYS design to accomodate the lowest common denominator. Who is the lowest common
denominator? The visitors who still operate at screen resolutions of 640 x 480. The
Official Site for GeoCities is a prime example of designing to accomodate this people.
Yes, horizontal bars may always be there, but have you tried reading a page which you must
scroll from left to right to read what's up?? Frustrating in my humble opinion!
- How to avoid commiting this sin?
Easy, preview your web page at 640 x 480 resolution. If it looks fine to
you, it should look alright on theirs too.
- How about higher resolution screens?
Good question, right, you can choose to either -
- Enclose your WHOLE page from <body> to </body> tag
into a table which is 630 pixels wide and be sure to center the table OR
- Design for universal compatibility. Mine is for universal, but
designing for the lowest screen resolution can be quite a pain. Really!
- Cumulative size < 50 kb.
Make sure that the cumulative sum of the graphics that you use on your web
page is less than 50 kb. Mine usually are, but sometimes I can't help myself. At some
places I do violate this rule but I choose to place my graphics very carefully, so that
after the first loading of the graphics the web site will be very surfable from then on.
You also can go and check out these programs, they compress the images on your web site
and they make things VERY much faster to download.
- GIFWizard - http://www.GIFWizard.com
very nice this program. Partner with LinkExchange too!
- Web Optimizer - http://www.webopt.com
I use this program rather extensively, I highly recommend it. But the user interface is
not too user friendly YET.
- Be consistent!
I used to have a problem with consistency, I have so many backgrounds and I want to
use them ALL! But then again, it is quite annoying to go to some sites and see a whole
plethora of backgrounds. Consistency is preferred as once a background loads, it is then
kept in the cache. Other pages using the same background will experience a faster
download.
- Banners, everywhere!?
Where would we all get our visitors if not from nice banner exchange programs?
Having one or two banners is fine, but some people go overboard, just remember, a bit is a
lot, and a lot is a bit! Each banner takes up about 8kb of loading time. If you have 5 of
them on one page, that would cost you pretty bad! So, stick with a reliable banner
exchange which you will like. Choose a reputable one like LinkExchange which has MILLIONS
of members (http://www.LinkExchange.com) this
will ensure you good exposure to your site, with just one banner!
- Animated GIFs!
I have an entire section dedicated to this topic, click here
to go to it. But since you are here, this is a good site for animated GIFs Xoom (http://www.xoom.com) They have got an entire army of GIFs
there, you won't be bored, your MODEM won't be either, heheehe!
