1. Advanced Web Techniques
We’ve only got an hour to talk about “Advanced Web Techniques.” Trouble is, that’s a tough topic to pin down… what is advanced for you may not be for someone else, and vice versa. Depends where everyone is at… How many run your own web servers? NT or Unix or Mac?
I’ll be speaking from my experience… not everyone’s. I have my prejudices (the tech kind!) and preferences and blind spots (many of those), and I’ll let you know when I just flat out don’t know.
The REAL Advanced Web Techniques:

2. When You Run Into Trouble…
Before You Start…
While You’re Coding…
When You Run Into Trouble…

3. Ask Questions Before You Start…
Who am I reaching? What do I want to say? What problems are my users trying to solve? Do I really need that?

4. Say No Before You Start…
A great deal of what you’ll find on the web is extraneous. I’m a bare-bones kind of guy… gimme the details and quick. Most of the Flash & frames & blah blah just gets in the way. Keep it simple.
(like guy who just got a word processor… every document has 12 fonts… not good!)

5. Understand Users Before You Start…
They are ruthlessly goal-oriented. They will hit the back button. They don’t learn new things well. They don’t tolerate mistakes much. Work within those parameters.

6. View Source While You’re Coding…
We’re not talking theft here. When you see something you like, check out how they did it. Learn, adapt.

7. Edit Manually While You’re Coding…
Learn how to code manually. Editor programs are (for a great many reasons) mostly stinky. Use HomeSite or BBEdit or UltraEdit or vi for power manual editing.

8. Go Fast While You’re Coding…
No, don’t type fast – Let your users GO fast. Optimize your graphics, write tight code… however you do it, but THINK SPEED. Users want 3 things: free, perfect, now. This is the NOW part.

9. Test While You’re Coding…
This is the PERFECT part. Does it actually work? Not just does it function, but can users really use it? Look over someone’s shoulder; let your spouse test it, whatever. (FREE is up to you to figure out!)

10. Start a Menagerie When You Run Into Trouble…
Get O’Reilly books. They are the best. Or check out other web-type developer places on the web. (Webmonkey, builder.com, etc)

11. Learn From the Past When You Run Into Trouble…
Someone’s probably had this problem in the past. Learn from them. Use

12. Ask a Friend When You Run Into Trouble…
You can’t know everything. I don’t know much Javascript. When I have a problem, I ask my friend Rob in Virginia, and he helps me out. Don’t have friends? Look into getting some! 

13. Advanced Web Techniques