1. Topic 11

2.  Purpose of a Website  Website Etiquette  Website Organization  Hyperlinks  Plagiarism  Bad Websites  References

3.  A webpage has to offer something to the viewer ◦ More than pretty colors, pictures, etc ◦ A viewer goes to a webpage for a purpose  Read information  Buy merchandise  Watch a video, etc

4.  Advertising ◦ The bread maker for websites  Google, Facebook, etc. ◦ Advertising content should be no more than 25% of content ◦ Would you watch TV if a channel has 50 minutes of advertising each hour?

5.  Avoid animation and sound ◦ One thinks animation is an attention getter ◦ Readers know flashing banners are advertising  People learn to tune out flashing banners  Takes more time to download animated content and sound files  Viewers may hurry to leave a webpage if webpage has too much animation or sound

6.  Avoid pop ads or windows ◦ A big annoyance to viewers  Do not prevent a viewer from backing out a website ◦ Example – some websites prevent viewers from leaving ◦ Viewer clicks the BACK to the previous webpage and the annoying webpage reloads

7.  Avoid using background images ◦ Some claim this means website is designed by amateurs ◦ News and information websites do not have background images ◦ Usually these websites still provide logos and pictures ◦ Webpages with large images take longer to load

8.  Avoid using background images  Cornerstone of bad website with background image is MySpace  Dan Piraro – "Badly designed, impossible to navigate, ugly, loud, depressing, reeking of death. How did this beast that is eating the fabric of our civilization and puking it up on the shoes of our future achieve such popularity?"

9.  I believe a background image can complement a webpage  Rules  The text and information has to stick out from the background ◦ Overlapping  Dark background and light text  Light background and dark text ◦ Side by Side  Background image is away from the text and information

10.  Compress images as much as possible ◦ Reduces download time  Avoid complicated Flash videos and animations ◦ Makes website look neat ◦ However, takes time to download all the files ◦ Exception – art or music websites

11.  Flash ◦ A specialized program that allows animations, intense graphics, sounds, etc. ◦ Complicated menus with animation tend to be flash  Splash ◦ Increases the complexity ◦ Usually for internet games

12.  Many websites have minimized flash content ◦ Compatibility issues ◦ Takes time to download ◦ Graphics can be too much  Avoid too wide a website ◦ Viewer has to scroll left to right to read website ◦ Keep width of website around 600 – 800 pixels

13.  The website has to be organized ◦ Viewers can easily navigate throughout a website ◦ Everything must be a few clicks away ◦ Would you like to click 20 times on one website to get to the correct webpage?  Homepage – the first webpage in a website ◦ Flashy welcome page ◦ Avoid Flash and Splash Welcome screens that have no content ◦ Regular viewers get tired of this

14.  Make text large enough to read  Do not use all CAPS to capture viewer’s attention ◦ Can use different colors, bold, etc.  Avoid spelling and grammar mistakes ◦ Most viewers may be literate ◦ Viewers may judge your website critically

15.  On every webpage, have a link back to the homepage ◦ Viewers can rapidly return to the beginning  Always put the menu bar at the top (or top left side) ◦ Viewers see this when webpage loads ◦ If menu bar is at the bottom, then viewer has to scroll all the way down

16.  Keep content to a minimum  Government and education websites ◦ They pack too much information on to one page ◦ Easily overwhelm the viewers

17.  Be careful with email addresses ◦ Spambots – programs search the internet for email addresses ◦ On website, if email is a text, a spambot can read this email and include it on a junk email list ◦ Can create a graphic for email  May annoy viewer

18.  Should have contact information on every webpage  I found a website for Tuzla ◦ All phone numbers did not work ◦ No contact email address ◦ No fax numbers ◦ No address

19.  Websites  If you are selling products and services  Include contact information ◦ Email address ◦ Phone number ◦ If website allows ecommerce, make sure everything works ◦ If customer has problems, they will not return

20.  Do not underline words if words are not hyperlinks  Hyperlink words are usually underlined and tend to be blue ◦ Modern trend – hyperlink changes color when mouse rolls over hyperlink  Menu items do not need to be underlined and in blue ◦ Menu items are usually links

21.  Include a description of a hyperlink ◦ Confusing if the URL of a link is present but link has no description  Do not open link in new windows ◦ Viewers usually do not like pop up windows and menus ◦ Exception – it is okay for a pop up window if the link goes to another website

22.  Make sure you test all hyperlinks ◦ Very annoying if hyperlink does not work ◦ If you have links to another website, then periodically check them  If link becomes broken, then remove or update the link ◦ Do not waste your viewers time  Include a last modification date at bottom of page ◦ You can keep track how old it is ◦ Viewers may like to know how old information is

23.  Be careful of stealing content ◦ Text, pictures, graphics, music, and movies may have copyrights  Do not borrow images from another website ◦ Everything on your website should be on your website ◦ Example – you have a page that has a picture load from another website ◦ That owner could change that picture to something that is not appropriate

24.  Bad websites ◦ MIT Architecture-WOW ◦ Whitehouse.gov-Too complex ◦ Yale School of Art-WOW ◦ Tropicalsmoothie.com-Too much flash ◦ Techsoup-Too much info ◦ joneschijoff.com-What the ?????? ◦ siphawaii.com-Is this a joke??? ◦ indiana.edu/~ensiweb/-Very amateurish ◦ Gotmilk.com-Annoying flash ◦ www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

25.  Material was taken from  http://websitehelpers.com/design/