DACS Web Design Special Interest Group

DACS
Resource
Center
Ives Manor
(lower level)
198 Main Street Danbury.

For information contact:
Annette van Ommeren
(aka "Anna Collens")

Come to the meeting and/or join the newsletter to be notified of upcoming meetings.

Web site creationoverview - From inspiration to Launch..
Overview of the basic steps in creating a web site
Define and research the project. Register domain name and find a host (web server) Set up folders on local drive and gather materials (images, logos etc) Layout a rough page structure outline Design.. Paper & pencil Image editor WYSIWYG or hand-code HTML Test, edit Upload to live server, test, test, test.. (and test on different browsers, platforms) Launch Register with Search Engines, Directories etc..
Considerations..
Who is your audience? What is your site about? What are your goals for the site?
Research:
Check out the competition Collect sites you like or dislike, and analyze why they are successful – or not.. Intuitive navigation? Innovative design – visually interesting? Pleasing color schemes? Clear text and narrative? Fast / slow downloads?
Get ready..
Decide on - and register - a Domain Name (URL) (shop around for best price, some hosting companies include it in a hosting plan) Usually the longer the registration, the lower the annual cost. For hosting companies, see http://webhost.thelist.com/faq.php
Your OWN Domain Name (www.yourname.com)
Pros: Unique URL Professional impression You control design, advertising, pop-ups etc! No restrictions	Cons: Annual fee Remember to renew If your preferred “.com” name is taken you have to compromise
Domain extensions, the ".com" is still the most desirable, but ".net" and ".biz" are becoming more popular as alternatives:
.com .net .org .edu .biz	.info .us .name .tv More extensions available..
"FREE" sub-domains:
Pros FREE! Most ISP’s including AOL, Yahoo, Earthlink etc give limited free space for account holders. Can use their HTML editors - no need for extra software OK for family/personal pages	Cons Complicated/long domain name. Less available space due to advertising and pop-ups! Doesn’t give a “Professional” impression Limited design options using their web page creation software.
Establish a "Working" folder, and gather site contents
Write / collect text for each page, (Unformatted) Create / collect any other assets (images/sounds/movies etc) Keep a text file with official site registration information Keep a text file with other site info - colors used, keywords, fonts..etc..
Create Root Folder on your HD and plan organizational site map of anticipated pages. (How many pages, sections, features etc.)
Design Software options “WYSIWYG”s (Many have free 30-day trial versions)
Adobe Creative Suite Macromedia Dreamweaver ($399) Adobe GoLive ($399) MS FrontPage ($169) Flash ($499) Netscape “Composer” (free with NN browser) Word, Excel, PowerPoint.. (not recommended!) Text / HTML editors PhotoShop / ImageReady ($649) Design, slice and ‘save-as-HTML’ PhotoShop Elements ($99) for image editing & optimizing Fireworks ($299) Design, slice and save as HTML, including code for DHTML (animated drop-down menus etc.)
Next step - start the visual front end design..