Web Site & Web Page Basic Concepts
Web Site vs Web Page
The first idea to get your head around is the difference between a web site and a web page. A web page is a single element that displays in the window of a web browser - the software that renders the page and makes it look spiffy on your screen. A web site is a series of interconnected web pages. In time, you will most likely be creating a web site, rather than a single web page.
You'll start the process by creating a single page, then, when you're ready, you can create more pages and connect them into a web site.
HTML
HTML is an acronym that stands for "hypertext markup language". It is the native "code" that sits behind the pages you view on the World Wide Web. There are two ways to create web pages. You can design in straight code, or you can design in a piece of software, like RWD, that takes your work and changes it into code. You don't need to know any code in order to use RWD. It's know as a WYSIWYG program - "what you see is what you get" - meaning you can design just like creating an email message.
Links & Hypertext
One of the coolest features of web pages is the ability to "link" instantly to another page by clicking on a word or a graphic. Links are usually indicated by a different color text, or underlined text. They often change color after you've clicked them. Usually designers will place links in places where users can naturally navigate to another place in order to find more specific information. The big idea behind designing links is that the user should be able to click them in a nonlinear fashion.
Path
Elements of a web page or a web site reside within a specific location, usually on a server. When you use RWD, a "folder" will be established as your web storage space on the First Class server. When a web page displays on screen, it essentially calls up any graphic or text elements from that folder. In order to call up and display the images correctly, the browser needs to understand the exact location of those elements. Designers que the browser by designating the correct "path" for the files. The path is written as a series of words divided by a back slash (/). Each word designates a folder. Each word that comes after a back slash indicates a folder within a folder, or a file of some sort (e.g., webtraining/webstuff/image1) . The same concept is used when typing in an
addresss for a particular web site. You'll have to think about paths when you create links in your website.
"Chunking" Information
Most information on the Web is gathered in short reference documents that are intendent to be read nonsequentially. Short "chunks" of information are easier to read, and information can be scanned quickly. Feb Web users spend time reading long passages of text on-screen. "Chunked" bits of information lend themselves to the concept of links. Chunking can also help organize and present information in a uniform format. Well designed web pages will chunk information inito sections and subsections.
Basic Information Structures
Sequences
Web sites are built around basic structural themes. The simpleist way to organize information is to place it in a sequence. Straight sequence sites are most appropriate when the reader is expected to go through a fixed set of material and the only links are those that support the linear navigational path. A graphic example of a sequenced web page is listed below:
Hierarchies
Many web sites are organized around a single home page with a hierarchical structure. We're going to suggest that this is the way you create your web site. The home page can stand by itself, or contain links to other pages in a well-organized fashion. In a hierarchical structure, the home page sites at the top of the chart, and all pages in the web site contain a direct link back to the home page.
<# verytop>
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