Back To Thoughts

 Stayin Online Webzine Article - Friday July 16, 1999

KISS  Keep It Sweet 'n Simple
By: Glenn Tally

    The other day I was talking to my mother about creating and modifying a home page. From the look I saw on her face you would have thought I was talking about brain science instead of web page design.  I think what confused her was my references to HTML which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, and is the most basic building block of the Internet, next to of course the telephone line and the computer.  I will admit that HTML source code is probably one of the most confusing things to look at and sometimes just as confusing to write.  That is why this article is not on HTML code, but will deal with software to get around the coding and things to keep in mind when making your page.

Software
    Many companies have designed simple to use applications that allow you to easily click, drag and paste your way through web page design.  The programs I have used are NetscapeTM Composer which comes with NetscapeTM Communicator, MicrosoftTM Word 97, MicrosoftTM Front Page Express and AOLTM Express.  Each of these programs looks slightly different but they all offer the basic web page design features which are as follows:

     These programs can be easily found using most search engines and there are many others out on the Internet that work the same.
    There are only small problems with using these page design software packages.  Most still need a compatible browser to view the page in and most of these program have a tendency of filling your HTML source with confusing nonsense used as an advertisement for their porduct. The main reason experts use these page design wizards is to save time because it is a quick and easy way to create web pages.

Style
    Now that you know what to use to create your home page. Here are a few simple things to remember when designing a home page.
    (1) Make Your Colours Eye Pleasing.  There is nothing more sickening then when people make bad choices for colour schemes.  Think of a home page as like a house. Most people don't paint their walls red if their furniture is bright green, blue or yellow.  So try and chose colours that will stand out or contrast with your walls but not clash with them. Colour schemes I would recommend are as follows:

  White background with blue, red or black text.
  Black background with white or other bright coloured text.
    (2)Make Your Background Image Simple.  Your background should in no way take away from your text or the rest of your page.
    (3)Don't Clutter Your Main Page With Too Many Pictures.  If you want to include lot of pictures in your page make an image gallery page which shows the pictures in table format. Limit the number of pictures per page to around ten or twenty other wise there will be slow load time.
    (4)Make Sure Links Work. If you make a link to another portion of your page make sure the path is set to the pages working directory.  If you link to an outside page check occasionally to see that your links work and that the page it is linked to still exists.
    And (5)Don't Put Anything On Your Page That You Don't Want Other People Too See.  If you don't want people to see you as a baby with your bare bottom sticking up then don't put it on your page. This also goes for confidential data about yourself, your family and your freinds.
    If you keep in mind these five points your page should turn out looking good. The only thing left to do is find a place to publish it on the net.
 
     So in the end I guess what I am trying to say is that no matter whether you are a beginner, an expert or like me just one of the many people publishing home pages just remember to KISS (Keep It Sweet 'n Simple).