Click-Along 6-1 (p. 217 Intro Version) More on creating websites Many software packages exist to help general users build websites-for example, Microsoft's FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver. Sometimes users design their site and post it to someone else's (for example, an ISP's) server; this server is the host server. The user rents space on it. Other users turn their computer into their own server, meaning they have to leave the computer online all the time if web surfers are to have access to the site. In any case, if you want a website, the first thing you need to do is get an Internet Domain Name (URL, or Uniform Resource Locator). To check the availability of names, got to www.networksolutions.com or to www.whois.net. To register your name, go to www.internic.net/regist.html for a listing of ICANN-approved registrars. (As your textbook explained, ICANN stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.) Make sure the registrar you choose has a toll-free customer support number; check out its website, and call up their help desk to see if they can answer your questions in a reasonable amount of time. Be sure to keep your contact information with the registrar up to date, so you will be promptly informed of any policy changes and renewal notices. Name your website the same as your domain name. You will have to pay a fee to register your name. When you register, you will have to supply the name of your Domain Name Server (DNS). This can be your ISP, someone you know who operates a DNS, the registrar itself, or your own server. Make sure you know the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the DNS you plan to use before your attempt to register your domain name. (Check out the free DNS service at www.granitecanyon.com.) All websites need efficient design, logical flow, and trustworthy navigation (navigation refers to how you get around a website). Edward Tufte--designer, statistician, and Yale professor-has pioneered ways to present graphical information. He states that website information must be presented consistently-don't become blind to how your site looks to outside viewers. Also consider how to lead viewers' eyes through the site. Avoid clutter and jumble; keep things simple. Tell viewers where to click for more information; don't make them guess. Always include a button that will take viewers back to the home page, and give them some information about how to move around in the site. To lead the viewer's eyes through the site, use color to emphasize certain items, and put the most important information at the upper right corner. (According to Smart Computing, the newspaper industry learned long ago that readers look to the top right of the newspaper page first.) If you have too much information to put in the top right corner, put the most important items in the center of the page and surround them with some "dead space" (white, or empty, space). Also use graphics such as waves and arrow to lead the eyes. Before you start designing your site, write down everything you want to include, and rank each item's importance. Include any ideas about graphics and sound bites you want. Your website should also contain information about how to contact you. Then plan your site structure. Draw a simple map of your site; include notes for each page's content, and diagram how the pages will fit together. Include the links that will go on each page. The visual design is next. You can do this yourself using a web design software package, or you can hire someone to do it for you. Next you write your content. Graphics can be scanned in, chosen from a clip art collection, or created from scratch. Sound bites and animation can also be included. All these items are saved in separate files in a common folder. Finally, the web pages are created. Remember that web pages are coded in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). Your software package will help you code your pages. (Packages such as FrontPage and Dreamweaver are also called HTML editors.) After your website is finished, it has to be posted (sent via online connection) to the host server, and then you will have to test it and fix any glitches. Too much information about website building exists for us to cover it all here. Some good goods on designing and building websites: - Steve Krug and Roger Black, Don't Make Me think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, Que.
- Sue A. Conger, Richard O. Mason, and W. T. Mason, Planning and Designing Effective Web Sites, Course Technology.
- Jennifer Niederst, Web Design in a Nutshell, The O'Reilly „Nutshell" Books.
- Robin Williams and John Tollett, The Non-Designer's Web Book: An Easy Guide to Creating, Designing, and Posting Your Own Web Site, Peachpit Press.
- Jefrey Veen, Art and Science of Web Design, New Riders Publishing.
- Harley Hahn, Harley Hahn Teaches the Internet, Que.
- Michael G. Paciello and Mike Paciello, Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities. (You want everyone to be able to use your site, right?)
- Many books teach you how to use FrontPage and Dreamweaver.
There are also websites about websites. For example, Click-Along 6-2 (p. 221 Brief Version) More on the practical uses of communications As your textbook describes in Chapter 2, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a company that connects you through your communications line to its servers, or central (host) computer, which connect you to the Internet via another company's network access points. One of the major ISPs in the U.S. is Earthlink, started by Sky Dayton in 1993. Recently he launched Boingo Wireless, an ultra-high-speed wireless Internet service in major hotels, airports, coffee shops, and other popular areas. Boingo started with about 400 "hot spot" locations in the U.S. and as of June 2002 had about 600. (Hot spots are places with live WiFi signals. WiFi, or 802.11b, is a short-range wireless digital network technology, as described in this chapter on telecommunications). Boingo is designed for business travelers who are frustrated with slow dial-up (telephone) access to the Internet. Dayton's intent is to make Internet access outside the office or home simple and powerful. Among the available hotspots are - Airports such as Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin-Bergstrom, San Jose, Seattle-Tacoma, Atlanta-Hartsfield, Chicago-Midway, Philadelphia, Baltimore-Washington, Washington-Dulles, and Boston Logan.
- Hotels such as Four Seasons, Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, Radisson, and Wyndham.
- "Free community" networks in San Francisco, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Fla., Austin, and other cities.
Boingo users need Boingo software, which can be downloaded from www.boingo.com, a Boingo service plan (choose from a monthly charge plan, a per-use charge plan, or an unlimited use plan), and a WiFi PC card (about $70) to slide into the appropriate slot in the laptop computer. When you're on he road, you use Boingo software to "sniff" the air for a WiFi network. It shows you what it finds. Once installed, Boingo software will automatically update itself to ensure user are always running the latest version of the software and have the latest Boingo hot-spot location database. In June, 2002, Boingo joined with SMC networks, which bundles Boingo software with its PC cards. |
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