Web Site Design Services

Links for the "Do It Yourselfers"
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Recommended Books & Software

Developing a web site is not as easy as it may appear at first blush. Keep in mind that what looks wonderful in your browser can look very different in another browser.

Some HTML tags work in newer versions of Netscape or Internet Explorer, but not in older versions. By the same token, what works in Netscape may not work in Internet Explorer and vice versa.

Another problem is screen resolution which can vary from 640 x 480 to 1600 x 1200. For example if you design your page for a resolution of 1024 x 768, many viewers will not see the right hand side of your page and will have to scroll back and forth to read each line of text.

And for a final complication, colors tend to look different on a PC versus a Macintosh.

The bottom line is that you will need to check your web site out on at least two or three versions each of Netscape and Internet Explorer at several different screen resolutions to be certain that your site looks the way you want it. If you are still undaunted, then the links below should give you a good start.

HTML Books and Tutorials

HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide, Fifth Edition - even if you use a WYSIWYG editor, eventually you are going to have to go in and hand code a few things. HTML for the World Wide Web is a fine book for learning the basics of HTML. One of the popular Visual Quick Start books from Peachpit Press.
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Javascript for the World Wide Web - another Visual Quick Start book. If you are getting the impression I like this series, you are right. As is typical of this series, this book makes wise use of side-by-side explanations and screen shots. It also includes code snippets and their analysis.
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WebAlley - Excellent html tutorials and web design guides. Free templates to help beginners writing their first basic homepage. Tips on how to use graphics on your website. Tutorials to teach you everyting you need to know to create and publish your first website.

HTML Goodies - Free html tutorials featuring extensive tutorials on tags, programming, basics, scripts, frames and more.

alt.html - A newsgroup on HTML. If you need answers to HTML questions, here's the place to ask.

HTML Editors

Homesite is the editor I use. I think it is one of the best available on the market today. It gives you full power and control over building your web site. It works on Windows 95/98, 2000, NT 4.0 and XP. You can download a free evaluation copy or
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To get a fine starting reference, try Homesite 4.5 for Dummies. I'm sure you are familiar with this line of books. This one has the added advantage of being written by the original developer of Homesite.
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1st Page 2000 - I've not used this program myself, but have heard some very good things about it. It is supposed to be very much like Homesite, but has the advantage of being free.

FTP Programs

CuteFTP - This is the program I use. With a very friendly user interface, you'll be transferring your files in minutes.

ws_ftp_LE. - This is a nice FTP program for Windows 3.x, 95/98/2000, NT and XP. It is free to students, faculty members, or staff members of an educational institution, and to non-commercial home users.

ws_ftp_PRO - This is retail versionof the program above. It is similar to it, but has more bells and whistles. For Windows 3.x, 95/98/2000, NT and XP.

Fetch - Not being a MAC user, I know nothing about this program, but it seems to be the program of choice in the MAC world.

Graphics

Designing Web Graphics will give you all the information you will need to prepare your graphics for the web. Topics include HTML editors, Web strategies, cross-platform and cross-browser fonts, tools for optimization, understanding links, color theory, and more.
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The Non-Designer's Design Book - if you are design challenged this is the book for you. As Peachpit Press said "Robin Williams wrote this one for all the people who now need to design pages, but who have no background or formal training in design." Written clearly and concisely, this book will give you a good understanding of the principles of design.
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The Clip Art Universe - Tons of FREE animated gifs, backgrounds, dividers, pictures, and much more to make your henpeck look gorgeous.

Banner Generator - A nifty site that will instantly create a banner for you. You enter the text, font, size, colors, etc. and viola, a banner appears which you can then download.

Graphics Programs

JASC's Paint Shop Pro is still one of the most powerful graphics tools available anywhere. With features and functions rivaled only by the $500+ software titles, PSP's low price tag will come as a welcome surprise. With support for piles of graphics formats, easy-to-make transparent GIFs, batch conversion capabilities, and much more.
Buy the program from Amazon

If you already have Paint Shop Pro and would like to learn to make it sing, try Paint Shop Pro Power! A detailed guide to teaching readers practical knowledge about PSP, this book covers basic topics such as layers, animation, filters, photo editing, optimization, and image conversion.
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WebPainter - For both the Mac and PCs, this program can create animations and GIF graphics for your pages.

Browsers and Browser Testers

Workers of the Web, evolt! - A truly wonderful site which has archived just about any version of any browser. Download several browsers to test your web site on.

Promotion

Web Ranking Tools - This site has a wealth of information on how to get the best possible placement on the search engines.

A Webmaster's Guide To Search Engines - Just an incredible site on search engines. How they find and rank sites, and what you can do to improve your ranking. You can also subscribe to the Search Engine Report Mailing List.

BannerSwap - Another of the free banner exchange service.