Web Site Development Resources

Developing Your Web Site
This section offers some quick tips on developing a successful site and links to useful resources.

Design Tips

1. Write out a plan for your site:
Make sure you map out your site in advance and draw up diagrams to help you visualize your site's structure. This will help you determine what you need to do. Also, every successful site has a solid business plan backing it up.

2. Keep it simple:
Make sure your message is clear. People usually use the web to find specific information as fast as possible. They don't want to have to dig to find what they are looking for. A good site holds an intelligent dialogue with the user directing them where they want to be. This also pertains to the next paragraph.

3. Use clear navigation:
Clear navigation plays a big role in happy visitors. If your visitors ever have to guess where something is on your site you just lost their interest. Stay away from navigation that uses special scripting or Flash. The best possible navigation is plain text links such as the ones on this site. Text links play an important role in how your site is found (indexed) by search engines.

4. Optimize pages for quick downloads:
There is nothing worse then a page you have to wait for to load. This is usually the time when a user clicks on to your competitors site. So keep those new visitors by making each page load as fast as possible. This can be accomplished by using minimal graphics and again using plain text for content and navigation. All of your graphics should be optimized to be as small as possible using a program such as Dreamweaver or Adobe ImageReady. Stay away from Macromedia Flash unless you are creating interactive demos and never use splash pages.

5. Test your site before going live:
It is good practice to test all of your hard work before you go live on the web. Make sure there are no misspellings or broken links. Have a friend or coworker go over your site and check for any errors.

Design Resources

HTML Help

• HTML Goodies
• HTML Help

Free Scripts

• Dynamic Drive
• HOT PHP, CGI Scripts

And more!

Color Charts

• Visibone
• Web Colors.

Recommended Web Design Software

Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Make your vision a reality with one of the industry's leading web authoring tools, Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS4 software. Design exceptional websites faster than ever before with the new Live view and Adobe Photoshop® Smart Object features. Work smarter thanks to enhanced integration with other Adobe tools, including Adobe Photoshop CS4, Fireworks® CS4, and Flash® CS4 Professional software and the Adobe AIR™ runtime.

Adobe Fireworks CS4 Adobe® Fireworks® CS4 software delivers compelling functionality for web designers with Live Styles, Smart Guides, universal 9-slice scaling, and CSS export. Interaction designers can now develop interface prototypes for Adobe Flex® and Adobe AIR™ applications with ease. Fireworks users can reach out to clients and team members with high-fidelity Adobe PDF output and free online meetings.