Professional Website Design Tips

[Beacon]

Hi all,

Can anyone give me loads of Professional Website Design tips etc.

Anything!

Cheers
b

[Vanguard-MnC]

dont use frontpage

[cafeenman]

Originally posted by Vanguard-MnC
dont use frontpage

What's wrong with FrontPage?

Beacon - do what the best designers do. Steal the ideas of others

[cafeenman]

OK, I don't know what's professional and what's not. So I'll just tell you what I like to see.

The site you have a lot of white space so that it doesn't look cluttered and I don't have to spend too much time looking for information on a page. If I can't find something easily and I can go somewhere else, I will.

The same goes for the navigation structure. Don't do like Microsoft and have a zillion levels of navigation. That is so frustrating and when I don't find what I'm looking for after navigating a dozen or more pages, then I end up really aggravated.

Multiple links to pages are helpful. For example, if you have a fairly straightforward navigation structure where each path is it's own thing, you should still have links to other pages that are related, even if they aren't in the same path.

Avoid flashy things. They're distracting. Just because something is "cool" doesn't mean you should use it. Too many professional sites use gimmicks that actually make their site harder to use.

Avoid using every font in the book.

Avoid an over abundance of colors. Muted colors are good overall or bright colors if they are just a spot here and there.

If you ask for advice, don't slam everyone who gives you some even if you aren't going to use it. That happens a lot here for some reason.

Post your pages temporarily and provide a link so you can get feedback early before you put a ton of hours into it.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[mendhak]

Never use the marquee tag
Don't overdo the Javascript: special effects may look 'cool' but they're basically annoying.

Simplicity is the key.

When u make ur pages, you ask yourself these questions

Why do I like this site?
Why do I feel comfortable here?
Why do I want to stay awhile?
Is there anything about this site that makes it special to me?

Also, your first page has to be the absolute best. First impression is the last impression.

If you're good with HTML, use notepad to design. If you prefer a visual HTML editor, go for Front Page. Don't go for dreamweaver, those bastards at Macromedia want to do their own things with their web and they're an evil company.


Oh, and don't make the pages huge. You know that users hate to wait.

[crptcblade]

Throw in the words "Jesus", "Credit Card", and "Mind Control" at random spots.

Uniqueness is key. You don't want any two pages on your site to look alike.

Have a MIDI of the Macerana playing in an infinite loop.

Finally, most, if not all, of the links on the pages should point back to the homepage.

[Jethro]

Include naked chick pics to up the hit count ....

[mendhak]

Also, right at the bottom of the page, include all the keywords you can think off. Make the text color of the keywords the same as the background, so users don't see it.

It'll help with them search engines.

[SurfDemon]

No gay porn. Especially if it involves your boss.

[cafeenman]

Originally posted by SurfDemon
No gay porn. Especially if it involves your boss.

Especially that video from last year's Christmas party when you ran naked from his office yelling "Stop spanking me!!!!!"

[SurfDemon]

Originally posted by cafeenman

Especially that video from last year's Christmas party when you ran naked from his office yelling "Stop spanking me!!!!!"

Well, his hands were too rough.

[Beacon]

Thanks guys!

[Jim Brown]

Originally posted by SurfDemon
No gay porn. Especially if it involves your boss.

Although, lezzie porn is OK. In fact it's to be encouraged.

But seriously...

I agree with what the others said: simplicity and lack of gimicky stuff. Easy navigation, perhaps repeating the links on the page so if you're at the top or bottom you still see the links.

Nothing pisses me off more than pages that take ages to load, admitedly our company net is a bit slow, but you can't expect everyone to have super-duper bandwidth.

Make sure you have a Contact Us or Feedback area.

I agree you don't want too deep a structure, but if your site is about (say) products, don't have everything on one page for each product- have a few pages per product covering stuff like an Intro on one page, heavy techie stuff on another, specification list on another, environmental on another... but all with easy obvious links.

Make sure your pages all adhere to some kind of theme- your company colour scheme for example.

Assume users may come to any of your pages from outside your site, not just via your homepage, so they should be able to see where they're at in your site overall and always be able to get to your home and other major sections from any page.

[Jim Brown]

If you have any links on your site to other sites (partners, suppliers etc) test them frequently to make sure they still work. Your site will lose credibility if links to somewhere else have bust.

[Gaffer]

Originally posted by mendhak
Don't go for dreamweaver, those bastards at Macromedia want to do their own things with their web and they're an evil company.

Mmm, I'd disagree with that: Dreamweaver is a great bit of kit, acknowledged in the industry at the GUI tool to use. especially Ultradev - it's database access is excellent.

Are they evil as in "They are the spawn of Satan"-evil, or evil as in "they are slightly different from the rest" evil?

[Wally Pipp]

It may be ridiculously overpriced but Dreamweaver and Ultradev are every bit as good as the price you pay for it.

[mendhak]

Originally posted by Gaffer


Mmm, I'd disagree with that: Dreamweaver is a great bit of kit, acknowledged in the industry at the GUI tool to use. especially Ultradev - it's database access is excellent.

Are they evil as in "They are the spawn of Satan"-evil, or evil as in "they are slightly different from the rest" evil?

Spawn of Satan...

I wasn't talkin' about their product. Their products are great. It's the company I despise... Perhaps you didn't come across the news article, where Macromedia wants web developers to change the entire Internet..?

Basically, everything should be made in Flash, using their products.

[mendhak]

More specifically, they wanted web developers to create entire websites in Flash only.

[Gaffer]

I'm not up to date with their company policy (and I usually keep an eye on such stuff() - I agree that their idea on Flash is evil - if they want a complete Flash solution, then I think Migraine Tablets will sell out in months

Do you have the article to hand?

This new PDA/Internet thing, (Pogo?) uses only Shockwave/Flash for web access, so I guess there are already products out there conforming with MMedia's future plans....

[Jim Brown]

If your site changes, like if you add new products or events or whatever, highlight the changes somehow: either 'new since last visit' if you use cookies, or even just 'new in last 7 days'.

[Gaffer]

Images:

* Quick image download: process your images in an image manipulation package, such as photoshop and change image quality -
Photos (or images with gradients) should be saved as JPEGS (.jpg) - you can usually get away with 33-50% image quality
Catoon images and other non gradient images should be save as GIFs

* Only use web colours

* Your image (if scanning, etc) only has to be 72 dpi (less on a Mac I think) - this cuts the image size down...

[Behemoth]

Originally posted by mendhak
Also, right at the bottom of the page, include all the keywords you can think off. Make the text color of the keywords the same as the background, so users don't see it.

It'll help with them search engines.

sorry mendhak, but some search engines will actually penalise you for this - even if the text colour and background colours are different but similar you might be punished.

If you must hide keywords on a page, make them the same colour as a background image (a single pixel image tiled is fine), but a contrasting colour from the background itself (which is no longer visible due to the background image)

sneaky...

[Wynd]

interesting. how do they punish you?

[BG]

Don't Mix fonts. Veranda and Beeking do not mix. Stick with one font family. It looks muck cleaner. Make sure the page is balanced. By that I mean dont have a huge honking block of text or graphic in one part of the page an nothing on the opposite side of the page to balance it out. If you use front page do not do anything that depends on the server extensions.

[JungleMan]

Being that I've got a side job in web design I believe I could be of help...

- Use clean, neutral fonts like Verdana or Arial. Avoid Comic Sans MS at all costs. Times New Roman isn't particularly attractive, either.
- Anti-alias your graphics' text. Use Fireworks or Photoshop to do this
- Don't choose bright colors, even if it looks a little toned down it's better than something bright
- No flying stuff
- Make navigation simple. When I'm desiging I usually use a top navigation bar (as opposed to one on the side), it's clean and simple and it just works.
- I sometimes go with a slightly off-black text color. It gives the page a little interest.
- Make sure you use CSS hover-links, it's very easy to add in and it looks nice...so when the user hovers over a link it turns a certain color
- JavaScript is a great thing but don't over use it otherwise it gets annoying.
- USE DREAMWEAVER!! It saves me HOURS of work on my sites since a layout change takes just minutes. Sure on a 3 page website you won't notice it but try changing the layout on each individual page of a 20 page website by hand, it might take hours!

A website isn't a design contest, a lot of people seem to think a web page is "Oh look how many fancy effects and scripts I know how to make". Keep it simple, classy looking, and to the point.

Use nice graphics and colors and that will give your website the flair you want, not silly flying JavaScript effects.

Look at how I did NXSupport, it's a very simple layout, just a couple of images, tables, and a link map, but it looks great and I've gotten several compliments on it, especially the Graphite variation.

That's all I can think of right now.

[BG]

Definatly no flying stuff. I was at a site this morning that had a fooking Gorilla chasing my mouse pointer all over the place. Annoying as hell.

[Gimlin]

The Dont Do List:

-Dont use a font nobody has
-Dont use neon colors EVER
-Dont use flying stuff, and nothing that follows the mouse
-Dont play music period, if you insist dont auto play it let the user turn it on.
-Dont use dark text on a dark background and same goes to light background and text
-Dont Make it only IE compatible think of people with netscape and opera
-Dont make the whole site made of one giant image map
-FRAMES SUCK PERIOD NOW AND FOREVER
-Dont use Iframes
-Dont make a fancy navigation using DHTML or JS, without making something simple for the average user.
-Dont make the page extremely long, break it into many pages if needed.
-(optional) Back and Forward buttons, I personally think are totally lame.

I cant think of any more right now. Basicly if your site looks like a geocities site, your a lost cause

[Beacon]

thanks guys! I've designed quite a few but wanted to make sure there wasnt something i was missing that makes it great instead of good!

Any company related sites that you think are great design i'd be interested in viewing!

b

[Gimlin]

Things to make sure you do:

1. By god dont use the default link color
2. Make the font big enough for every reader, remember grandma cant read size 8 font
3. Again dont use music. Because forgetful people like grandma leave the speakers on full blast, and it gives them a heart attack.
4. If you have ads, place them in good locations that do not interfer with the content or layout.
5. Select the colors your going to use first, most people end up doing shades of the same color, but as long as it not neon. See neon gives grandma seizers
6. Dont over do it on the flash, grandma factor
7. For god sakes dont make people register just to view your content. Grandma is afraid of sending personal information.

The most helpful think I can think off is; make it as cool as possible without letting your content suffer when it comes down to putting it on. And Dont make the site to large (filesize), because grandma only has a 14.4k modem.


Yah, so, umm, you wanted a site to look at, and I gave you a long winded statement, o well here is your link.

http://www.hostrocket.com/home/index.htm

[siyan]

keep the design consistent (colours, graphic styles, etc)

avoid overly flash graphics: use good taste

use dreamweaver and golive (marginal). avoid frontpage at all costs.

don't overdo the flash interfaces, simple and elegant is the way

make text easy to read!

don't use serif fonts unless there is an artisitc reason for it

style is important (vague i know..its hard to explain guys!)

http://www.cwd.dk <-- check that site out for some ideas. not all the sites featured there are good imho, but many are very nice.

[siyan]

Use:

Dreamwevaer
Flash
Any upper end graphics programs
Windows Media Video
CSS
LIGHT javascript

Don't use:

Frontpage
Paint
Quicktime
<Font>, <Big>, etc tags
DHTML
HEAVY javascript

-C

[Gimlin]

Arg I hate how that site has made the text in their links not make the hand icon on the mouse.

[siyan]

Originally posted by Gimlin
Arg I hate how that site has made the text in their links not make the hand icon on the mouse.

AHH RUN ITS CHEAPNESS!

-C

[Gimlin]

Originally posted by siyan


Don't use:

<Font>


-C

Their is nothing wrong with the font tag.

[siyan]

Originally posted by Gimlin


Their is nothing wrong with the font tag.

its HTML4.0 depreciated. you should be using CSS anyhow, ever since IE4.

-C

[Gimlin]

True Enough, we should chalk that up on the list, learn and use CSS

[crptcblade]

Most importantly, don't threaten world leaders on the site. Just because the font color matches the background, they still know its there. That's how I got in trouble with Urkel.

[crptcblade]

But if you insist on it, be sure to use CSS and not the font tag to hide your hateful remarks.

[chrisjk]

I disagree about the non use of <font>

So what if it's HTML4? That's the most current standard. Amixture of HTML and CSS is good, relying soley on CSS is bad

Here I come with my non-CSS compliant browser......whooooooooops!

[crptcblade]

Originally posted by chrisjk
Here I come with my non-CSS compliant browser......whooooooooops!

That's why you add the Hobo disclaimer :

If you're not good enough to be here, then get the f**k out!