Keith D. Holler - The Official Website

by Keith D. Holler

Web design is no longer just for the techno-geek. Gone are the days of required expensive and hard to master web design applications like Dreamweaver and Frontpage. Since the majority of the programming is text based, you can use any text editor to design your site. Programs like Notepad or Wordpad that are packaged with Microsoft Windows are becoming more common place. You could design your entire site in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher and export it from the file menu into a complete web site that is ready to upload to your web hosting account. But, as with anything, some knowledge is still required.

“But what’s up with all these initials you techno-geeks are hung up on and what’s it all mean?”

I know we techno-geeks tend to speak in a language all our own, so bare with me as I attempt to decipher it here:

What is HTML?

Hyper Text Mark-Up Language (HTML) is a subset of Standard Generalized Mark-Up Language (SGML) for electronic publishing and is the specific standard used for the World Wide Web. Here is a sample:

<center>Centered Text</center>

An excellent online HTML tutorial can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/html.

What is PHP?

Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a programming language that allows web developers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases. It is embedded in HTML and is processed on the server before displaying the page to the visitor. PHP is basically used for developing web based software applications. Here is a sample:

<?php
$variable = 'Hello World!';
echo $variable;
?>

This would print "Hello World!" on the page.

An excellent online PHP tutorial can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/php.

What is CGI?

Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a server-side communication standard supported by all web servers for accessing external programs. Examples of CGI programs are gateways to databases and scripts that process and return HTML commands to the server. Since HTML allows only one-way communication from the server, which is read by the web browser or client, CGI permits communication and interaction from the client to the server for two-way, dynamic web pages.

However, with the advent of PHP, it is not as widely used anymore. PHP is much easier to use and debug.

What is a CMS?

A Content Management System (CMS) is an already coded web site that you install/upload to your web hosting account. They are usually included for free by your hosting company and can be installed with a single click in CPanel's (http://www.cpanel.net) Fantastico (http://netenberg.com/fantastico.php). Ask your web hosting company if they have CPanel and Fantastico available to you.

The benefits of a CMS is speed and ease of use. It allows anyone, regardless of their technical knowledge, to get a full-featured and functional web site up and running fast.

Basically, it gives you a complete web site structure that you can add your own content to directly from the site itself, using any computer with an Internet connection and a web browser. Some come complete with themes that you can select from a pull-down menu and change your site's appearance instantly. Most have the ability to self-install add-on modules such as Bulletin Board Forums, Guestbooks, and Cookbooks. You simply click the install button for the module and you suddenly have a new functioning area on your site.

Some HTML knowledge is good, because it allows you to enter HTML tags in your content for formatting, but it is not required. For an example visit KeithHoller.com. It is totally designed and maintained using a CMS called phpwebsite (http://phpwebsite.appstate.edu).

A Word About Speed & Display Proportions

Having a web site that looks like the next hot video game on your XBOX is a wonder to behold, but it isn't realistic. Although high speed Internet connections are now low cost and widely available, millions of people still use dial-up. All of those fancy Flash animations, graphic intense menu buttons, and the like take time to load. You will most certainly drive your dial-up visitors to the point of suicide if they have to wait up to 3 minutes for your site to load. Let's face it... they won't wait. They will flee like rats on a sinking ship. What good is that fancy web site if visitors never see it? Always keep the dial-up visitors in mind while designing your site. Keep your graphics and animations to a minimum.

Another thing to keep in mind is display proportions of your pages. If you design your site to display at 1024x800 resolution only, people that are using 640x480 or 800x600 will have to scroll sideways to see all of your site. Try to design your pages to fit in at least a display of 800x600 resolution. Your visitors will thank you by actually clicking on your menu that may happen to be on the right side of the page.

In Closing

I hope that I have succeeded in demystifying the art of web design and that I have given you a starting point in the design of your own web site. Many people just starting out in web design have frequently told me in the past that it is difficult. I think it is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. We geeks tend to clutter things up with silly initials and long drawn out geekspeak that we make it seem harder than it really is. Could it be that we are afraid that if we let it be known how easy it really is, we are jeopardizing that fat income we make?

Hmmmm... something else to think about.