HTML:
The Heart of Web Site Design & Development
HTML
- HyperText Markup Language
This is
an example of a web page that uses only the older HTML standard rules.
While by nature the design is limited, this approach has some great
features that cannot be discounted.
- Displays
well in any browser. It is important to know your audience. The world
wide web is a very young technology and although we have slowly added
some major improvements in HTML specifications, browsers are notoriously
well behind the times in the implementation of these specifications,
and web users don't exactly stay current with each browser upgrade.
Realize that although you want to try to reach the mass audience who
are using modern browsers, there is still a massive audience who are
well behind the times in current browser technology for various reasons.
Some of these reasons are quite understandable, as browser companies
consistently resort to worse forms of guerrilla marketing. Netscape
is always installing crap that I neither requested, wanted or needed,
and it's like a root canal trying to figure out what they have done
to mess with my system so that I can correct the problem. Microsoft
makes millions selling valid email addresses which it collects through
Hotmail, MSN, .NET and many of it's subsidiaries in the evil empire.
No one wants to upgrade anymore, and it's quite understandable why.
Aside from that there are many who just don't know or think of it.
Still, it is a necessary evil since we all need to simply protect
ourselves from security holes revealed in older software. The majority
of users surfing the web would be ranked starting with the latest
version of IE or Netscape, but many are not and there are over 100
other browsers out there to chose from (source: Browser
Watch). Some of these are still in the development stages or abandoned
projects, but understand many of these are probably someone's favorite
browser. I.E.: There are at least 4 web browsers for the Amiga. Since
the Amiga platform was slowly and painfully abandoned after Commodore
went under by a series of misfortunate owners, there isn't a whole
lot of development for the old classic Amigas anymore (though there
is still some). After all, Amigas are still put to good use today
for hobbyists, enthusiasts, video amateurs, cable television stations,
professional television production houses and colleges. So the one
standard that everyone must support is HTML, or they can't call it
a browser for the world wide web. This way we know we can serve pages
to everyone without discrimination.
- One
other great aspect of the HTML standard is that it is the fundamentals
on which all of the new standards are based. If you are able to grasp
a working knowledge of HTML, you will easily be able to move on from
there. Since HTML is so fundamental to current cutting edge technology,
it is a great place to start.
- HTML
is also relatively easy and simple language to learn because it is
based on the terms used in the English language instead of a set of
obscure symbols. This gives even a self starting entrepreneur an edge
in jumping right into the cyber business bandwagon. Though it is considered
a scripting language, HTML is simply a series of commands allowing
the rudimentary formatting and hyperlinking of documents. This means
that you won't crash your computer trying to get the code to function,
and you can see your progress in the resulting document formatting
as you progress with a solution.
- HTML
doesn't require any special tools. A simple ASCII text editor will
do. Many freeware and shareware HTML editor versions exist as well.
And there are many easy to use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
software programs that allow you to simply create without worrying
about the underlying code, should you simply want to create simple
pages. This makes it easy for us to create compelling sites that our
clientele can maintain.
It is therefore
for the above reasons that it is logical for Symbiotic Design, or any
design studio, to always design a set of HTML pages to accompany any
leading edge technology pages for web sites. It is not only where the
project begins, it is what gives birth to the final high tech "designer"
pages of a web site. In this way, if a user's browser won't support
a
So when
you have the Symbiotic Design Team design and develop a small 6 page
web site for you or your company, what you are really getting is a 12
page web presence so that you have maximum exposure no matter what the
circumstances, without alienating anyone. You don't often see this kind
of thoughtfulness and dedication from a web development company.
If all
you want is an HTML website, tell us, we can work out some sort of discount.
But as a rule, we will not design DHTML pages without also designing
basic HTML so that everyone can see your global presence.
As you
can see, HTML design, though simple, can be effective. And effective
design is what business requires. We can do all of the DHTML coding
your heart desires, but if your a small startup, is that what's appropriate?
Surely, you can grow into that with an effective HTML design to ground
you in as a base.
All content
requiring formatting which is delivered on the world wide web sits on
top of HTML code in order for it to be displayed in a browser save one,
text. But since HTML is a text based language, so browsers can easily
display text documents. Even if your web site code is generated dynamically
through an application on the server, there has to be a front end HTML
document to direct traffic to the program or script, and the information
it delivers to the browser is formatted as an HTML document. Documents
which do not require formatting such as GIFs and JPEGs can be delivered
to browsers without any formatting, but to access the file you must
know the exact URL (the Universal Resource Locator specifies the exact
server address, directory path and filename) without spelling errors
or any character case transposition. HTML makes the job of delivering
the file to the browser easier by providing it's URL in a hyperlink,
or in allowing you to dictate how the image is displayed.
Even though
DHTML allows more freedom in design by providing a strict set of rules
for formatting documents, it is still sitting on top of HTML because
it's standard is based on the HTML standard.
There is
a new standard coming, it is XML and is not based on HTML at all, but
on the language with which HTML was based, SGML. This new standard won't
be HTML compatible and it will probably throw the industry into a dizzy
trying to support it. We will probably see more browser specific propietary
code making designers and developers alike choose sides on which browser
platform to support just as we saw, and still see throughout HTML's
youth and maturity. So to be safe we will still need to support the
HTML standard for a very long time if we want our visitors and customers
to see what we intend them to.
We love
doing DHTML and cutting edge websites, but you need to make sure that
you can reach as broad an audience as possible. Increase your odds of
success with an HTML base along with a DHTML kicked site for half the
price as other design houses charge.
We're here
to make a difference to you and your customers. We offer innovative
layout, professional graphic design, a growing image catalog at your
disposal, great website development, and superior site hosting services
backed up by our unequaled customer support with a personal touch throughout
the design, development and production of your website. And wait until
you hear about our marketing solutions. You simply can't go wrong choosing
Symbiotic Design.
Article by dp, Doug Peters, Symbiotic Design Creative Director
