Advanced Web Design.
subtitled: Living on a
learning curve.
WEB DESIGNERS NOTE: The Cyber Space environment with-in
which the following words were assembled in, assembled for and assembled in an attempt to
define, is at a developmental stage not dissimilar to where the Movie Industry was at 100
years ago. Pioneers (amateurs?) assembling moving pictures interspersed by text, thus, the
web design concepts discussed are those used to create an I.C.P, (Internet Content Provider) an I.C.P that is designed to
accommodate the Lowest
Common Denominator
of Internet interface connectivity.
In short, how to build an L.C.D-I.C.P ;O)--~
This is the closest that I have yet
come to defining the principles of web design, which, when all is said and done, is little
more than an application of style and logic, coupled to a thorough understanding of
the content that one is trying to display, although Information Sequencing is, perhaps, a more accurate term
for exactly what *it is* that a web designer does. For example this exact page is designed
to be an example of the most basic web display method of all: The TOILET ROLL
Format.
One long scroll of words that
requires heaps of forward and then backward clicking. Unlike the majority of toilet roll
pages, this one doesn't suffer too much from FEATURE CREEP SYNDROME. F.C.S is when a
Toilet Roll has say 20 or more images / sub-link options on it. In short, this page is an almost perfect example of WHAT NOT TO DO. ;O)--~
There are another couple of ways to
weave a web sites, the first and most common is the
LOOP-HOOP style. A loop hoop style web site basically
offers the Visitor an All
sub-page - at all times-
options at either the side or top and/or bottom of each individual framed screen, the loop-hoop style assumes
that the visitor knows exactly what to look for and the webmasters task is simply to throw
the data in there and let the visitor do the continuity work. The loop-hoop style is ideal
for catalogues and other product
driven web sites, the loop-hoop site can become a very effective sub zone however and a
though understanding of loop-hoop site construction forms a vital component of the next
level, the creation of a web zone.
A web zone is an assembly of data arrayed in a
Linear Progression Style and is by
far the most artistic style of presentation, however, linear zones require day to day -
hands on adjustment and can be compared to the difference between piloting a shopping
trolley and an open wheeler racing car.
Unlike television or radio, a linear
web zone enables a mechanism which has both
a NOW function and an ALL function, the major difference being that when you first tune in
to a TV or Radio station, you don’t receive their first broadcast first and then
wait-in real time- to catch up to the now.
The linear progression zone is
powered by a data motor, each file / page/ screen full of data represents the pistons of the data motor, and thus, the essential difference
between a loop-hoop and a linear zone is that a linear zone has a specific firing order.
The Entry Level or
initial concept exposure continuity path is a
succession of one time view only cyber screens, an ON Ramp, ideally it should instruct the
cyber citizen as to how best to navigate the structure, the navigational aids employed, be
they buttons, or drop down menus or underlined text, act as the cylinder head of the data
motor, they should propel the reader through the content along a predetermined continuity
path, enabling them an over view of the web zone
content, with an end result to enabling them to become a regular reader / data consumer by
delivering the now educated visitor to a membership decision page.
From this page, the central hub,
individual LOOP style zones of ‘self contained
content’ can be arrayed around the central hub, each linked to the other by
navigational aids that the member now knows
how to operate.
The NOW zone or members entrance is
created for several reasons, firstly it breaks the total click volume into 2 separate
streams, newbies and regulars, which enables a diagnostic function, secondly it also
enables the webmaster to experiment with features and images that may be a bit advanced
for the initial
concept exposure continuity path, it
is a bookmarkable page that is "two clicks" to the NOW, not to mention the fact
that it spreads the
load of simultaneous file access requests on the host server.
The Now zone is hard wired into the
ALL zone, ideally, it should have sub-links to a chat room,
to live wwwindows
and other input features, not to mention text based content that is arrayed as In Flight Entertainment, it is with in this domain that the
web master spends a majority of his now time constructing new screens for the members to
view.
Thus the Now of the web zone
accumulates, building the "whole" of the ALL of the zone and providing an
increasingly layered volume of content that should enable a sense of community to develop,
the kind of community, say, that would form between the members of a cyber space station.
;O)--~
Anyway, this about it as far as I
have got with these words at this point in time, natcherally, I can edit this
page if and when it occurs to me, indeed, one of the really kewwwl things about the web is
the fact that you can reinvent your self on a daily basis, with none of your newbie readers being the wiser.
Wwwhilst I got you here, no TOILET
ROLL would be come complete with out the addition of extra words, which are, in true
toilet roll fashion, formatted against a back ground that makes it harder to read ;o)--~ |
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wwwebolution, all I know about it.
words assembled by /~rebelart ;O)--~
Think of the web like it’s a telephone
for a second, after all that’s what it mostly is, now, remember when you bought your
first little black book? All those empty pages that seem to take a life time of friendly
living to fill? That’s what a web zone is like the instant it’s created, full of
potential and little more. Now think about a web site like it’s a gas station on the
side of the information super highway and since the entire side of the road is lined with
gas stations, a customer pulling up to your information pump is more likely to arrive by
chance than design.
The service and content, the overall
experience that you provide will determine whether they return, which basically
means that since chance cannot be relied upon for a regular supply of visitors, one has to
rely on attracting customers by design, but how does one increase the chances of
visitation, particularly in a field of intense competition, in a High
$take$ World where a 1% harvest of the total web traffic results in over a million
potential customers?
Search engine’s are a joke as far as attracting
cyber citizens, so many new zones are being created at the moment that some search engines
major input is add URL not search
requests which means that the ranking system is constantly being over whelmed by
fresh input, so much new content is being generated that it is estimated that no one
search engine index currently holds more than 16% of the web total.
Which basically means that it is hard to get listed
and once you do, you still only have a 20% chance of being a part of the part of the web
that the arbitrary search engine has indexed.
Trouble is.......
This is quite besides the high odds of any
arbitrary searcher finding your web zone based on a single word or three word search
phrase, factor in the Spamdexing that happened in late 98-
early 99, couple that to the fact that the search engine that tells every one that every
second web user uses it - which I find strange as I have yet to meet anyone who has a
favourite search engine or a single person who actually uses Yah know who- anyhoo, ya know
wwwho now charge BIG DOLLAR$ for guaranteed listing with in a week, which to my mind lowers the
integrity of their data base and will tend to limit the number of users who are prepared
to use it in the future, the point being, it doesn't hurt to add your URL to all the main
search engines every so often but DON'T rely on them as a
primary source of visitors, WHAT SO EVER.
A problem that no one seems to talk about is that
cerfing the www (BTW, it is cerf the web, not surf, Vinton Cerf was the name of the man
who invented the protocols that enabled the creation of L.A.N’s and W.A.N’s, ftp
and <hypertext>) is the poor step child when it comes down to
where cyber citizens actually dedicate their media minutes on a daily basis.
The lack of audience volume and the web site super
saturation situation is exacerbated by the basic phases of wwweb-olution that every
individual undergoes by default once they begin to integrate
the Internet into their daily life style. The first phase is commonly referred to as the Newbie phase, this can last for months and is the period when the
‘lure’ of the www is at it’s highest, hours are spent cerfing the web,
being amazed by the eyecandy and cgi ability of cyber artists, with an emphasis on
downloading all the free programs and inspiration a Newbie
needs to under go metamorphosis.
The next phase, is the chrysalis or cocoon stage, it’s when the
Newbie weaves their first web site, a place with in which they will display the
icons of their affiliations and begin to assemble the network of ‘like minded people
with common goals’ that is required for the next stage of development. It is during
the chrysalis phase when inter-personal chat programs begin to consume more of the
available media minutes, not to mention the distraction of on line games, discussion
groups and sending / answering email.
Many cyber citizens are happy with the parameters of the
chrysalis stage of web development, cocooned by their concentration on their special
interest, they spend the majority of their on line time cerfing a ‘regular
route’ of web content and rely on either mainstream media or email for new or
interesting web zones to cerf, the web zone woven at this level of web development is
often a family photo album or a hobby zone about individual pursuits which inevitably will
include the coolest picture of them ever taken and a list of their regular cerfing route.
The third, and somewhat rarer stage is more commonly referred to as webmaster
or power user, inclusion in the clan elan, the elite few, who
represent the spine of the www happens almost by default, it happens the instant the
domain you maintain has a steady cyber pulse, a cyber pulse is measured in bytes of
information delivered by the internal / content pages of the web zone that is, not by the
number of hit’s to the index page. The index page is just the front door and
it’s a revolving door, easy in and easy out. At this stage of development, the cyber
citizen is very difficult to reach, they are primarily engaged in promoting their web
projects to a stage where they can make a living from them.
Effective Cyber Promotion is an ongoing element of cyber space and needs to be tailored to
all 3 basic stages of webbed development and more importantly woven into the basic
structure of every web zone as it is built. In other words trying to apply mainstream
methodology to cyber space is pointless, mainstream methods are designed for a lower
common denominator than the Internet and an entirely different interface of inter personal
data exchange, most main stream media are OUT PUT only, the web is one on one, up close-
in your face- a very very Personal inter face.
If intelligence is measured by the amount of
knowledge "available to" the individual, then the unwebbed are less intelligent
than the webbed, for example you can bet your bottom dollar that the top 1% of the most
educated, powerful, influential and rich people have had access to the Internet for years.
The point is that there is a very small pool of people from which to attract a cyber pulse
at any given time, a highly intelligent pool of potential visitors the majority of whom
are sick and tired of the entire concept of advertising.
Indeed, it seems that every body is trying to find the magic formula that will deliver the
millions of users that seem to be out there, and it seems to me that
the magic formula is
"The quality of the content of a web zone is directly proportional to the quality and
quantity of wwword of mouth referral it creates."
In conclusion, I would firstly like to say,
well done if you read the whole rack down to here and secondly I would like to mention
that should you desire rebelart do
any wwweaving on your behalf or you have questions or seek further clarifications on some
of the the concepts above, then simply
Click HERE.
See
you else web in Cyber Space.;O)--~
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