Tryangled Solutions web designing tips tricks

MySQL is a relational database system that is used to store information. MySQL can store many types of data from something as tiny as a single character to as large as complete files or graphics. Although it can be accessed by most programing languages, it is often coupled with PHP because they work together with ease.

Information stored in a MySQL database hosted on a web server can be accessed from anywhere in the world with a computer. This makes it a good way to store information that needs the ability to change over time, but also needs to be accessed over the net. Some examples that can utilize MySQL are a web message board or a customer’s shipping status.

Improved text rendering is just the beginning of the benefits of an all new graphic engine for Firefox 3.

1. You need to decide which key phrases to target by researching which words or phrases your target audience will search for. These keywords must then be incorporated into your title, description and content between 5 and 8 times within the editorial content that consists of between 200 and 400 words.
2. Your site’s structure needs to be set up so that it can be properly indexed. You also should not build your site completely out of graphics, flash, javascript or other such dynamic content.
3. Web sites that are difficult to navigate, slow to load or leave you wondering what it is about will not perform very well. So, make sure that the flow of information is both logical and intuitive.
4. Inbound links are a very important part of organic optimization but herein quality also matters more than quantity. Relevant links are more important than “junk” links are and if you get a lot of “junk” links you will look like you are abusing or spamming them. Some examples of “junk” links are links that come from link farms and free-for-all link pages.

While paid search advertising is growing in popularity, the need for unpaid optimization is growing because paid campaigns can only offer short-term exposure and you will want long-term results. Plus web sites that have unpaid optimization tend to offer users a more quality experience.

Every hosting account has a certain allotment of disk space. The disk space is used to hold all the files which make up your web site – HTML files, graphics, scripts, and multi-media content. Usually the more expensive the hosting package the more disk space and the more bandwidth you receive.

A basic web site with just a few pages requires less than 1 MB of disk space. As you add more content and include things like downloadable files, pictures, music, and video you will require more disk space. Email also takes up disk space. If you have an account with a small disk allotment you may find that unsolicited SPAM may be eating away at your disk allotment. It’s always a good idea to go through your inbox from time to time to delete unnecessary emails.

What will happen if you use too much disk space? Each web host has their own policy about this but it’s safe to say that you will be charged for the extra space. Often this penalty is much higher than regular rates for disk space so it’s important to keep an eye on how much space you are using and if you are approaching the limit, either purchase more space or delete some files.

How can you tell how much space you are using? Most hosting packages have a control panel for making adjustments to almost every aspect of your account. These control panels usually tell you how much disk space is being used and may also rate it against your allotment so you can see at a glance if you are approaching your limit. If your hosting account does not have this feature you can judge the amount of space by downloading your entire site to a folder on your personal computer in order to check how much space it takes.

As a rough guide, consider that an average web page (3 graphics and 2 screen lengths of text) takes about 20 kb (to be generous). At this rate, a hosting package with 10 MB can have about 500 pages. Since most small sites are less than 50 pages 10 MB should be plenty to get started. But what about databases? They are usually calculated separately from your disk allotment but check with your web host to see what their policy is.

If you place music or video files on your website your need for disk space (and bandwidth) starts to take off. A typical 3 minute MP3 file takes about 2.5 to 3 MB of disk space. A short video (very poor quality) can take 1 MB. A good rule of thumb for those wishing to host multimedia is to estimate the total size of the files and get an account with double that space. This will allow for future expansion. Always check with your web host, though, before placing sound or video files on your website. Some have policies against this type of content because it places a strain on the bandwidth allotment – a serious consideration with a shared hosting package.

Now that your web site is up and running you want to know how many people are visiting your site and how they are finding it. Most web hosts give you access to this information (and a lot more) in the form of web statistics.

All visits to your site are logged by the server software. Log files contain information about the origin of the visitor (their IP address), the type of browser they were using, which pages they viewed, how long they stayed, whether or not they arrived from a search engine and if so, what keywords they used to locate your site. All very useful information.

The trouble is, raw log files are scary to look at and impossible to make any sense of. They are long lists of numbers and cryptic words that can only reveal their secrets with the aid of a statistics program. There are a few stats programs to choose from. They take the raw server logs and parse them into readable (and sometimes colourful) charts that are fairly easy to interpret.

Most web hosts will include a stats program as part of their hosting package. You should be able to access it through the control panel which is used to make various settings on your account. Some of the popular web stat programs are AWStats, Analog, and WebAlizer. All three of these programs are free.

Stats programs divide the information of the log files into useful categories. A summary of the data may be included at the top of the readout and tell you information such as ‘unique visitors’, ‘number of hits’, and ‘number of pages’.

Not all this information is important. The number of hits, for example, simply counts the total number of requests for any individual part of your site including graphics, script files and any other files that are part of a page. If your home page has 4 pictures and 2 other files the hit count is increased by 7 each time someone views that page.

The number of page views is important because it tells you which pages are popular. This allows you to fine-tune your site by dropping or modifying unpopular pages and making sure that popular pages link to areas that you want to promote.

Popular entry and exit pages are also worth tweaking. Visitors will not always arrive at your site through the home page, especially if they’ve found your site through a search engine. Make sure that popular entry pages contain relevant information and adjust exit pages to be more appealing. Exit pages should provide one last chance for them to buy or bookmark your site for future reference.

Referring sites show you where people are coming from. If they have found you from a search engine you will also see what keywords they used to find your site. This information tells you which keywords are important for optimizing your site.  You can then design new content based on these keywords to attract even more visitors in the future.

Rather than rely on the stats produced by your server, you can hire a third party service to monitor your web site.  These services range from basic ‘counter’ that usually offer less information than your server does, to comprehensive client-side stats collection.

Stats services can be useful if you need more precise information about your visitors. For example, visitors from a large organization may all appear to be the same because they all have the same IP address. Stat services can break down IP addresses into individual users.

These services can be useful for more precise monitoring of your website and for targeting specific niches. Most site owners, however, will find enough useful information in their server’s statistics.

Many people feel that graphics make the Web site more usable. Another contingent feels that they make sites unusable. Neither group is right. According to this study, the amount of images on a page had no visible effect on the gathering of information, with two exceptions. These are:

1. Animation
Users found it annoying and “several users covered [the animations] up with their hands”. In fact, one animated image had the answer to one question in it, but the users simply didn’t see the answer there.
2. Download Time
This was not generally an issue, except with a page that had a lot of small images and poor alt text. The image had the answer, but users would navigate away before the image had downloaded.

It is easy to think that everyone has the same abilities as you do. People viewing Web pages don’t have special needs beyond seeing new information, interesting graphics, and useful effects, right? Wrong.

Lots of people with visual impairments, hearing impairments, and mobility impairments use the World Wide Web every day. While Web Designers can’t do much about the hardware that disabled people are using, we can strive to make our pages more accessible to them.

One of the easiest ways to check your page for Accessibility is to send it through the HTML checker, WebXact. WebXact checks your HTML and redisplays the page with images as annotations to help you see where your page might be inaccessible. WebXact checks both browser compatibility problems and disability access problems.

Here are some of the common errors and how to fix them:

* Missing alternative text description
Don’t forget the alternative text in your <img> tags. This helps people who use screen readers know what the images are, it is also useful for people who view the Web with images off

* Page does not have a noframes version
Include a <noframes> version of your framed pages on the top level frameset. A page with a completely replicated noframes version is more accessible than a noframes version that simply suggests the viewer get a different browser.

* Missing alternative text descriptions for image maps
Put an alt=”text” in your HTML area tags For example:

<area shape=rect coords=0,0,10,10 href=”example.htm” alt=”example”>

This helps people with screen readers know where the image map will take them.

* No text only links for image heavy pages
It is a nice touch to add links to text-only versions of your pages. These pages often load faster and when it is text only there is little problem for screen readers.

* No descriptive text for audio files and movie files
While audio files improve the Web experience for blind people, they are inaccessible for deaf people. The reverse is true for movie files. When there is descriptive text for these types of files, they make the page more accessible to more people.

1. Adobe Photoshop - The ability to use and understand the basics of pixel based photo manipulation. The best Photoshop experts are constantly learning and experimenting through online tutorials, books and seminars. This is the grand daddy of them all. Make it a goal to spend X amount of time each week learning a new technique.

Test: Can you do complex selections via the selection tool? Are you accomplished with layers? Do you understand how to use adjustment layers, masks and channels? Can you remove blemishes, “scratches” and color correct

2. Adobe Illustrator - The ability to use and understand vector based graphics. This program is essential to creating crisp, clean artwork. You will need this program for logo/identity creation, poster work and even some print work. The program can be a bit tricky to learn but worth all and any aggravation to learn it.

Test: Do you understand the concept of bezier curves? Can you convert a bitmap image to a vector graphic? Have you mastered multi-step gradients? Do you know how to create graphic images with text?

3. Adobe InDesign or Quark Express - The ability to use a page layout program. This program is fundamental to any print work. Whether you are creating books, magazines, brochures, sell sheets or advertisements you will need to possess the skills of a high-end layout program.

Test: Do you understand the concept of Master Pages? Would you be able to set up a 32 page catalog? Do you have an understanding of how to control text with images? i.e.; how to flow text in and around images. Do you have basic knowledge of offset printing and pre-press processes? Hint: if not, schedule a visit to a fairly large local printer and ask if you can be shown their process AND bring a list of a questions.

4. Flash - The ability to use and understand this motion-based juggernaut. Flash is now the most widely deployed video platform on the Internet. Flash Player is installed on nearly twice as many desktops and devices as any other video player. As the web becomes more and more video-based having a solid knowledge of Flash, In my opinion, is one of the most important programs to learn.

Test: Can you create a simple animation? Do you understand the concept of keyframes? Do you know how to incorporate a Flash movie into a web page? Do you understand the power of interactivity and user interface design?

5. Understand Typography One of the most “overlooked” design skills today is knowledge of Typographic design. It is one of the tell-tale signs between a good and excellent designer. Our business is all about communication and if type is not clear, appropriate or well designed the design is seriously compromised.

Test: Do you have a font management system installed on your computer? Have you recently read (or revisited) some of the classic type books? Are you up-to-speed on typographic standards? Do you know the difference between True Type, PostScript and OpenType fonts? Do you have a font reference guide resource book in your studio?

6. Idea Generation In the design business it is critical to have a method of idea generation. Why? Some of the best designers in the world are paid the most money not because they know Photoshop of Flash better than you do but because they have the ability to consistently come up with new and innovative ideas that make their clients serious money.

Test: What methods do you use to generate ideas? Do you know how other innovative thinkers come up with their brilliant ideas? How often to you read (in general) so as to have myriad references and viewpoints to call upon? What do you do when your idea well has gone dry?

7. Building a Network To be successful in area of life you need the help and support of others. This is especially important for designers who need to spend much of their time in their studios/offices. Building a network of trusted confidants and friends will pay off in more ways than you know.

Test: How often do you attend networking events or seminars? Have you made a list of 5 influential people that could help your career? Do you have some sort of system for capturing and entering your new contacts information? What can you do this week to open and expand your network? Have you sought out a successful mentor?

BONUS SKILL #8. General Business Skills You do not have to be a genius at business but you DO need to know basic business skills, like; sales, marketing, accounting, tax strategies, database management, etc. This tends to be one myth that designers rather not deal with. If you are marketing your own design firm or you are a freelancer the sooner you learn your business is NOT graphic design but the advertising and marketing business you will be light years ahead of your competition.

Test: Do you know the basic outline of a sales call? What new marketing strategies have you learned/implemented? When was the last time you wrote a hand-written thank you note or sent a surprise gift to a client?