Hosting

Free
Yahoo Geocities
Google Page Creator

Blogs
Blogger
Live Journal
Xanga

Image Hosting
Flickr
Photobucket

Video Hosting
You Tube

Domain Names
Domain name registries around the world
Godaddy

Buying Space
Good Hosting Services
Media Temple

Good Web Resources
75 Helpful Web Design Resources

Meta Data

To find out more about Meta Data, read your book:

Pages 525- 528 up to the Client-Pull sections
Pages 535-536 for using meta for search engines.

The minimum meta information you should have on your pages are: author, description, and keywords.


Common meta tags
A list of useful meta tags

CSS Cheatsheets & Overview

The CSS cheatsheet can be found at:
I love Jack Daniels

An online CSS reference is available at:
Style Gala: CSS Tag Reference

CSS Quickstart Tutorial and Guide can be found here:
Web Page Design: CSS from the Ground Up

Rounded Corners

For tables:

Trick Rounded Corners for Tables
Tables: Rounded Corners Tutorial

For CSS:
Rounded Corners in CSS

Validation

Validation is used to check that your code has no bugs.

W3C Markup Validator
Go to this website to validate your html/xhtml codes.

W3C CSS Valdiator
Go to this one for your CSS codes.

Review of CSS concepts

Why tables for Layouts is Stupid

Units of Measure

What does the unit "em" stand for? Where did it get is name? Read the article to find out this and more on:

CSS Sizing Issues

The Box Model

A very helpful page with links explaining the Box Model in 2-D and 3-D.

Box Model discuss

Imagemaps

Here is a good imagemap example:

Microsoft USA Locations


Imagemap coding:
Imagemap: How do I do it?

Using Dreamweaver:
Dreamweaver Imagemaps

Example Portfolio Sites

Jamey Stillings Photography
Michael Bartalos Illustration
Dialog Box
Robert Shearing: Industrial Design Portfolio
Cefaratti Design
Mesh Smith

Inspired By Color

Color in Motion:
Color and Meaning

Looking for some inspiration? Here is a directory of websites sorted by color.
pages.think

All About Color

The browser-safe web pallette
Although this does not really apply that much any more on today's computers which can display millions of colors, its good to know the history of color on the web.

Color Worqx
This is a great website on color theory.

HTML Color Code Combination Chooser
A helpful little tool to choose a pallette if you're having trouble.

Tip:
If you are using a background image, use the eyedropper tool to sample colors from the image to find a matching color pallette for your site.

Fonts

Not all fonts are created equal. Choose one that will work on both of the major platforms: PC and Mac.

Safe web fonts

Places to download fonts used for graphics:
Abstract Fonts
Font Garden
Font Center

Imagery

CSS Zen Garden

Designs that I liked from Zen Garden:
Night Drive
White Lily
Japanese Garden
Punkass
Assasination
Lego
The Defenders of Style

Design Elements : C. R. A. P.

The key elements in Website Design is based on C.R.A.P.

C - Contrast , Consistency
R - Repetition
A - Alignment
P - Proximity, Placement

Read this article:
How C.R.A.P. is your Site Design

Photoshop Review

Photoshop is a huge application to master. Here are a few reference sites for those who are still new to it.

Toolbar with short-cut keys
Palettes

The Photoshop Interface

Page Layout

When designing for the web, you must design for the graphic safe area. All important navigational elements such as buttons should be placed in this area for easy access.

Graphic "safe area" dimensions for layouts designed for 800 x 600 screens:
Maximum width = 760 pixels
Maximum height = 410 pixels (visible without scrolling)


Read Web Style Guide: Page Dimensions
for more info.

Some examples:
Wellesley College Instructional Technology
Marianne Moore
Yue Hu

OK Go

Ok Go

CSS References

CSS 1 Properties table
W3School's CSS tutorials

CSS: Separating Presentation from Content

This is an excellent article explaining CSS and web standards.

A Beginner's Guide to CSS and Standards

White and Nerdy

DTD and Namespace Declarations

XML Namespace Declaration

Document Type Defintion (DTD)

Intro to XHTML

W3School's Intro to XHTML
XHTML Reference

The Differences between HTML and XHTML
A list of the major differences between the HTML and XHTML.

W3School's Try It
Practice your HTML coding skills here.

W3C Markup Validator
Go to this website to validate your code.

History of the Internet

A brief history of the Internet

Intro to HTML

Here is a list of some excellent resources to get you started on HTML.

HTML Dog
Concise website of HTML tags

W3School's Intro to HTML
HTML Reference

Stock Image Resources

Stock Exchange: This site requires you to register in order to download raw pictures. Most of these images are copyright free, but a few have restrictions. Be sure to read what they are before using them.

Morgue File: This site does not require any registration. Some of the images in this database may have restrictions as well, so be sure to read the fine print.

Exercise 1 : Introduce Yourself

Introduce yourself to me. Must be at least 1 page and include 1 image ,1 link, and 1 table. Zip the entire folder and submit using Blackboard.

Class Reading for Week 1

In your book, 'The Complete Reference: HTML & XHTML' , read Chapters 1 and 3.

Welcome to COSC 2291

Hello. I will be using this blog to post articles for you to read as well as design and coding resources.