Web Design Series- Dreamweaver 8 And CS3: What's The Difference?

So you now have the Dreamweaver 8 and you are just not quite sure whether your web design company is willing to shell out some more to upgrade to the latest CS3 version. This is actually a challenging decision to make for your web design company. As a web designer, you have to work with the software, so it is both your right and responsibility to decide whether the new version will help you come up with improved web design. This makes you wonder too: Now that Adobe has already bought Macromedia, what have they done to it? Have they ruined it, or have they made it so much better that you should already kick yourself now for not buying it earlier? Well, if I were to be asked, I stand somewhere in between these two.

Web design feature #1: Adobe and Dreamweaver Together

Your web design company may find it reason enough to buy the new Dreamweaver CS3 because of its full integration with Adobe graphics tools like those found in Photoshop. When you have an image, you can directly click on it and edit right away.

Web design feature #2: CSS Support Made Better

One of the best features found in the new Dreamweaver CS3 is the integration of better CSS layouts. These layouts are all well-commented in the code, so it can be pretty easy to start knowing how CSS layouts tend to work. They now have over 32 layouts that you can choose from in 1, 2 or 3-column formats, in fixed and liquid type web designs. You may also define the position where you want the CSS to be when creating a new page, not to mention how easy it is to move the CSS styles around. You can stat out by styling the tag directly into the HTML through a style attribute and move it to your style sheet. With Dreamweaver CS3, you will only have to right click on the tag and set it to "Convert Inline CSS to Rule" to build a custom class for that specific style or to create one full CSS selector.

Web design feature #3: Mobile Support

Your web design company will also be pleased to know about the mobile support integrated into the new CS3 version. Creating pages made especially for mobile devices have been popular in the recent years, but it can be difficult to design one which is compatible both on mobile and web browser platforms. However, with the integration of the Adobe Device Central into the CS3, Dreamweaver now makes it easy to view your pages in cell phones.

Web design feature #4: Ajax Implementation Now Made Possible

The Dreamweaver CS3 now has integrated the Spry framework so that it adding Ajax widgets and effects onto your pages have now been made possible. All you do is to drag and drop them and incorporate them into your dataset. Dreamweaver CS3 features Spry components which include: widgets for tables, lists and forms: transition effects such as growing, shrinking, highlighting and fading, and integration of data from XML feeds such as in database or RSS.

Web design feature #5: XLST Support

Another amazing feature about the CS3 that both you and your web design company will love is the extensive support it has for XLST through the use of XML files as database source. Through XSLT, it is easy to view the XML in a tree form and integrate it right into your HTML document. This simply means that if you have a number of XML files set in the same format; it is relatively simple to create one single template for all of them in the new CS3 using XLST.

Web design feature #6: Support for Mac Intel Processors

If your web design company works on an Intel-based Macintosh platform, you will be happy with the performance improvements of the CS3. It is now native to the platform and does not run on Rosetta so that it loads a lot quickly than before. In fact, CS3 claims that what loads in Dreamweaver 8 for 4 minutes can load in the CS3 in under one minute. You can do further testing to confirm this.

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade

That is the question. In my case, I have upgraded and haven't regretted any of it. I appreciate the new CSS features, the XSLT support and the Device Central. However, your web design company may see one piece that is still missing, which is that of web design time and programming. As in the previous versions, the Dreamweaver CS3 is also still difficult to use in terms of live databases and server side scripts. However, there may be extensions to make things easier for you. On a general whole, go on and upgrade and you will most likely never have to look back.

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Web Design Takes On Back Button And How To Take Advantage Of It

As a web designer, you should know that the Back Button is one of the most vital buttons found on any web page. You should not rely on your web design company to inform you about this. If you have been browsing through web design companies and sites for a long time now, you will most likely realize this on your own.

Unfortunately, most web designers seem to take the Back Button for granted when they implement their web design. It is not too uncommon to see a "back to home/start" or simply "back" links incorporated into pages being designed. However, unless you make sure that these links have built-in logic to know exactly which page your visitor was before they clicked on these links (as the highly-efficient Back Button does), these back links you put into your pages will seem like sham that gets by only by guessing the path which your online visitors took.

How People Browse the Web:

Most online users visit a web site to simply skim through it. If they think that the site does not give them what they need or does not contain any interesting information to read, they simply leave. That said, there is no quicker way out of any web page than, yes, the Back button! People don't seem to even realize that they click on it every so often. They simply sit and browse through site after site with their mouse pointing right over the scroll bar area ready to scroll up and down. And then, unless the site has something interesting for them, they pull their mouse just right up to the upper left hand of the browser to go back to where they were previously.

Do Not Try To Impact This Negatively

All web designers have one thing in common in relation to this. Whichever web design company you belong to or whichever tool you use, you definitely would not like them to leave your webpage. In desperate attempt to do this, some web designers come up with web design strategies to prevent visitors from leaving the site. Some do things such as pop the page into a chromeless window with no back button. Some even close down the original window to open a new one that does not have controls. This can be really annoying so that the image you will create for your web design company will not be pleasing. Most importantly, it will not make your site web design more usable or interesting since you have crippled your customers with the standard methods to get around. As soon as they figure out for themselves how they can leave your site, they will do so immediately and will most likely not return. You would not want your client or your web design company to get ruined because of this, wouldn't you? So, try not to get that back button away from your readers. Instead, take advantage of it.

How to Take Advantage

Taking advantage of the back button does not mean putting in text that goes "click the back button in the upper left of your browser to go back." Your visitors know this already, and you do not want them to feel stupid by giving them instructions to do something that simple. Instead, you should only keep in mind that they are bound to use the back button and prepare for that.

Here are some ways that you can plan for this:

• When web designing put your branding or advertising right near the back button. Putting your brand right up there will give it more attention that is not as likely anywhere else.

• Make the items near the area clickable. Your logo should first and foremost be clickable. Besides that, you should also make sure that the other text or graphic elements at the upper left area of your page are clickable as well. If you do it this way, they just might go somewhere else related on your site if they miss the back button.

• Take advantage of server logs as well to check where they came from before finding you. Your web design company and client alike will highly appreciate this information. Not only that, you can also use this as well. If you, for example, know what your visitors usually go back to, you can directly address that site on your page, maybe even with dynamic elements that could only display when they are coming from that particular location. For instance, someone who is coming from a search engine may not know how to search your site.

Remember in your web design that your site will be much more helpful if you include details such as how to search on your pages. Doing this might get them to stay longer, much to the appreciation of your client and your web design company.

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Web Design vs. Print Design: How To Find The Middle Ground

There are a number of web designers who come up with print backgrounds for the sites that they make. These are most likely those who used to be print designers before joining the web design company they are part of now, or they are simply used to the control that is offered by print media. Remember though that print provides stability and permanence, and these two are not present in the Web. Realistically speaking though and speaking from experience if I may add, it is rather easy to forget this.
As you build your web page and have it tested on your browser, you somehow would like it to look exactly how you want it to. However, since your web design company requires you to test it in different browsers, you will see that they look different. As you move from one platform to the next, you will notice that there are slight but uncomfortable differences. This should be a good reminder that web design does not have the permanence and the stability that print does.
On the other hand, as the web designer, your web design company will most likely ask you to work with your customers during the web designing process. One of the most important things that you need to do is to explain to them the difference between the Web and print. Most clients would ask you to provide them your portfolios and web design plans. It is all too common for a web design company to receive customer complaints which stems from the fact that the website is not the exact representation of the print-out. To spare your web design company from this usual trouble, you have to learn how to properly work with your customers:
It is always good to have a portfolio printed out for clients to see. But bear in mind that it is not entirely a representation of your skills in web designs. When you do show them a portfolio, make sure that you also carefully explain to them the differences that they should expect on the final output web page. Make sure that you are upfront with them. If they set specifications for a graphical page and want specific layout, font and other web design elements, make sure that you also mention the possible trade-offs such as in the download speed and maintenance requirements. Lastly, it would be best to know what type of platform your customer will use. If you are a big fan of Netscape on the Mac, while your customer uses Internet Explorer version 7 for the Windows operating system, make sure that you bear this fact in mind when you come up with your designs. The page you come up with during the web design face may look very different on their platform.

So how then can you compromise the difference between web design and print? Well, you mostly need to rely on the web design techniques that you employ.

Here are some tips to help you through this difference:

• Know your audience very well. It is imperative that you know who the potential visitors of the site are and for whom the website is to be made for. Know your client's target audience and their characteristics or behaviors. If they are highly advanced users, they will most likely browse in UNIX or Linux on a 21-inch monitor. If they are rather more conservative, they are likely to use an Internet Explorer 7 on a 14 inch monitor. If your web design best suits your audience, your client will not come back running to your web design company to complain about the final site output.

• Test, test, and test again. You need to test your web design in each and every browser and operating system combination that you can possibly get both your hands on. You can use emulators if you are short of time and if you have no other choice, but nothing beats hands on experience through actual tests and runs.

• Never forget about resolution. Although browsers and operating systems are both important, there is one other factor that you need to consider in site web design. Keep in mind that if your client as well as their target audience will browse your final page on a browser than is smaller than you have designed on, there is a good possibility that they will be unpleasantly surprised. They might come back running to you, and your web design company might not appreciate that very much.

Using CSS can help you get precise layouts, but remember that your web design can never and will never be as precise as print. Remember this as implement the web design of your pages to spare you and your web design company a great deal of stress.

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In Web Design Links Reinforce Scannability.

It is a proven fact that online visitors who view a page are generally drawn to images. But aside from that, it is also proven that their attention is also immediately caught by links because they are underlined and set in a different colour from the rest of the text. Your web design company will strictly advice you to make your links stand out in order for them to catch the eye of your readers. Of course, your text content or web copy must able to reinforce scannability of your page. Fortunately, the addition of links that stand out well make the content even more scannable. Bear in mind during web design though that these links will only be effective if they are related to the site content and the linked text. Your web design company should know better.

Web design Tip #1: Links on Your Home Page:

Unless you are web designing a site that is only made of 1 page, your home page should have links to all the other parts of your website. Bear in mind too that most online readers will scan through your home page much more than they are likely to read it, so you need to make sure that your links speak for themselves and are self-explanatory. However, avoid a home page that is made up only of links, and nothing. Doing this will defeat the purpose of scannability; the links will no longer stand out. Also, never make your link title fancy or make your readers guess where the link will lead to. Your web design company will also be pleased if you put in links to the other general pages of your site.

Web design Tip #2: General to Specific is the Way to Go:

When online users search for information, they usually start from the general and eventually get more specific as they try to narrow down their search. Using the same logic, try to think of those links in your site as a funnel. You have to start with a general category at your top page and narrow it down further as your readers search for what they want.

Web design Tip #3: How to Write Links and Setting Them:

Here are some tips to come up with better and more clickable links:

• Check your log files and look for a trend of what people are mostly searching your site for. Use the most commonly used words as your links to other parts of your site.

• You should also verify that your links actually go to where you have implied for them to go. Do not take the risk of ruining your client's image (and that of your web design company) by links that lie. When readers find that the information they are searching for is not there, they will leave and will not likely return.

• Write your links as clearly as possible. If you are linking to an e-book, your text should read something like "this e-Book..." Moreover, the link should actually go to a page with an e-Book in it, and not an online store or a biography of an author.

• When web designing, never make the mistake of playing games with your links. Do not put those links just for the sake of putting them. Your web design company will surely require you to put links that are as straightforward as possible. Remember that your web design company wants to be of service to readers and to the clients to whom you are making the page for. Therefore, make sure that you only put in useful links.

Create links that are incorporated into significant content. Your links should be more than just a list of links that will not make sense on the part of online users. Make sure that the links contain explanations on what it contains. If you are presenting a link that leads to more links, you need to make sure that you add in an explanation of what the readers should expect so that they will not be surprised to see a list of links. Your web design company will indeed appreciate such efforts.

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Web Design vs. Print Design: How To Find The Middle Ground

There are a number of web designers who come up with print backgrounds for the sites that they make. These are most likely those who used to be print designers before joining the web design company they are part of now, or they are simply used to the control that is offered by print media. Remember though that print provides stability and permanence, and these two are not present in the Web. Realistically speaking though and speaking from experience if I may add, it is rather easy to forget this.

As you build your web page and have it tested on your browser, you somehow would like it to look exactly how you want it to. However, since your web design company requires you to test it in different browsers, you will see that they look different. As you move from one platform to the next, you will notice that there are slight but uncomfortable differences. This should be a good reminder that web design does not have the permanence and the stability that print does.

On the other hand, as the web designer, your web design company will most likely ask you to work with your customers during the web designing process. One of the most important things that you need to do is to explain to them the difference between the Web and print. Most clients would ask you to provide them your portfolios and web design plans. It is all too common for a web design company to receive customer complaints which stems from the fact that the website is not the exact representation of the print-out. To spare your web design company from this usual trouble, you have to learn how to properly work with your customers:

It is always good to have a portfolio printed out for clients to see. But bear in mind that it is not entirely a representation of your skills in web designs. When you do show them a portfolio, make sure that you also carefully explain to them the differences that they should expect on the final output web page. Make sure that you are upfront with them. If they set specifications for a graphical page and want specific layout, font and other web design elements, make sure that you also mention the possible trade-offs such as in the download speed and maintenance requirements. Lastly, it would be best to know what type of platform your customer will use. If you are a big fan of Netscape on the Mac, while your customer uses Internet Explorer version 7 for the Windows operating system, make sure that you bear this fact in mind when you come up with your designs. The page you come up with during the web design face may look very different on their platform.

So how then can you compromise the difference between web design and print? Well, you mostly need to rely on the web design techniques that you employ.

Here are some tips to help you through this difference:

• Know your audience very well. It is imperative that you know who the potential visitors of the site are and for whom the website is to be made for. Know your client's target audience and their characteristics or behaviors. If they are highly advanced users, they will most likely browse in UNIX or Linux on a 21-inch monitor. If they are rather more conservative, they are likely to use an Internet Explorer 7 on a 14 inch monitor. If your web design best suits your audience, your client will not come back running to your web design company to complain about the final site output.

• Test, test, and test again. You need to test your web design in each and every browser and operating system combination that you can possibly get both your hands on. You can use emulators if you are short of time and if you have no other choice, but nothing beats hands on experience through actual tests and runs.

• Never forget about resolution. Although browsers and operating systems are both important, there is one other factor that you need to consider in site web design. Keep in mind that if your client as well as their target audience will browse your final page on a browser than is smaller than you have designed on, there is a good possibility that they will be unpleasantly surprised. They might come back running to you, and your web design company might not appreciate that very much.

Using CSS can help you get precise layouts, but remember that your web design can never and will never be as precise as print. Remember this as implement the web design of your pages to spare you and your web design company a great deal of stress.

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Web Designers Guide To Facing Writer's Block

Much like those who are in the field of creative arts, web designers can also experience writer's block. No matter how long you have been in this business or the years that you have rendered service to your web design company, there are times when you simply get stuck with no novel ideas to keep you going in your web design/copy write project. However, there are a few ways by which you can deal with these blocks. Here are six tips that I have found to be useful in generating new ideas and be of productive service to your web design company once again:

1. Be ready for procrastination to come and block you. Do you notice that when you are assigned with a new web design project and find have to start working on ideas for it, you find yourself thinking about other ideas totally unrelated? You might start to think about how much it will cost to repaint your house, or when you would like to play golf, or what car you would suggest your friend should buy. These are just some of the ways that procrastination disguises itself. However, you should also recognize that these are the things that you actually want to do. So, you can write down the other things you would like to do and schedule them or have a web design to do list. I realized that once I write down this web design to do list, I do not tend to think about them as often time and again as compared to when I simply ignore them.

2. Start somewhere in the middle. If you ask other designers in your web design company, they will surely agree with you that it feels rather intense to have to start from the top of a page and design downwards. Of course, you will still have to do it that way when it comes to HTML or CSS coding, but when dealing with web design, you might find it easier to focus on the most important part first - the one that catches the attention of an online user. I would usually think of what it should look like in the middle before I move on to navigation, advertising and branding which are found at the top, sides or bottom of the web design page.

3. Make a draft of your web design on paper first. In your web design company, do you frequently see people writing rough drafts on paper? Although this is rather uncommon nowadays, I still find it more helpful to "web design" on paper first. It can be very easy to get all hung up on the technicalities in HTML or JavaScript if you try to do your initial web design on a computer. Web designing on paper is sometimes easier to do. Also, when you "Web design" on paper, it is does not take much effort to erase them or scratch them out when you need to make changes. If you hate the idea you came up with, you do not have to feel bad about throwing the paper right into your trash bin.

4. Take time to plan your web design. Planning is very important when starting a web design project. Unfortunately, it is the one that is taken for granted the most. Most web designers proceed immediately to developing pages or generating web designs without giving the project ample though. When you do this, you run the risk of over-budgeting, you might run out of time, or end up not meeting the client requirements - all of which your web design company will mostly likely not welcome. Take all the time you need for planning the web design project (as long as it is reasonable, of course). Taking the time to plan will not hurt your web design, but lack of adequate planning will.

5. Do not hesitate to ask other web designers for help. Never be afraid to ask for someone else's help when the need arises. Surely, someone in your web design company will be ever willing to lend you a hand or provide you suggestions and constructive criticism. However, be careful about whom you ask the help of. Be wary of those who do not find good in what you are doing, as they will not provide you the help that you need.

6. If you are really stuck, try to do something else for a while. If there is no other way to go about your writer's block, try to get your mind off to think about something else. Take some time to stop thinking about the web design and the current problem and allow your subconscious to rest for a while. I'm sure other people in your web design company have experienced waking up in the morning with a great solution completely formed to solve the problem.

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