HTML, XHTML & CSS

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Part I: Getting to Know (X)HTML and CSS
A site built for a business, which provides a first impression for potential customers
or clients, should reflect your business style. If you run an architecture
firm, for example, strong lines and a clean look may be the best way to
present the company image. If you run a flower shop, your site may be a bit
more organic (okay, flowery) and decorated to remind visitors what to expect
when they walk into your store.
If you’re new to Web design or graphics and you need a site that stamps your
business presence on the Web, consider getting help from a Web design professional.
Use the images, layouts, and navigational aids he creates to build
and manage the site yourself. Once established, a distinctive and consistent
look and feel for a site is easy to maintain.
Regardless of who designs your site, take the time to get critiques from
peers, friends, family members, and anyone else who is willing to be honest
about how good (and even how bad) it looks. A negative-but-constructive critique
from someone who knows and respects you beats a “Gee, that’s ugly”
from someone whose business you are trying to acquire. Plus, it’s always less
stressful to get beat up in private than to take a licking in public!
Mapping your site
It’s easier to get where you’re going if you know how to get there. Mapping
your Web site can be a vital step in planning — and later running — that site.
This process involves two creative phases:
✓ Creating a visual guide on paper or electronically that you can use to
guide the development of your site
✓ Creating a visual guide on your Web site to help visitors find their
way around after it’s up and running
Both have a place in good UI design, so each gets its own section.
Using a map for site development
A site map is a supplemental navigational tool to give users a different way to
find what they seek. A site map lays out all contents of your site so visitors
can see all their options at once.
When you create and use a site map during the development of a Web site —
even a Web site that includes only a few pages — you can identify