Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

Web server 507What is the purpose of this work? Who am I writing for?What are the needs of this audience? A Web site that isdesigned to provide background information and contactfor a university department is likely to have a printlikeformat and a restrained style. Nevertheless, the designer ofsuch a site may be able to imaginatively extend it beyondthe traditional bounds—for example, by including streamingvideo interviews that introduce faculty members.A site for an online store is likely to have more graphicsand other attention-getting features than an academicor government site. However, despite the pressure to “grabeyeballs,” the designer must resist making the site so clutteredwith animations, pop-up windows, and other featuresthat it becomes hard for readers to search for and read aboutthe products they want.A site intended for an organization’s own use should notbe visually unattractive, but the emphasis is not on grabbingusers’ attention, since the users are already committedto using the system. Rather, the emphasis will be on providingspeedy access to the information people need to do theirjob, and in keeping information accurate and up to date.Once the general approach is settled on, the design mustbe implemented. The most basic tool is HTML, which hasundergone periodic revisions and expansions (see html).Even on today’s large, high-resolution monitors a screenof text is not the same as a page in a printed book ormagazine. There are many ways text can be organized (seehypertext and hypermedia). A page that is presentinga manual or other lengthy document can mimic a printedbook by having a table of contents. Clicking on a chaptertakes the reader there. Shorter presentations (such as productdescriptions) might be shown in a frame with buttonsfor the reader to select different aspects such as featuresand pricing. Frames (independently scrollable regions ona page) can turn a page into a “window” into many kindsof information without the user having to navigate frompage to page, but there can be browser compatibility issues.Tables are another important tool for page designers. Settingup a table and inserting text into it allows pages to beformatted automatically.Many sites include several different navigation systemsincluding buttons, links, and perhaps menus. This can begood if it provides different types of access to serve differentneeds, but the most common failing in Web design isprobably the tendency to clutter pages with features to thepoint that they are confusing and actually harder to use.Although the Web is a new medium, much of the traditionaltypographic wisdom still applies. Just as many peoplewho first encountered the variety of Windows or Macintoshfonts in the 1980s filled their documents with a varietyof often bizarre typefaces, beginning Web page designerssometimes choose fonts that they think are “edgy” or cool,but may be hard to read—especially when shown against apurple background!Today it is quite possible to create attractive Web pageswithout extensive knowledge of HTML. Programs suchas FrontPage and DreamWeaver mimic the operation of aword processor and take a WYSIWYG (what you see iswhat you get) approach. Users can build pages by selectingand arranging structural elements, while choosing stylesfor headers and other text as in a word processor. Theseprograms also provide “themes” that help keep the visualand textual elements of the page consistent. Of course,designing pages in this way can be criticized as leading to a“canned” product. People who want more distinctive pagesmay choose instead to learn the necessary skills or hire aprofessional Web page designer. A feature called CascadingStyle Sheets (CSS) allows designers to precisely control theappearance of Web pages while defining consistent stylesfor elements such as headings and different types of text(see cascading style sheets).Most Web pages include graphics, and this raises anadditional set of issues. Most users now have fast Internetconnections (see broadband), but others are still limited toslower dial-up speeds. One way to deal with this situation isto display relatively small, lower-resolution graphics (usually72 pixels per inch), but to allow the user to click on ornear the picture to view a higher-resolution version. Anotherconsideration in today’s wireless world is ensuring that Webpages likely to be useful to users on the go, such as a restaurantguide, display well in the small browsers found inmobile devices (see pda and smartphone). Page designersmust also make sure that the graphics they are using are createdin-house, are public domain, or are used by permission.Animated graphics (animated GIFs or more elaboratepresentations created with software) can raise performanceand compatibility issues. Generally, if a site offers, for example,Flash animations, it also offers users an alternative presentationto accommodate those with slower connections orwithout the necessary browser plug-ins.The line between Web page design and other Web servicescontinues to blur as more forms of media are carriedonline (see digital convergence). Web designers need tolearn about such media technologies (see for example podcasting,rss, and streaming) and find appropriate ways tointegrate them into their pages. Web pages may also needto provide or link to new types of forums (see blogs andblogging and wikis and Wikipedia).Further ReadingBeaird, Jason. The Principles of Beautiful Web Design. Lancaster,Calif.: Sitepoint, 2007.Lopuck, Lisa. Web Design for Dummies. 2nd ed. Hoboken, N.J.:Wiley, 2006.Robbins, Jennifer Niederst. Learning Web Design: A Beginner’sGuide to HTML, Graphics, and Beyond. Sebastapol, Calif.:O’Reilly Media, 2003.Sitepoint. Available online. URL: http://www.sitepoint.com.Accessed August 23, 2007.Web serverMost Web users are not aware of exactly how the informationthey click for is delivered, but the providers of informationon the Web must be able to understand and usethe Web server. In simple terms, a Web server is a programrunning on a networked computer (see Internet). Theserver’s job is to deliver the information and services thatare requested by Web users.