Re: initial structure ideas

[Joakim Ziegler <joakim helixcode com>]

On Mon, Nov 20, 2000 at 09:10:24PM +0530, Sai Kiran wrote:

> 	* I guess nearly everybody on list will agree with me if I say
> ABSOLUTELY NO FRAMES PLEASE.  

I don't think anyone's going to disagree with you on this one.


> 	* Atleast the first page has to be so designed that the visitor
> would'nt have to scroll down for any information. For example, in the
> current www.gnome.org site, the top logo occupies nearly 40 - 50% of the
> available screen space, which is not really advisable. 

People generally know how to scroll. Actually, if you're to believe Nielsen,
this is one of the few things that have actually changed about people's web
usage patterns in the last few years.

Additionally, if you want to follow this logic, you will have to follow up
that concern by considering 640x480 resolution as the minimum standard, which
gives you approximately 600x300 pixels to work on. Not much.

To give people a hint that there's more below is fine, though.


> 	* Also, a decision has to be reached about the "depth" of the
> web-site. What is the maximum number of links a visitor would have to
> follow to reach the information he desires. This would have a direct
> impact on our web-site structure, links etc. Pages at lower levels (if
> the home page is assumed to be at the highest level of the tree), contain
> specific information and can be a lot bigger. 

I'm not sure this should be determined before we actually know the extent of
the information we want to publish. I don't think imposing an artificial
restriction on this is a good idea.


> 	* As somebody already pointed out (sorry!!, i dont remember who),
> there are a LOT of browsers which are either older versions, or, do not
> stick to standards. So, I think we should avoid any technologies such as
> JavaScript, Java applets etc. We should make sure that our pages look neat
> even on the Lynx/HyperTerminal browser (I personally love the Lynx).

Making it work on Lynx shouldn't be too difficult. The current pages work
quite well.


> 	* I'm not sure if we really need a "navigation system". I guess a
> link to the home page on every page is sufficient. 

> 	* I love the concept of having a constant top logo with links to
> all the major categorical pages. That's the way I designed my univ's home
> page. Please look at www.iitm.ac.in .I really think it's a neat idea. 

This, indeed, is a "navigation system", although a simple one.


-- 
Joakim Ziegler - Helix Code web monkey - joakim helixcode com - Radagast IRC
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