A
page on a website is not quite the same thing as a page in a book or a page in
a word processing document such as MS Word. Those pages have a finite length
according to the size of the paper they are printed on. Web pages open in a
browser window and can be any
length. What you are looking at right now on your monitor is one web page. It
has a unique address (URL): http://webnanny.net/faq.html. There are other pages
on this website, of varying length, that you can reach by clicking on the
links at the bottom of the page.
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How do you know how many pages to make?
The
number of pages and what we put on them depend on several factors. We look at
how the material you want to present can be logically subdivided into
segments, like arranging a book into chapters. An important consideration is download
time - we don't want to put so much on a page that the user will get tired
of waiting for it to download and click off to someone else's website.
Finally, we want to organize these pages and the links that connect them so
that it is easy for the user to find his way (navigate) through the sections
of your website.
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How do I send you the materials for my website?
E-mail:
you may e-mail me both images and documents as attachments (preferred). I can open MS Word
and Word Perfect documents or you can put text in Notepad files or the message
of your email. I can handle almost any standard image format. Because I work
on a PC I cannot open MAC-specific files. If your material is digital but
sending it by email is difficult, you can burn a CD and send it by postal
mail.
Postal
mail: I prefer to scan hardcopy photographs and artwork myself so I can have high
resolution bitmaps of the originals on file. If you choose to mail your photos
I will scan them and return them. You may also mail printed
text if you do not have a computer. Printed herd brochures are an excellent guide to site development for
dairy goat herds (or other animals). Other printed advertising material you
have will be useful.
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What is download time?
Download
time is the amount of time it takes for the entire web page to appear on your
monitor after you click on its URL. Some factors we can't control, such as the
user's modem speed. The thing we can control is the size of our pages, not
size in terms of width or height, like a page in a book, but in terms of
kilobytes, how much information we have on the page. Text doesn't take up any
space at all, relatively speaking. What makes a page slow to load is a lot of
images. We minimize this by using compressed image formats like .jpeg, and
organizing our pages so there aren't too many image files to download with any
one page. If, for instance, you wanted a website to showcase the photos you
took on your cruise, putting them all on one page would just be too much.
Better to divide them among a number of pages, e.g., setting sail, dining,
ports of call, shipboard entertainment - you get the idea.
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What about links and bookmarks?
Links
(more properly called hyperlinks) are those spots on a web page where we click
our mouse to be whisked off to another page, on the same site or around the
world. The pages of your website will have links to the other pages on the
site, using both images (link buttons) and textual links (see the bottom of this
page). In addition, where appropriate, I will install links to cross-reference
items within your site. For instance, on a herd brochure site, any place a
doe's name appears, it will be linked to her individual page so that the user
can access information about her. We can also add as many links as you wish to
other sites. If you have a website featuring your hobby, you might want to
provide the user with links to related sites on the same subject. If you have
a lot of links, webrings, etc., then you should consider a separate page for
them.
Links
may also target a particular spot on a page. This page is an example. The
questions at the top of the page are linked to targets (bookmarks) further
down the page where the answers are found.
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How does my website get on the web?
The
files I create for your website must be loaded onto a host
site. I can do this for you using a process called FTP (File Transfer
Protocol) or I can e-mail the files to you and you can do it yourself.
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What is a web host?
A
web host is a service that provides space for your website and a variety of
services that make your website function the way you want it to. You may
already have homepage space through the ISP (Internet Service Provider) that
provides your dial-up and e-mail service. If you want features like your own domain name
or some specialized server-side services, then you need to find a web host that provides these
things. Linda Campbell's Khimaira
Webhosting Solutions is offering a full range of services at very
competitive prices.
Special Offer: $15 discount on
Website Design
to most Customers of Khimaira
Webhosting Solutions. I am now a reseller for Khimaira hosting
packages (Basic, Gold & Platinum) so I can handle it all for you and bill
you myself.
Not
all webhosts are created equal. There are some very cheap ones out there but
they may not offer all the features you need on your website, or offer
features and services that will keep your development and maintenance costs to
a minimum. There may be extra costs involved if I have to deal with a webhost
with low quality control panel software, inadequate tech support, etc. This is
another reason I recommend Khimaira
Webhosting Solutions.
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What about counters, forms, guestbooks, etc. ?
Counters,
forms, guestbooks, shopping carts, and many more things, are features that
require action to be taken on the server (either your host's or another
server). Depending on the services provided by your host, these features can
be made available, sometimes for an extra fee.
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How and when do I pay for my website?
The
fee for the graphic set falls due only after you have approved the graphics
for your website. After that I will bill for the construction of the pages on
the first of every month. You will receive itemized statements.
Fees for
annual services such as hosting on WebNanny.net are billed in January of each
year.
I accept
personal checks or money orders. At this time I do not accept credit cards or
PayPal payments.
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What about maintenance of my website?
If
you do not wish to maintain your site yourself, then I can provide maintenance
at an hourly rate. Most small edits, such as changing a picture or text, I
can usually complete within 24 hours, depending on how busy I am. Customers
who prefer to send me annual full-site updates can expect the work to take
longer. You can economize on your maintenance costs by being very specific
about what you want done, telling me the exact pages where you want the
changes made and sending me the exact wording you want.
New
pages or photos added to your site will be billed as new work, but if changes need to be
made to the navigation of the site to accommodate the new pages (new links
added to other pages), then the hourly fee may be charged for that.
Your
website will be formatted so that I can edit your pages for you in the
shortest possible time. If you edit your own pages you should be aware that
you may inadvertently make formatting changes that will increase the time and
cost of any work you may later request from me.
I
do not provide training in website maintenance. I can suggest software that
you may need and refer you to tutorials on the web.
Tips
for reducing your maintenance charges.
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