General style considerations for web pages



Last revision July 20, 2004

Web Pages Table of Contents:
  1. General style considerations for web pages
  2. Options for creating/editing pages in HTML
  3. Graphics considerations
  4. Uniform Resource Locator (URL) syntax
  5. Other resources

Content should be primary. Avoid graphics that are just "fluff", which make your page pretty but do not add any real information. They slow down access to your pages, particularly those on slow modem links.

Break your information down into small sections that become individual pages, with some kind of index page and cross-reference links within the pages. The Web is not a linear presentation medium, like a book. It allows people to easily jump around and return where they started. It is more productive to quickly load a short index or table of contents and then jump directly to the area of interest.

Use lots of white space and appropriate graphics to make the information more organized and easily digested.

Provide navigation tools, such as links at the end of pages to return back to a master index or go on to the next related topic.

Trust your browser. Use the HTML tags that logically define document sections, lists, etc. Don't worry so much about the exact formatting.

Comments or Questions?