#22353
百聞は一見にしかずじゃないけれど、その分量の対比という意味では、同じ読み込み時間で、テキストなら何ページ分も表示できるのに、大きな画像は1枚表示するのがせいぜい、というインターネットの世界を良く表しているね。ウェブサイトを巡っていれば、最後に出てくるのは画像だというのは知ってるだろ、読み込みにかかる時間の大半を画像ファイルに費やしちゃってるから、表示が最後になっちゃうんだ。
Cook, Jason. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Web Design
#22354
PNGとGIFの圧縮は可逆圧縮といって、JPEGとは違い、画像の詳細部分がぼやけたりしないんだ。とても細かい地図なんかをスキャンしたり、小さなテキスト付きの画像を作るんだったら、GIFかPNGのどちらかを選んだ方が良いね。ただ、大きな写真をGIFやPNGで保存すると、ファイルサイズが巨大になって、読み込み時間も長くなっちゃうからね。
Cook, Jason. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Web Design
#19346
As long as there's been a Web, there's been a need for search engines. Because of the volume of information that's available out there, people will always need help finding what they want. Nowadays, it's commonplace for individual sites, even personal homepages, to have their own search capabilities, and so a slew of new services have appeared to help you quickly and easily add search to your site.
Rappoport, Avi. Webmonkey (2000). Design>Web Design>Search
#22821
Authenticate and Track Users with PHP
Learn how authentication, cookies, and sessions can add security and a personal touch to your site.
Meloni, Julie. Webmonkey (2000). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>PHP
#13348
This article focuses on Apple’s latest release, QuickTime 5, both from a user’s and developer’s perspective. I'll also describe the tools you'll need, the creative possibilities, and how to best deliver a project to your intended audience.
Marioni, Reno. Webmonkey (2001). Design>Multimedia>Streaming>QuickTime
#21219
One of the biggest pains about making Web pages is having to keep track of which browsers support what features. Wouldn't it be nice if there were some way to keep track of it all? Well, we've whipped up a few articles and charts to make things easier for you.
#22818
Got some righteous digital pics that you want to display on your site? Todd shows you how to create a photo gallery using PHP.
Kennedy, Todd. Webmonkey (2001). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>PHP
#22815
Building a blog is cool, but building a blog with Flash, MySQL, and PHP is so much cooler. Scott guides you through two days of coding and querying.
Gilbertson, Scott. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>Flash
#22656
Choosing the Right Database System
The Web-surfing public doesn't really care about flashy-yet-useless technology. They want Web sites that do something for them: provide a service or entertainment; help get a job or a date; check bank account balances, stock prices, interest rates, availability of airline tickets, today's weather ... and so on.
Dice, Richard. Webmonkey (1998). Design>Web Design>Databases>Personalization
#18382
The first thing you need to do is ask yourself a few questions. What is the point of the site? What are your goals? Do you want to show the world pictures of your cat? Are you trying to sell worms through the mail? Are you promoting your new major motion picture? The answer will help you begin to focus your page. As you edit your material, you will quickly see that the picture of your cat has no business on the homepage of your new blockbuster.
Frew, Jim. Webmonkey (1997). Design>Web Design
#18386
Designing for Different Resolutions
So you've designed a startling site. It looks great on your computer, and you're bucking convention by putting the navigation bar on the right side. But if you don't pay attention to monitor resolution, some of your audience may never see that navbar and won't get past the first page. Since I work full time on the computer, I prefer to use a Macintosh with a large screen and good color resolution. But many people are surfing the Web with an old PC and a smaller screen. What they see is dramatically different from what I see, so I must account for those differences in everything I create.
Kay, Michael. Webmonkey (1999). Design>Web Design
#18387
Imagine that you're riding on the local urban underground railway. It's the morning commute, and the train is packed. The stranger next to you flips methodically through the Times Tribune Chronicle in a way that lands half of the paper in your lap. You want to teach this space invader a lesson. So you tear the paper from her grasp, ball it into a mass, and squeeze with the transformative might of Superman until the lump is shaped into a perfectly readable, rectangular object that can be held comfortably in one hand. This is similar to the challenge of designing content for the PalmPilot. I came upon this analogy while designing a Wired News mini-site for the PalmPilot's AvantGo browser. During the project, I learned some fundamental guidelines that should be kept in mind when designing Web content for a PDA audience, which I'll share over the next few pages. But first I want to put in a word about the importance of the Web to the PDA.
Stowell, Carter. Webmonkey (1999). Design>Web Design>Wireless Web>PDA
#21175
Digital Photography for the Web
Like digital photography? Here's a look at tools and tricks you can use to create great photos for your site.
Calore, Michael. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Web Design
#18380
Director, which hit the scene way back in 1988, was always considered the ultimate multimedia authoring tool. Then the Web came along and Shockwave, a format that translated Director projects for the Web, was born. It was pretty wowie in its day (circa 1995), but the size of Shockwave files, along with the browser plugin users needed to see them, really slowed Shockwave down. Enter Flash's SWF format, which was designed solely for the Web so it was faster and easier to use than Shockwave. And the rest is history: Flash is everywhere, and whipper-snapper Web developers are all, 'Shockwave who?' But Shockwave has its uses. Flash may be better than ever these days, but you can still outgrow it. Say you need better video performance, or you want to create a game or educational tool that uses a joy stick. Or maybe you're looking for the depth of 3D animation. When it comes to interactive projects in the non-Web world (yes, it's true, there is life outside the Web) — such as CD-ROM games, educational materials, reference books, and presentations — sometimes Flash just isn't enough. If you're tackling a big-league, off-Web project, or a particularly intricate website, then perhaps it's time to take another look at Macromedia's Director MX.
Kay, Michael. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Multimedia>Web Design>Flash
#18746
A machine on a DSL or cable line without a static IP is connected to the Internet, but only one way. People from the outside can't initiate communication with that machine except through an intermediary, because they simply can't find it! This makes hosting from home impossible ... except through trickery. For there is a solution, a clever one. It is called dynamic DNS.
Adams, Paul. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Web Design>Hosting
#21222
We really don't have to be stuck in bland land anymore. Font embedding is here, which means that we can use just about any font we want to on our Web pages, and users will actually see it.
Mulder, Steve. Webmonkey (2002). Design>Web Design>Typography
#22820
Dishes up the why and how of real-life data encryption, covering PGP and GnuPG, and using PHP and the mcrypt and mhash libraries.
Meloni, Julie. Webmonkey (2000). Design>Web Design>Security>PHP
#18389
Before there was Java, before there was JavaScript, before there was Shockwave or FutureSplash or frames - hell, before there were tables - there were tools built into HTML that let you add interactivity, layer text, and generally differentiate your Web site from a hard-to-read magazine. Known as forms, they were developed as a uniform system for collecting user input on the Web. But feh! Who cares what they're supposed to do? When I look at pulldown menus, I see cleverly concealed sidebars; radio buttons and checkboxes become visual accents; and scrolling menus make me think, 'Hey, Bill, I got yer floating frame right here.'
Cohen, June. Webmonkey (1997). Design>Web Design>Interactive
#22653
To live the freelance life is to live a life of uncertainty. Not knowing when or from where your next paycheck is coming requires a certain mind-set that not everyone possesses. Some may argue that with so many companies struggling just to keep their heads above water now that the bang is out of the Big Web Boom, full-time work is no more secure than the freelance lifestyle. But before you unplug that feeding tube once and for all, ask yourself if you really have what it takes.
Thomas, Evany. Webmonkey (1998). Careers>Freelance>Web Design
#21208
So you think you've got the cojones to be a freelancer, eh? Then join Evany as she gives you some pointers on this wild and woolly career move.
Thomas, Evany. Webmonkey (2001). Careers>Freelance>Web Design
#18388
The Web is WYSIWYG. What you see is what you get. What you see on the monitors and via the connections - and what you use for beta testing - is what your work will look like to all those who check out your URL. What's on your screen will be pretty close to what's on their screens. Print is a different matter altogether. Once your files leave your computer, there's a whole wonderful road they have to journey along to make it into print. You do everything you can to make sure they're ready for their adventure, but just as you're likely to forget your toothbrush or your favorite socks when you take a trip, your files often go to print missing a vital item. You can only hope that the thing you forgot about is easy to correct and not a big expensive mistake that blows your deadline and your budget. Getting your files through your service bureau (where your files are turned into negatives so that your negatives ultimately become the finished product) and to the printer is like taking up the gauntlet. Best case scenario, you'll be winded; worst case, you'll be pounded to a bloody pulp. I fear I'm showing my bias toward the Web.
Frew, Jim. Webmonkey (1999). Design>Content Management>Single Sourcing
#22819
Paul looks at how PHP, GIMP, or Generator can be used to churn out up-to-the-second charts and graphs, change your site's look and feel on demand, display newly created passwords as bot-defying GIFs, and more.
Adams, Paul. Webmonkey (2001). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>PHP
#18390
So you've decided it's time to interact with your users. You're tired of this one-way street — you talking, them listening. You want to actually hear what your readers have to say. In order to do this, you'll need to provide a way for people to enter information. Therefore, you're going to need an HTML form.
Greenspan, Jay. Webmonkey (1999). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Forms
#18385
Many designers felt it was important to understand the medium, design for bandwidth constraints, create an end product that works for both the user and the client, and, of course, play the right tunes while designing. Their responses reinforced a lot of what I've learned while working at HotWired, and I also learned some new things. I learned some designers can count, some can't (the number five was subject to much creative interpretation). Spelling, I discovered, proved to be a similar challenge, though some of the new words and terms they came up with were true genius. Finally, when confronted with a problem, ask advice of some really smart - or smart-ass, as the case may be - designers, and they'll respond with elegant and very workable solutions. With a total of over 80 tips as varied as the designers themselves, hopefully you'll find something you can use to improve your own designs.
Frew, Jim. Webmonkey (1998). Design>Web Design
#18752
A collection of 23 HTML tutorials for students of web design.
Webmonkey (2001). Resources>Web Design>Education
