The Dont's Of Web Designing

[masugidsk8r 0]

Another note (mainly targeted to advanced web designers) is the proper way to use AJAX. Do not use AJAX to display content that you want the spider to crawl to. Let's say you want to display an "about me" section, don't load it using AJAX because Search engines can't crawl through Javascript-generated content like flash contents. It's better to use ASP or PHP to do this.If you want it to be editable, then just primarily display content in PHP then after modifications display it with AJAX.

[Yuripro84 0]

I would like to add, do not use flash intros. Unless it is in the header, that looks cool.

Ya, flash headers are awesome, but if you have any flash, make sure to add a preloader so they know something does exist, in case they load REALLY slow. Flash buttons are cool too

EDIT:
Also, flash intros aren't too bad, as long as it's a small file. They can be cool But you should always have a 'skip intro' button if it's long, or a text link saying 'skip intro' if the flash is a large file.
Edited June 10, 2007 by Yuripro84 (see edit history)

[tabufx50 0]

yeah you need to also be very aware of the marketing aspect of your website. Most web designers don't know anything about marketing and hence the purpose of a website in the first place. For example, If you have visitors finally land on your webpage and you have no way to capture their name and email to follow up, then you're missing a huge opportunity to build clients. Most web designers completely miss the boat on this.

[TripleH13 0]

some really great tips. Especially for beginners becuase a lot of people starting tend to do things like that becuase they think it will look nicer and be better. But really a lot of people just get annoyed but i guess some of it is just personal preference.

[BooZker 0]

1. Clutter - Too much text and too many links is information overload. Simplicity is the most efficient way of getting a point across.
If you must have a dozen of links in your site, classify them in sections for easy navigation.

Totally, TOTALLY true. I'm a minimilist, not because it's easier, but because the faster the people get what they want the more likely they will come back. If it takes them an hour to find one thing they wanted they will leave. The links part also. I would stick with no more then 10 links absolute max on one pages navigation. If you have more then that make a simple drop down list in CSS or DHTML and seperate them by catergory. Careful with the pure CSS and DHTML drop downs because they vanish the instant you roll out of them and that can get frustrating fast. Try, if you can, to go with a javascript list that has a timer so if they move the cursor out they have 2 seconds lets say to get it back before it goes away.

2. Different font sizes- Keep consistency in font sizes for text content of similar nature like headers, footers and body text.

I have taken 3 courses just on typography. I will tell you for sure go with different font sizes. I would also do compliments to the fonts. This would be like Arial (sans serif) and a writing font like Zapfino. Careful though. Arial and Zapfino are over used and not to mention Arial is a system font supposed to be used for system menus. If you making a link as an image try to use fonts no one uses. For actual texts remember not everyone can see the fonts on your system. Check the web for good font sets. Dont keep them bored with ALL sans-serif or serif fonts. Give them a variety. Example would be on my myspace.com/bumwrecker site everything is sans serif except the menu and this gives them just enough tension to keep them looking.

3. Too many GIFs - GIFs take a longer time to load and just put people off.

I dont even use them. I thnk they are just as annoying as pop ups. If you cant get them to look at your image without it being animated and flashing then its not a well enough made image.

4. Flash - Flash is a brilliant way to desgin content for your website, but do not overuse it. Using too much flash where simple HTML would have done the work is simply annoying. Always have a Skip intro button if you add an flash intro to your site. Provide an Sound ON/Off button if you add background music.

An intro would be the only place I would have it and I would have both a skip button as well as a mute. I do not have flash because not enough people have flash support as well as a fast enough connection for me to use it. I want them to get where they want fast without all the bang bam bloops. You can't say im just to old and out of style either I'm 16. People always say that when I tell them m dislike for flash sites. Maybe a nice nav bar and thats it. I have made one flash site in my life and had it up for about a month a made a php site from scratch. Much cleaner and nicer.

5. No Popups - The thought of using pop-ups should never cross your mind. And these days browsers block pop-ups efficiently, so it becomes useless. Opening clicked links in new windows must be avoided and used only when required.

I don't know what else to say. No pop ups. If its an ad or not, no pop ups. people block them and all you have to do is open a new page with your content. I would only put _blank when leaving your site.

6. No Horizontal Scrolling - Internet users are accustomed to scrolling webpages from top-to-bottom. The horizontal scroll must be used rarely for anything unless it is a large image.

For sure. I would always make sure your site is no more then 800px wide max at all times. 100% is even better, but if you want a set width site no more then 800px in my opinion. It's super annoying.

7. Design for Standard Window Size - design your fixed layouts for web pages considering the standard window sizes, used by most users. 800 x 600 was the standard size a few years before, now 1024 x 768 is the standard window size.

As i said above. 1024 is by far way more used, but using all of the peoples screen area, i believe, isn't very nice looking.I think people like having this breathing room around the website.I have always used 800 and even smaller. Right now, just for my portfolio site, my content area is only 435 across. It has a 600 pixel border, but thats just a border. Trust me. It's pretty looking

8. No long URLs - Keep your URLs short and related to the subject matter of the web pages they link to. There is no point having URLs larger than 30 to 35 characters long.

30-35 is even long. Think about the most popular sites. Yahoo.com (9) Google.com(10) and myspace.com (11). Personally i would keep it no longer then 20 max.
Im a graphic designer and of course I dont know everything, but I think what has been said through me as well as Delivi is extremely good points and I would go with what has been said. Breaking the rules above could dramatically change how people view your site. Good luck

OH YEAH AND...

Not only GIF images lag! Maybe you meant BMP image files? lol, these lag the most. I advise you never use a BMP file unless you need to show a high quality image that gets destroyed in GIF or JPEG form (such as a high resolution site preview would).

I would NEVER use BMP ever. If you have to show an image in high quality use a PNG! Or even better PDF. Even a RAW image file for them to download but BMP is horrible!
Edited June 10, 2007 by BooZker (see edit history)