Welcome to Sixth Grade HTML. In this lesson we'll consider how to write GOOD HTML.
Like any new technology, one of the Internet's growing pains has been the proliferation of inappropriate and even irresponsible use. Spammers can send the most disgusting kind of sick filth right onto your desktop without even being given permission. People can put things on other people's computers without their even knowing about it. Whenever you connect to the Internet, there is a (small but finite) probability that someone you don't even know can be looking at your most intimate records! It is possible to create web pages in such a way that they can be found, downloaded and viewed, but the servers they are stored on can't be located, so that only the people who created them can modify or erase them, and those same people can remain absolutely anonymous. And, as the designers intended, nobody, absolutely nobody, can control, regulate or destroy the Internet. It simply cannot be done. China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia, among others, are doggedly trying to regulate access to the Internet within their own borders, because they believe that exposing their oppressed citizens to the rest of the world will be the death blow to dictatorships. They are correct, and thus they are losing!
The basic purpose of the Internet, of course, the reason it was invented, is to exchange information. The World Wide Web makes this information easy to find, and hypertext makes it easy to convey and read. Because using the Internet is so easy, it has become a favorite vehicle for stupid and perverted people to get their messages, such as they are, across to literally everyone, even those who don't want to hear (or see!) them. Free speech; gotta love it! Just keep in mind that the worth of an idea has no relationship to how it's expressed, and the odds are that if you see it only on the Internet, it is probably NOT true. Morons, liars and corrupt politicians use the Internet, too. Sometimes, it's their only available medium!
Not like books at all!
The logistics of getting a book from the writer to the reader provide a stabilizing influence on the written word. One has to buy the paper that is used for the draft, so the writer exercises some care that he doesn't waste too much of it. He has to put the pages in logical order, which means his ideas have to be in some kind of logical order in the first place. If he wants to sell his work, it has to be good enough that the publisher will be willing to gamble the money to publish it. The publisher will protect his potential investment by suggesting changes, having others review it, checking the spelling, and decorating it with a fancy cover. Finally, readers will have to be interested in it enough to fork over the cost. If it is a technical work, it will be reviewed and criticized by the author's peers, who may ridicule him so much he will lose his job when his employer finds out what a laughing stock he has made of himself. Even if the author's work is highly acclaimed, if it doesn't attract enough buyers to turn a profit for the publisher (even if it is the author himself), there will be less incentive in the future for him to produce any more work to sell.
The Internet has none of these limitations. One can put a keyboard at the bottom of a box of cats and publish what they produce. Because it is new technology and involves computers, which most people don't really understand, internet publication and web page production are viewed as the product of "smart" people whose ideas are therefore supposedly worth reading. "Having a web page" is now seen as a status symbol among small businesses, most of which have no real use for one, and don't need the added expense it involves. People who have just enough skill to produce an HTML document are making big money selling their services to customers who are willing to pay for crap because they don't know any better. A new word, "blog," a contraction of "web log" has crept into our vocabulary. According to Google, "a blog is information that is instantly published to a web site. Blog scripting allows someone to automatically post information to a web site. The information first goes to a blogger web site. Then the information is automatically inserted into a template tailored" for the site. Imagine, not a single check for purpose, truth, accuracy, compliance with relevant law, or intrinsic worth. No wonder there is so much garbage in "cyberspace!"
The point of all of this is that being able to produce a document that is accessible on the Internet involves a certain amount of social responsibility. If you're going to produce a web page, make it a good one, something you'll be proud of. Otherwise, don't bother. It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to produce a bad web page and remove all doubt!
Now, what constitutes a good web page is subject to interpretation. I have my ideas, you have yours. I'll admit, mine aren't necessarily better, or even as good. On the other hand, I'm the one writing this and you're the reader. If you've reached this point, I'm assuming you are interested in what I have to say. I'll proceed on that assumption.
The purposes of web pages, like any other communication, can be divided into one or more of five categories; to inform, impress, convince, entertain, and gain action. If a person does not have one or more of these purposes in mind, producing a web page is a waste of time and other resources. With a purpose, however, he can design his web page more easily and economically to accomplish that purpose.
Informational web pages are the easiest to produce. They consist of, well, information. Most of that is likely to be text, maybe with a few graphics to show what is being talked about. Formatting should generally be limited to bold face type, italics and underlining. Simplicity is a virtue here. Outlines are often useful to organize information prior to writing the complete page. Tables and lists are often useful and may result directly from the outline. Links are used to provide references to other material that will help the reader understand more clearly what you are trying to tell him and provide referenced or additional information. The World Wide Web was invented for informational web pages.
It is helpful to use established writing techniques to present information. Hopefully, you learned these in school. You start with a "grabber" and then go on from there. The "grabber" gets the reader's attention and entices him to continue reading. It can be an interesting graphic or some text. I usually like to use a graphic. On a book or magazine, it's the cover, but web pages don't have covers. Three examples of text "grabbers" come to mind:
Web pages intended to impress the viewer are a little more fancy. I like to think the webpage we studied in fifth grade is somewhat impressive. It uses graphics, music, flashing lights and colors to grab the viewer's attention. For a different approach, take a look at the Vatican website, which is impressive in a different way. I love the way they use graphics as links, that we learned about in fourth grade. To start with, let's look at the page we studied in fifth grade. This is one of the later steps of the evolution of "my" web page, what people would see when I said, "Take a look at my web page." It introduces and represents me. This is the first thing the viewer sees:
Here I am, smiling out at the viewer from the immensity of the cosmos. The first words, "I'm John Lindorfer and I made this web page" are, of course, reminiscent of President Bush's campaign advertisements. It tells you who I am and, incidentally, that I'm a web page maker. The intended effect is to suggest that I'm an important, responsible, (good looking!) person whose views you should take seriously.
"Click here to send a sorry Democrat to Canada." "Click here to see our vacation pictures in Middle Earth," "Click here to find out how to become richer than Bill Gates!" "Click here for a text only version," "Click here to send me e-mail" A little human interest and humor here. The "Click here to send me e-mail" link is up front because some viewers are looking for my e-mail address, and this makes it possible for them to get straight to business if they just want to send me a message.
The Star Trek graphic, song, music and scout oath are intended to get the viewer interested. "Hey, Francine, this guy is OK. Look, he's got a little space ship flying across the screen! Cool!" Note that I have put the music player bar right up front, where the viewer can turn it off if he wants. I find background music annoying if I can't control it (If the music player bar is grayed out, you don't have a compatible plugin.)
"God bless George Bush and the United States of America!" "Welcome to my home page," "Let's go back to the moon...On our way to Mars!"... just a few more ideas I've thrown in. Viewers may have my "Middle Earth Wizard" card, so inclusion here shows them they're at the right place.
Down to the middle of the page, this document is essentially a resume', which is basically what it's for. A resume' is the accepted method of telling someone about oneself, so I figured it would be appropriate here. Who knows, somebody may offer me a job! (not that I'm looking for work, but it's nice to feel wanted)
I have no control over most of the links, which were good when I inserted them, but may be outdated now. Every so often I have to clean them up. It doesn't matter, really, since they're not essential to understanding what's there. If people want to know what the International Space Station is, for example, they can use the link provided, but it's not really necessary.
The sermons, lectures and other ramblings have evolved over the last few years from my professional and personal writings. I don't include them because they take up a lot of space, and most viewers won't care. They can click on the links if they think they might be interested. The sermons are keyed to specific passages in Scripture, so I have included links to the Bible where appropriate if anyone wants to check them out.
Then there are pictures of my children. Like many fathers, I like to show people pictures of my kids.
I thought the picture of the world and our beach were so interesting that I included them. Maybe others would be interested, maybe not.
The rest of the page is just miscellaneous stuff that I think viewers might find interesting. Food for thought, here.
I have some other thoughts that scroll unobtrusively across the bottom of the page. I change them from time to time as the muse moves me. I think they accurately express my opinions on things, and give the viewer a little more insight into who I am.
The animated horizontal rules are straight out of the Star Trek programs, and seem to go well with the overall theme. They are repeated 11 times, but only have to load once, so they don't take up too much time to load.
If you click on any of the sermons, lectures and other ramblings, you get an idea of how I like to design my web pages. Of course, these are noncommercial pages which are intended to express ideas, not sell products. Commercial pages are more glitzy and glamorous, but I'm assuming that the average HTML writer is basically like me, someone who is putting something on the Internet for others to read without trying to get them to buy anything. Here are some of my guidelines.
I like to use titles and headlines to let the reader know what he's looking at. Usually the title is repeated in a headline, but not always. One can use a title for notification purposes, such as "Warning - Contents of this site may be objectionable to perverts." Then I don't feel that I have to apologize to any perverts who might be offended by what I'm saying.
I like to specify the background. Backgrounds should not detract from the text. If I want to simulate a textbook, such as in this document, I specify <body bgcolor="white"> in the body of the document. For most of my pages, I use a kind of marble background at http://lindorfer.us/wizard/Graphics/frmarbl.jpg. I like the "cosmos" background at http://lindorfer.us/wizard/Graphics/starfiel.jpg for dramatic effect. For instance, see my "Star Wars" format at The Letters of Timothy, of which I am moderately proud. Once again, I put the music controls up front. I also included links to the alternate texts if some people can't read them in the "scrolling plaque."
I like generally to introduce my text with a picture or other graphic, which gets the viewer interested, sets the tone, and sometimes shows what is being discussed. A picture is worth a thousand words. (Actually, they're worth much more in terms of disk space and loading time.) I like to use a five pixel table border to form a picture frame. Sometimes you need several graphics, as in a tutorial.
I prefer to use GIF or JPG format for my graphics. GIF is best for simple graphics, line sketches and anime-type drawings. JPG was designed specifically for digital storage of photographs. GIFs can be animated.
Graphics should be used in moderation. They should be small. If you have something very large you want your viewer to see, include a small one as a thumbnail and make it a link to the full sized one. That way the page doesn't take so long to load.
Regarding graphics, Some web page designers like to use graphics for everything, hundreds of them in some cases. Some of them consist of a single pixel. Stupid!
One of the most annoying use of graphics, in my opinion, is to use graphics in lieu of text. Some web page designers think it's cool to have little tabs or tags with words on them, but each of these takes up as much loading time as hundreds, sometimes thousands, of words. Often you can sit for minutes at a time watching a client look all over the world for little graphics to decorate a web page. I'm against this. If you need a picture, use a picture. If you need a piece of text, use a piece of text.
Links should be used to help your viewer get more information. I like to use a link any time I think a viewer might be unfamiliar with what I'm talking about, or might want to look something up, such as a Scriptural reference. I'll admit I don't follow any hard and fast rules, though. I try to make the link informative and rather short. The purpose of the link is, after all, to be able to call up other text, not to explain it. Most of the tutorials I've read on HTML say you should never use "click here" in a link, but I don't agree. If you want your viewer to click somewhere, "click here" tells him that.
Try to keep formatting to a minimum. Tables and lists may be necessary, but specifying specific fonts or styles or whatnot simply extends loading time. HTML editors and generator programs like to specify virtually everything; I'm against them for that reason, as well as others.
A convincing web page is an informational web page on steroids. Strictly speaking, convincing someone involves making him believe something is true that he already knows, but doesn't believe. Practically, you have to tell him what you want him to believe (inform him) and then make him believe it (convince him).
The informing part follows the guidelines for informational web pages. It's important to be concise, logical and thorough. My mentor, Earl McNail, used to emphasize that "You've got to tell him what you're going to tell him, then tell him what you want to tell him, then tell him what you told him." I think that is true. Then you have to make him believe it. I think it helps to determine beforehand, in as few words as possible, exactly and precisely what idea(s) you are trying to put across, and then proceed to propose and explain sufficiently that your viewer has no doubt about what it is you want him to believe. Then you can work on the believing part.
Getting a person to believe something depends very much on who he or she is. Willingness to believe is heavily influenced by experience, including cultural background. If you are writing for a specific audience, it helps to know as much as possible about that audience. Generally, you will be writing for Americans, who are a diverse lot. On the other hand, most Americans like to believe things, since most subscribe to religions which require, or at least encourage, them to believe all sorts of unbelievable things before breakfast. To get someone to believe something, you can appeal to his emotions, point out that he already believes it, show how what you propose is a logical conclusion from what he already believes, or appeal to some authority that the viewer (not necessarily you) accepts. You can use these in combination. For example....
| The Situation: | Police want to convince a potential suicide that he should get off a bridge | A Creationist wants to convince his audience that evolution is wrong | A preacher wants to convince his congregation they should contribute money to fix a leaky roof | "Paw Paw" Dub Herring wants to sell his TV audience a used car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appeal to emotion | You seem like an intelligent guy. | Oh, woe to those who don't believe the word of God! | Oh, the wonders of the love of God! | Folks, this is your good friend, Paw Paw Dub Herring in Picayune, Mississippi! |
| Established belief | You really don't want to hurt yourself. | The Bible is the source of God's revelation to mankind. | Fixing our leaky roof is going to cost a lot of money. | Everybody likes a good deal; |
| Logical conclusion | That's what's going to happen if you don't get down. | Evolution denies the plain words of the Bible, | And God will love you if you help fix it. | ... and, friends, we've got just the deal for you! |
| Appeal to authority | Besides, you're breaking the law by being up there. | which says in the Book of Genesis, that God created the heavens and the earth! | As Saint Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:7, "God loveth a cheerful giver!" | A year old Corvette, with all the features that you like, for $3200 off the list price! |
Notice that conviction has nothing to do with truth. It is just as easy to get people to believe things that are not true as it is to get them to believe true things. Donald Trump does it all the time! Emotions have nothing whatever to do with truth; neither does what one already believes. You can induce people to embrace all kinds of really strange ideas if you can show that they are logical conclusions from the premise that the problems of black people are all due to white subjugation, the Supreme Court wants to promote atheism, The US invaded Iraq to steal their oil, TSA screening at airports keeps us safe from terrorists, Michael Schiavo killed his wife for her money, or that the 2020 election was stolen by the Democrats, who actually lost!
About the only sure criterion of truth seems to me to be the veracity of the authority one uses, and even then, one must be very careful to be honest in applying that that authority actually says. Most folks I know accept the Bible as a compendium of truth, but they often disagree, sometimes violently, on what the Bible says about specific propositions. I have always thought bibles should contain a warning label that says that.
Some people like to appeal to "common sense," but common sense is actually established belief, call it prejudice if you want, and varies from person to person. What I think is common sense might be the opposite of what you think is common sense, and both of us may be dead wrong. You can appeal to the viewer's idea of common sense, of course, but you need to be careful that you know what that is.
These appeals are facilitated by extensive use of links to documents that show what the established belief is, or that recognized authority supports your position. I find the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as encyclicals and other papal writings, useful in trying to convince my viewers of religious ideas. Links to the Constitution or decisions of the Supreme Court are useful in discussing law and civil rights. If you know that you and your viewer accept some common authority, use that.
You can generate emotion by using an emotional "grabber," such as a picture of happy (or starving) children, or a picture of soldiers or the Flag, and then appeal to that emotion in your text.
I think entertainment is in the mind of the entertainee. I like to inject a little humor into almost every web page I write because I'm a friendly guy who likes to make people smile and maybe laugh occasionally. Some people don't like that, and I respect their sensibilities by either being very serious around them or, usually, by leaving them alone. But I don't have any web pages that are ONLY for entertainment, so I really don't have any specific ideas on how to make them.
It seems to me that entertaining web pages benefit from lots of formatting and graphics. Glitz and glitter! Razzle-dazzle! They probably don't use too many links; where would someone want to go if he's ALREADY having a good time?
On the other hand, I think any web page ought to avoid irresponsibility. I defend a person's RIGHT to publish pornography and other material that is inappropriate for little kids, but I think it should be kept under the rug with the other filth. If it's risque', I think the writer should figure out how to keep it away from children and then do that. Requiring a credit card number to enter an offensive web site might be one way. I think people should be warned if content is likely to offend contemporary community standards. On the other hand, some of my more conservative friends have criticized some of my web pages as being inappropriate for their children. I think it's best if they don't let their children see them.
I think we should all try to make the Internet more economical and reliable by using hypertext transfer protocol (http) for what it's for, transferring text and associated (limited) graphics. Web pages that use http and include unnecessary live audio or video seem to me to be irresponsible, and I avoid them for that reason. If your client is taking a long time to load a page, it's probably because the Internet is being clogged up with morons using their computers as radios or televisions. Don't let one of them be you! If you want satellite radio or TV, get satellite radio or TV.
| The Situation: | Police want to convince a potential suicide that he should get off a bridge | A Creationist wants to convince his audience that evolution is wrong | A preacher wants to convince his congregation they should contribute money to fix a leaky roof | "Paw Paw" Dub Herring wants to sell his TV audience a used car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Motivational Addition: | C'mon, I'll help you get down. Just take my hand. Careful, now! | So cast out those evil "scientific" doubts and let God into your life! | So dig down deep into your pockets, and show God how much you value His love! | So come on down to Picayune, Mississippi, and tell 'em Paw Paw sent you! (That's a good car, Paw Paw!) |
Did you click there? Which one did you pick first?
Commercial web pages are usually motivational, because they try to get you to do something, usually to go through the complete process necessary to buy a product or service that the sponsor wants to sell. There are multiple purposes here, because the sponsor needs to inform the potential customer what the products or services are, impress him with how good or desirable they are, convince him that he should buy one or more of them, and then motivate him to select the one(s) he wants, place an order, and arrange for payment.
Unfortunately, commercial web designers often concentrate on the "design" to the detriment of the "commercial." Their pages may be slick and glitzy, but don't give essential information required by the customer, such as what products are available and how to order them. Really! For example, Radio Shack discontinued its catalog and established a website that was supposed to replace it, but the website was so hard to use, and so badly maintained, that even the Radio Shack store employees couldn't find things using it. As a result, if your local store didn't have it, you couldn't order it. We all know what happened to Radio Shack, right?
I'm not a commercial web page designer any more than I am a brain surgeon, but I have a few ideas that I think commercial web page writers would do well to consider. The first one is to determine why one is writing it in the first place. I find it annoying when I want to buy something, look it up on Google, and then have to click through page after page that tells me what great deals I can get on the thing, how wonderful it is, how it is superior to everybody else's thing, how fantastic the company that makes the thing is, who founded it, how that person had to struggle, how I can invest in the company, what their latest press releases are, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, but don't tell me how to buy the darn thing, how much it costs, and how to pay for it. If a company is selling something, the first purpose of a web page ought to be to help a potential customer buy it!
What follows are my thoughts about what I think would enhance a web page that is designed to motivate someone to buy something. These are in addition to the foregoing general guidelines for web pages. They are:
Chances are good that if you are a business executive contemplating a commercial web page design, you'll want one as good or better than those of your competitors, so you will want to invest in a commercial web page designer. That's OK; it's your money. I think it is helpful, though, to give thought to the design of your company's web page and what you want it to do and say as well as what you want it to look like. This allows you to communicate to your expensive web page designer what you want him to do so that you get your money's worth. Remember, if it doesn't do what you want, you paid too much!
I have a few pet peeves about web pages that I'll pass along for what they're worth. Maybe they don't annoy you as much as they do me, but they really annoy me because I think they are criminally arrogant! I don't do business with organizations that are guilty of them!
Another pet peeve of mine that pertains to both advertiser's websites and their telephone messages are those that waste the customer's time. If your website has a telephone link, whatever you are planning to say in a recorded message should be posted on the website instead. You should have already have told him in writing what he wants to know; if he calls you, he wants to talk to somebody! He especially does NOT want to hear things that you should have told him on your website, or why you don't have enought interest or people to talk to him. "We are experiencing a high volume..." means that you don't care enough about him to have already hired a large enough number of customer service representatives. So does telling him how long he has to wait before one of your employees cares enough to pick up the phone and talk to him. Besides, both of those statements are basically lies! Whom do you think you're kidding? If his "call is very important" to you, answer the telephone!
And finally, if your customer has managed to navigate the unusually high volume of telephone calls, and outwaited the waiting time while all your agents are assisting other customers and ignoring him, and actually gets to talk to somebody who represents your business, try to actually address his concerns. If he's calling about noise on your company's telephone line, for example, don't explain how to reset his personal identification number!
OK, so now you have some basic information about writing HTML documents. You can get some more from other on-line references or at your local book store or library. At this point, you are ready to study on your own or take a formal course.
You are now ready for Junior High HTML.
Good Luck!