How to Create & Maintain a Website

Session for the SDGN Conference to the Point, Feb 20, 1997
Last Updated: 1998/01/01

Internet vs. Intranet

First, start with internal intranet to build experience. Also a good way to test and debug webpages as well as CGI scripts. Then, design and publish your internet website.

Design:

  1. Mission Statement
    What is the purpose of this website?
    Very important, as it defines the next two issues...

  2. Target Audience
    Members? Non-Members? Whole World? Family only?
    Advise: don't try too much at one!

  3. Source Material
     Logo, addresses (e-mail), "who/what are we?"
    Assign people to supply source material

  4. Some Rules of Thumb
    1. Homepage is most important page of website!
    2. Speed - not too many big images at homepage
    3. Speed - summary contents on homepage
    4. Speed - homepage links to rest of website
    5. Updates: Invite surfers to come back!
    6. Promote your site, (and make it good!!)

Implementation:

  1. HTML Basics
    • <HTML> html document </HTML>

    • <HEADER> header </HEADER>
      • <TITLE> Dr.Bob's Delphi Clinic </TITLE>
      • <META>

    • <BODY> body of document </BODY>
      • <B> bold text </B>
      • <I> italic text </I>
      • <Hx> Headers: </Hx>

        H1 Header

        H2 Header

        H3 Header

        H4 Header

      • Normal Text... (CR and LF are ignored!)
      • <BR> - single line break
      • <HR> - horizontal ruler
      • <P> - new paragraph

      • Lists: <UL> or <OL>
        1. One
        2. Two
        3. Three

      • Images (.GIF or .JPG)
        • <IMG SRC="sdgn.gif">
        • GIF: 16 or 256 colours, invisible background, animation
        • JPG: true colour, better compression

    • <ADDRESS> address for feedback </ADDRESS>

  2. Frames
     <FRAMESET COLS="256,*" FRAMEBORDER="0">
    <FRAME SRC="../menu.htm" NAME="menu">
    <FRAME SRC="../home.htm" NAME="main">
    </FRAMESET>

    <NOFRAMES>
    <BODY>
    Your browser is incapable of showing frames (get Netscape Navigator 2.0+)
    </BODY>
    </NOFRAMES>

  3. Links
    1. email: <A HREF="mailto:bob@bolesian.nl">
    2. http: <A HREF="http://www.drbob42.com">
    3. ftp: <A HREF="http://www.ebob42.com/ftp/intrabob.zip">

  4. CGI Scripts
     Standard CGI (environment variables) and WinCGI (ini files)

    Debugging CGI Scripts: IntraBob v1.01

Deployment:

  1. Testing website with:
    • Netscape Navigator 3.x
    • Internet Explorer 3.x
    • Netscape Navigator 2.x
  2. Uploading
    • FTP by hand
    • FTP Automation (support for webmaster)
  3. Statistics
    • No statistics
    • Counter
    • www.nedstat.nl
    • own webserver (MS-IIS 3.0, NetScape FastTrack, O'Reilly)
  4. Promotion
    • E-mail sign-off: Bob Swart (aka Dr.Bob - www.drbob42.com)
    • Trade Links
    • Search Engines
    • Business Cards
    • Magazines, Seminars, etc.

Maintenance:

  1. Webmaster
     One webmaster, with permission to act now!
  2. Check your links
     Broken link detectors...
  3. Frequent updates
     Monthly? Weekly? Bi-weekly?
  4. Predictable Refresh Rate
     To get a steady amount of users/hits...

This webpage (c) 1998-2015 by Bob Swart (aka Dr.Bob - www.drbob42.com). All Rights Reserved.