Web Page Hints and Guidelines

Topics: Planning, Designing, Wording, Graphics, Browsers and Monitors, Special Forms and "Bots", E-Commerce, Final Word

PLANNING

A user comes to our/your web site for a specific goal. It may be something like:

• how to start a new career
• what programs we offer
• how to get financial aid
• if they should send their children here
• what kind of training we offer for businesses
• if a class they want to take is available at their community center
• how they can contact someone concerning Veteran Benefits
• what is planned for a class this week
• instructor phone, email, and availability

The purpose of the web site is to provide EASY access to information and opportunities found at NWTC. To do this effectively, your web pages should be organized logically. If you knew nothing about this school, how would you find specific information? Don't make the mistake of thinking that a visitor is going to read everything on a page and "naturally" find your next link. Visitors "surf" because they jump from one link to another until they find the information that they want. That means you must plan your site effectively. Put links to the information that the visitor will want, NOT what you want them to see.

A good way to plan your pages is to write down what a visitor will want to know on separate sticky notes. Then rearrange them until you can see a natural flow from one piece to another. Now start combining the things that could be placed together and rearrange to get the most coverage from each page and/or link.   Return to Top

Designing

After you have a plan of what information is needed and where it should go, you can type the information into Word, an HTML editor, or other tools for preparing web pages. Do not get too concerned about spacing or formatting. If you do use a web page editor, you can be creative and do your own thing. If any parts of the coding will not work on the NWTC web site, the Site NWTC web developer will contact you. The Site NWTC web developer will add a top and bottom template that will be the width of the page and 1/4 of an inch high. You will also find it helpful to put a "BACK" to your home page on each one of your pages.
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Wording

Links should be worded clearly and informatively. Do NOT use words or terms that have no meaning for others outside of the school, even if everyone in your department knows them. Remember that the web pages are there to service the visitors!

Another point to keep in mind - is the information pertinent? Is there really someone out there that wants to know this information? Will it help them have a better understanding of what you are presenting or will it just confuse the visitor? Keep it as short and readable as possible. Bulleted or numbered lists are ideal.  Return to Top

Graphics

Graphics and photos add interest to a page, but can be a real headache for visitors coming into the web site over the standard telephone lines. A page that loads quickly here on campusl may take over a minute to load at someone's home. Keep this in mind when picking graphics.

Graphics must be .JPG or .GIF images and be under 30 kilobytes to load quickly. If any selected ones may be a problem, the Site NWTC web developer will contact you. Also, be careful where you get your images. Anything on the web is considered fair game, but many logos or photos may be copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without permission. There are many web sites on the Internet that offer free graphics and/or templates for web pages. Use a search engine to find them. Return to Top

Browsers and Monitors

Many new web designers have spent hours getting their web pages to look just perfect, only to find that they appear differently on another computer. There are two items that have a great influence on how a page will appear. They are the browser used on the PC and the monitor settings. A web designer cannot control either one on the visitor's PC, but the Site NWTC web developer will try to make your pages compatible with all browsers.
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Special Forms and "Bots"

Some web editing software such as Microsoft FrontPage are great and very easy to work with. There is one problem with such software, though. It uses some HTML coding that is proprietary to Microsoft Internet Information Server and will not work on our current web server. Because of this, we recommend that you do NOT use all of the "fancy gadgets" that are available. As new software comes out, we will be trying to add new capabilities, but many of them are just not worth spending the time on. There are hundreds (possibly thousands) of companies trying to create new and useful applications for web pages and we will not try to keep up with all of them. Return to Top

E-Commerce

NWTC has a goal of providing service to the community whenever, wherever, and however it is needed. NWTC has purchased and implemented the PeopleSoft Student Administration system to fulfill student self-service needs. Let that system maintain the course and program information that it is designed for. You should concentrate on supplying the information that can't be obtained from a catalog - online or in paper.    Return to Top

Final Word

These procedures and guidelines will probably change and evolve over time. All staff at NWTC are encouraged to review our web pages and contribute their ideas to the Site NWTC web developer. NWTC employees should report erroneous information they are aware of on any pages. While the Site NWTC web developer is responsible for the overall web site, each department and their staff are ultimately responsible for the information on those pages.
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Contact the Web developer by email or at X-6825