The first decision you will need to make will be to decide whether you will be running your own system/web server connected to the Internet or whether you will be paying another provider to host your data/pages on their system. Questions other than the usual ones like cost/support/hardware available/target audience/response time & control/etc. include:
Assuming that you wish to run your own service you will then need to select a Platform and Web Server Software package to use. The platform is the hardware component of the web site and it is the host computer which holds the content for your site. The Web Server Software is the software program which runs on this computer and serves the documents (via HTTP) to the clients. The choices are nearly endless although Unix platforms tend to be the current preferred platform. The Platform and Web Server Software you use will depend on the features you require like:
There are many server packages today for a wide range of platforms, both free and commercial packages are available. In the past the CERN and NCSA packages for Unix have been the most popular, but with the growing popularity of the Internet and the Web in the commercial sector more and more commercial servers with commercial facilities and support are becoming available.
The Web Servers Index is a list of pointers which link to the main indexes listing most known web server software on the Internet.
Like the Server Software market both free and commercial packages are available. You will need to select the authoring tools and other extension software to suit your needs.
The Web Information Index is a list of pointers which link to the main indexes listing most known web tools and software on the Internet. The Guides to Authoring Documents [HTML] Index is a list of pointers which link to the main guides on writing HTML and authoring Web documents.
When designing pages for the Web all of the usual rules for the presentation of information apply along with a few extra specific rules for this medium.
You must consider not only your target audience but the particular browser and helper applications they will most likely be using to browse the Web and also the bandwidth available. You must also consider that you are working in a hypermedia environment so that documents are linked in a web like structure.
If your expected users will be using text only browsers or browsers without extended helper applications, then the inclusion of images, sounds and movies is probably not applicable.
You must consider the end to end bandwidth available which includes not only the link from the end user to the Internet but also the link from your own pages to the Internet and the links inbetween. There is nothing more frustrating than either having a very fat connection to the Internet and connecting to some web server which has a 9600 baud link to the Internet which is trying to serve pages with half megabyte images in them or if you have a slow 9600 baud link yourself and you are trying to view pages from a server which has large images. The thirty minute wait for the page to load can be a severe turn off.
The web is an interactive medium and thus the design of the information structure greatly influences quality. This includes not only the content of the pages but also the layout and more importantly the heirarchical structure of the documentation tree. A web sites pages should be both formatted well and properly organized. Generally pages used for navigation should be short and brief. Navigation at a site can also be aided by the addition of a search function.
Consider the special technical facilities which you can employ when building pages. Examples of these include:
The World Wide Web Document Preparation Advanced Tips and Techniques details a list of advanced Web document preparation tips and techniques.
The Releasing and Announcing your Server Guide details a list of places to contact to announce and advertise your new server.
Electronic Commerce on the Internet - WWW (World Wide Web)
- the "Glossy Brochure"
Rodney Campbell [Rodney.Campbell@Telstra.com.au]
(c)
Copyright 1995 Telstra Corporation.
Last modified: Fri Apr 21 19:53:45 1995