Showing posts with label Web design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Web design. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2012
Web design - how to drive away your readers
About.com recently published an article How to drive away your readers which includes a number of points relevant to historical society websites. Points to avoid include using impossible navigation on a site, not maintaining the site (outdated material), trying to use latest web tools without considering whether the computers of your readers will be able to use them and using too many images (particularly large images that take too long to download. As usual with About.com articles there are also links to other related articles on the topic. About.com articles do have adds on their pages but if you keep reading you will usually find relevant information.
CSS - Cascading Style Sheets
For those who prefer to design their own web pages using html, learning to use cascading style sheets can be a useful tool in the design of the website. About.com recently provided an introductory article on the topic of Cascading Style Sheets - Learn to love CSS - along with links to other articles on CSS in the About.com Web design / HTML section.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Easy ways to learn HTML
When designing websites it is useful to have some knowledge of HTML - the code used to construct a webpage.
About.com has a section on Web Design and HTML and has recently prepared a guide Cheap and easy ways to learn HTML - http://webdesign.about.com/od/htmlxhtmltutorials/p/learnhtml.htm?nl=1
About.com has a section on Web Design and HTML and has recently prepared a guide Cheap and easy ways to learn HTML - http://webdesign.about.com/od/htmlxhtmltutorials/p/learnhtml.htm?nl=1
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
RHSV Information Technology and Historical Societies Survey 2010 (part 5)
Websites
Groups with their own website
Yes – 92
No – 71
Groups with their own website
Yes – 92
No – 71
Website hosting:
- Vicnet sites – 37
- Sites with own domain name (some of these possibly hosted on Vicnet) – 34
- Attached to websites of another organisations – 7
- Part of website of parent body – 4
- My Connected Community sites – 4
- Blogs as websites – 3 (Blogger and Wordpress)
- Community guide websites (2)
- Spaces.live.com – 2
- Google sites (1)
- 50webs (1)
Yes – 27
No – 52
21 groups reported having a page on website of another organisation but did not have their own website
Help for website development
Help requested to develop a website: 18
Help requested to maintain a website: 16
54 of the respondents without websites of their own did not request help to establish or create a website.
33 of these respondents indicated that they did not have a presence on any website.
No – 52
21 groups reported having a page on website of another organisation but did not have their own website
Help for website development
Help requested to develop a website: 18
Help requested to maintain a website: 16
54 of the respondents without websites of their own did not request help to establish or create a website.
33 of these respondents indicated that they did not have a presence on any website.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Online exhibitions - a great way to promote your collection
A summary of a paper presented at a Museums Australia (Vic) seminar on Online exhibitions - writing for the web on Monday 6 April, 2009 at the City Museum at Old Treasury, Spring Street, Melbourne.
A large number of historical societies in Victoria now have websites. Websites provide the opportunity for historical organisations to promote their organisations and collections. However, many of the websites are static with the content rarely changing though some groups have embraced the web to produce interesting and informative sites. An online exhibition can be an extension to the basic website. The online exhibition can promote a section of the collection, be an extension of a physical exhibition or tell the story of an event, family or organisation.
In 2007 and 2008 four online exhibitions were added to the RHSV website - http://www.historyvictoria.org.au/.
Walter Woodbury's Photographic Panorama of Melbourne
An online exhibition showcasing four photographs from the collection. The exhibition uses other resources from the RHSV collection to help show a view of Melbourne in 1855.
Travellers Tales: Photography , Travel and the Proliferation of the Postcard
In 2002 an exhibition showcasing the range of postcards held in the RHSV collection, particularly those produced in the second part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, was developed as part of the exhibition program. When a database of scanned images of postcards was put online, an online version of some of the content of the 2002 exhibition was prepared to provide information about the importance and range of postcards. Slideshows were included to provide examples of categories of postcards.
MacRobertson's Round Australia Expedition 1928
An online exhibition utilising part of a collection to tell a story about an event that occurred 80 years ago. This exhibition was prepared as part of a digitisation grant. Procedures used were described in entries in a blog.
The WCTU and the Woman's Petition
2008 celebrated the centenary of women winning the right to vote in Victorian government elections. In October 2005, as part of the celebrations of 150 years of parliament in Victoria, an online index to the Woman's Petition was launched. Who were the women who collected these signatures? How did they collect so many signatures in such a short time? What motivated the women to undertake this task? Why did women sign the petition? The online exhibition attempts to provide a resource to help answer some of these questions.
These four online exhibitions were created using basic html, and standard, readily available (and often free) programs. This session looks at how community groups, including historical societies, can create effective online exhibitions.
Online exhibitions tell a story. As with the development of a physical exhibition there are a number of tasks to be undertaken including planning, checking available resources, research, story board (including deciding what to include and what to leave out), designing the pages, putting it all together, and checking the end product.
Walter Woodbury's Photographic Panorama of Melbourne is a small online exhibition showcasing four images portraying an interesting portrayal of Melbourne in 1855. Walter Woodbury made a series of "wet plate" photographs taken from the top of the new Gasworks chimney in the area now known as Docklands. Copies of the images were included in an exhibition held at the RHSV in 2006 in conjunction with a conference on life in Melbourne in 1856, and again in 2007. Extensive research had been undertaken about the images for the physical exhibition but additional information was required to make the online exhibition more than just four images of Melbourne taken in 1855.
Buildings in each image were identified and marked on the exhibition images. Research was undertaken to establish from where the original photographs were taken and permission was obtained to enter a room in a high rise building in the Docklands area to take a photograph replicating the view today.
The RHSV also holds a map of Melbourne prepared by James Kearney in 1855. A section was digitised and the free program, Zoomify, used to allow a magnified image of part of the digitised map. An article from the Argus was located describing the opening of the chimney. Biographical information was researched about Walter Woodbury and James Kearney. Research was also undertaken about each of the buildings identified in the photographs.
Consequently extensive planning, checking of available resources and research was undertaken before decisions were made as to how to present the material online. All this information was then assembled to create an online exhibition which used resources from the RHSV collection to provide a snapshot of the development of Melbourne in 1855.
The order in which the material was to be presented, the design of the web pages, putting it all together as one entity and then checking that it worked the way it had been planned was undertaken before it was put online in the Treasures of the RHSV section of the RHSV website.
Other considerations when writing for the web - especially for local history websites - include
General information about the exhibition was provided in the blog - check the online exhibitions tag.
The design of the online exhibition was kept relatively simple using tables. The background colour is the same for all pages but the colour of the border is changed for each section of the trip. Templates were created and used with minor alterations as required. A cascading style sheet was used to control the uniformity of print style and size etc throughout the site. A small version of the MacRobertson map, located in the top left hand corner of each page, served as a link to the home page.
On the home page there are two options for navigating The Expedition pages
As this was the story of an expedition, the online exhibition was released in stages following the time frame of the trip. The first stage went online on the 12th April 2008, the anniversary of the day that the expedition left Melbourne 80 years earlier. Other stages went online at intervals.
Historical societies have many stories to tell from their collections and online exhibitions are a way that these stories can be made available to the public.
As we have seen online exhibitions
A large number of historical societies in Victoria now have websites. Websites provide the opportunity for historical organisations to promote their organisations and collections. However, many of the websites are static with the content rarely changing though some groups have embraced the web to produce interesting and informative sites. An online exhibition can be an extension to the basic website. The online exhibition can promote a section of the collection, be an extension of a physical exhibition or tell the story of an event, family or organisation.
In 2007 and 2008 four online exhibitions were added to the RHSV website - http://www.historyvictoria.org.au/.
Walter Woodbury's Photographic Panorama of Melbourne
An online exhibition showcasing four photographs from the collection. The exhibition uses other resources from the RHSV collection to help show a view of Melbourne in 1855.
Travellers Tales: Photography , Travel and the Proliferation of the Postcard
In 2002 an exhibition showcasing the range of postcards held in the RHSV collection, particularly those produced in the second part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, was developed as part of the exhibition program. When a database of scanned images of postcards was put online, an online version of some of the content of the 2002 exhibition was prepared to provide information about the importance and range of postcards. Slideshows were included to provide examples of categories of postcards.
MacRobertson's Round Australia Expedition 1928
An online exhibition utilising part of a collection to tell a story about an event that occurred 80 years ago. This exhibition was prepared as part of a digitisation grant. Procedures used were described in entries in a blog.
The WCTU and the Woman's Petition
2008 celebrated the centenary of women winning the right to vote in Victorian government elections. In October 2005, as part of the celebrations of 150 years of parliament in Victoria, an online index to the Woman's Petition was launched. Who were the women who collected these signatures? How did they collect so many signatures in such a short time? What motivated the women to undertake this task? Why did women sign the petition? The online exhibition attempts to provide a resource to help answer some of these questions.
These four online exhibitions were created using basic html, and standard, readily available (and often free) programs. This session looks at how community groups, including historical societies, can create effective online exhibitions.
Online exhibitions tell a story. As with the development of a physical exhibition there are a number of tasks to be undertaken including planning, checking available resources, research, story board (including deciding what to include and what to leave out), designing the pages, putting it all together, and checking the end product.
Walter Woodbury's Photographic Panorama of Melbourne is a small online exhibition showcasing four images portraying an interesting portrayal of Melbourne in 1855. Walter Woodbury made a series of "wet plate" photographs taken from the top of the new Gasworks chimney in the area now known as Docklands. Copies of the images were included in an exhibition held at the RHSV in 2006 in conjunction with a conference on life in Melbourne in 1856, and again in 2007. Extensive research had been undertaken about the images for the physical exhibition but additional information was required to make the online exhibition more than just four images of Melbourne taken in 1855.
Buildings in each image were identified and marked on the exhibition images. Research was undertaken to establish from where the original photographs were taken and permission was obtained to enter a room in a high rise building in the Docklands area to take a photograph replicating the view today.
The RHSV also holds a map of Melbourne prepared by James Kearney in 1855. A section was digitised and the free program, Zoomify, used to allow a magnified image of part of the digitised map. An article from the Argus was located describing the opening of the chimney. Biographical information was researched about Walter Woodbury and James Kearney. Research was also undertaken about each of the buildings identified in the photographs.
Consequently extensive planning, checking of available resources and research was undertaken before decisions were made as to how to present the material online. All this information was then assembled to create an online exhibition which used resources from the RHSV collection to provide a snapshot of the development of Melbourne in 1855.
The order in which the material was to be presented, the design of the web pages, putting it all together as one entity and then checking that it worked the way it had been planned was undertaken before it was put online in the Treasures of the RHSV section of the RHSV website.
Other considerations when writing for the web - especially for local history websites - include
- Know your audience
- Be aware of the range of computers used by potential viewers - not necessarily latest models
- People living in country Victoria may have limited internet access
- Not everyone has broadband
- Browsers behave differently - need to check the pages in major browsers
- People adjust computer settings
- Write clearly and concisely
- Provide layers of information - provide the opportunity for users to select the information they want to view
- Keep focused on why the online exhibition is being developed - it is easy to become side tracked. Keep in mind the aims of the exhibition
- Provide user friendly navigation about the site
- Do not assume that everyone knows how links and other web devices work
- Although it may be possible to include fancy bells & whistles on the site, only use them if appropriate
- Use meta data tags to help browsers locate your site
General information about the exhibition was provided in the blog - check the online exhibitions tag.
The design of the online exhibition was kept relatively simple using tables. The background colour is the same for all pages but the colour of the border is changed for each section of the trip. Templates were created and used with minor alterations as required. A cascading style sheet was used to control the uniformity of print style and size etc throughout the site. A small version of the MacRobertson map, located in the top left hand corner of each page, served as a link to the home page.
On the home page there are two options for navigating The Expedition pages
- a map of the expedition including links to the beginning of each stage (image map)
- hypertext links to each stage beneath the map
- navigation links at the bottom of each page to move within the stage
- navigation links at the top of the page to move around the site
As this was the story of an expedition, the online exhibition was released in stages following the time frame of the trip. The first stage went online on the 12th April 2008, the anniversary of the day that the expedition left Melbourne 80 years earlier. Other stages went online at intervals.
Historical societies have many stories to tell from their collections and online exhibitions are a way that these stories can be made available to the public.
As we have seen online exhibitions
- may highlight a small part of a collection
- may provide additional information about a collection
- may tell a story based on items in a specific collection
- may celebrate an anniversary
- may be held in conjunction with a physical exhibition
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Web Contact Forms
Websites hosted by Vicnet can include a web form on their contact page for people to fill in to contact the society. In the section re free web hosting on the Vicnet site there is a section on forms and formmail - Web Design: Forms and formmail.pl.
To use this function copy the code provided on the page into the section of the html page where you want the web form to appear. In the 'which address should the feedback be sent to' section add the email address to be used.
If the society does not have an email account with Vicnet, it is necessary to contact Vicnet either by using their web form or by email requesting that the email address to be used is added to the Vicnet list of accepted email recipients.
Some internet security packages block the usage of forms for sending messages - Vicnet provides information suggesting how to overcome this problem. It may be useful to include a link to this information on your web page to help people encountering such problems.
To use this function copy the code provided on the page into the section of the html page where you want the web form to appear. In the 'which address should the feedback be sent to' section add the email address to be used.
If the society does not have an email account with Vicnet, it is necessary to contact Vicnet either by using their web form or by email requesting that the email address to be used is added to the Vicnet list of accepted email recipients.
Some internet security packages block the usage of forms for sending messages - Vicnet provides information suggesting how to overcome this problem. It may be useful to include a link to this information on your web page to help people encountering such problems.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Web design for all computers
A major challenge when creating pages for the Internet, whether pages for a website or an online exhibition, is that people viewing the pages are going to be using different computers and different operating systems and different browsers. These variables will all affect how the finished page will appear on a computer screen. A page may look great on the computer where the page is designed but not as impressive on another computer screen.
Always check the pages in at least two browsers. The most commonly used browsers at present, in Australia, are Internet Explorer and Firefox. If the pages work in both of these browsers they should be OK. Sometimes specific coding that works in one browser may not apply in the other browser so alternative coding may be required to produce the desired effect.
Internet Explorer sometimes ignores coding that is not correctly entered - Firefox rarely does this - so if there are problems with a page in Firefox always check the coding carefully (particularly ending tags).
Different versions of browsers can also affect how a page looks on the screen. For example a page viewed in Internet Explorer 7 may appear differently to the same page viewed in Internet Explorer 6.
Different versions of browsers can also affect how a page looks on the screen. For example a page viewed in Windows XP may appear differently to the same page viewed in Windows 98.
The size of the computer screen will affect the way web pages are viewed. Some people have computers, often passed down from family members, with monitors with small screens while it is now possible to purchase computers with 22 inch screens.
Screen resolution also affects the appearance of web pages on a screen. A webpage designed in a screen with a resolution 1280 x 1024 pixels could look very different in a screen with the resolution 800 x 600 pixels.
To some extent it is a case of knowing your audience. Web pages for local history will often be viewed by people with older computers so it is best to design pages that will look reasonable on smaller screens.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
About.Computers
A useful website on a wide range of IT issues is About.com: Computers & Technology - http://www.about.com/compute/ . The site contains links to a selection of articles on a wide range of topics as well as product reviews.
There is also an online newsletter to which you can subscribe to receive regular articles. Online newsletter topics - About computers; Podcasting; Web design; Blogs.
I have been receiving the About computers newsletter for several years now and find it useful for an overview of what is available and an introduction to new developments.
There is also an online newsletter to which you can subscribe to receive regular articles. Online newsletter topics - About computers; Podcasting; Web design; Blogs.
I have been receiving the About computers newsletter for several years now and find it useful for an overview of what is available and an introduction to new developments.
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