Web Development Establish Layout Establish An Effective Site Layout
Establish Effective LayoutOnce we’ve established the site sections you will need and at least have a rough idea about how they will be tied together, we can begin examining various layout options. They range from fixed, single-column layouts, to fluid multi-column layouts and everything in between. Because we already have an idea of what our content will consist of, we can now start to prioritize positions on any given page. For example, the layout can be different for each page of the site. Not that you want to vary it dramatically from page to page, but you can certainly be a little creative. Although the Internet is still considered ‘new media’ many of the concepts on which it’s built are based on generations of traditional media. A great example is the term ‘above-the-fold’ which is derived from the Newspaper industry. It refers to the fact that when most people read the paper, their eyes will immediately focus on the upper section of the page – above where it was generally folded for easier handling – hence the term‘above-the-fold’.While we don’t ‘fold’ web pages, the concept is still as true as it ever was. Web designers will place specific content above an imaginary line that sits somewhere between the bottom of their screen to the top. What complicates things a bit is the fact that the designer and the viewer may be using different sized screens set to different resolutions. Even colors may be represented differently from one screen to the next! Fortunately,experienced web developers are armed with a vast set of tools and techniques that help to overcome these differences and ensure that the core message remains in-tact regardless of the final output. Consider this, more and more people are browsing the internet on mobile devices – such as Cell Phones and PDAs. A modern web developer must take this into account and ensure that the sites they build will be viewable – and ideally, optimized – for display on these small screens.
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