Composing a Website

Composing a website means more than editing webpages. It's a form of publishing. Publishing means you have an audience, and you should mindful of that audience.

Here are some habits of mind that you should practice.

Good writing is rewriting. For a long-term web site, think ahead about easy and regular improvement. Consider using many short pages and a common format. Consider a program like Dreamweaver (which will automatically monitor and correct many things).

Form vs. function. Be wary of obsessing over details and aesthetics. You may not have time to make lots of pretty pages. But...

Medium is the message. A disorganized web site may make you look disorganized. A tasteless design may make you look tasteless. If you want to express your uniqueness (e.g., personality, background, talents), you need to pay attention to details and aesthetics.

Think about the experience of surfing a website. Pay attention to other people's web designs to discover what you like. You may even be able to copy and paste (e.g., using View: Source).

Get feedback. Have other people surf your site. Constructive criticism is valuable.

Think about the interface. You should probably design your site for easy navigation. Most people go to a web site to find something specific.

Respect intellectual property. Don't include text or images that don't belong to you. You may be allowed to copy text or images if you simply send an email request.

Consider your professional presence. Your website is a reflection of your talents and experience. Your main goal is probably making yourself seem competent, professional, unique, and intriguing to employers.

Don't forget to take credit. Your audience may want to backtrack a page to see who created it. Always leave a trail of bread crumbs. Consider including authorship information at the bottom of every page. Consider what shows up if they only print your your page.