Datasheet

Chapter 1: Web Publishing Basics

 Let the technology push you. The technology can give you ideas that

are in themselves pretty funny. Try using Java to create a Three

Stooges-type animated routine, or use ActiveX to create a virtual-reality

environment that includes funhouse mirrors. (I describe both Java and

ActiveX in Appendix A.)

Thinking Your Web Page Through

A Web page or Web site is basically a publication, though an interactive one.

Thinking about a few simple principles now, before you start, can help make

your Web page much more interesting and useful to the people who see it.

You can also revisit this section after you put up your initial Web home page;

use these guidelines to revise your page and make it even more interesting

and useful!

Ask “Why am I doing this?”

Ask yourself, as you’re starting, “Why am I doing this?” (As you do more and

more work on your page, your answer to this question may come to have

some degree of profanity in it!) That is, why are you creating the page, and

Is your page cybersmut?

For most Web page publishers, the best policy

with respect to putting anything potentially

offensive in your Web pages is to keep your site

clean. The use of gratuitous sex and violence in

your Web pages will simply put off many people

and put you and your Web site in a bad light.

But what if the sex or violence is not gratuitous

and is actually central to your point? Then send

the author and publishers your URL so that we

can see it for ourselves. No, seriously: Be sure

to make the first page a home page that spe-

cifically warns readers that they may find your

content offensive. Doing so lets them gracefully

opt out before they view whatever you show.

Also, consider your environment — the site the

content appears on. MySpace pages are full of

dubious content, whereas YouTube tries to

keep things cleaner. A business site should not

have anything potentially offensive. Don’t have

your content violate the local etiquette.

Even this enlightened approach may not be

enough, however. Some Web-server owners

will drop your page if it violates their rules, and

several countries have laws that specify what

can and can’t be on a Web page. Be sure to find

out about the rules and laws that apply to you

before you put anything questionable on your

Web page.

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