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Web Design, HTML, and XML Articles from the About.com Guide to Web Design and HTML

By Jennifer Kyrnin

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02/07/2010 - Why Are Web Pages So Ugly?
I did a test and went to 10 random Web pages to see if I could find one that was aesthetically pleasing. And most were covered with garish advertising, bad color combinations, flickering flash and animations, tiny text and other annoying and ugly design decisions. As a designer, I often cringe when I see a bad design decision, but I used to believe that there were people out there trying to make good designs. Now I'm not so sure.

02/04/2010 - FlexiMenuJS Review
FlexiMenusJS is a JavaScript menu generator for Dreamweaver. It is a Dreamweaver extension that will help you build DHTML menus with JavaScript.

02/02/2010 - Can I Use a Free SSL Certificate for my HTTPs Pages?
A common question about creating a secure Web server (https) is whether you can or should use a free SSL certificate. The short answer is that it is possible to use a free certificate, but except for testing it's not a good idea.

02/01/2010 - How to Get Your Site Name in the Favicon Area
Modern browsers now have a way to display identity information on sites that are sent through secure (https) connections. The way that some browsers display it makes some people think that the change is to the favicon, but it really isn't. This tutorial shows how the different browsers display site identity information and points you to some resources so that your site can have that information displayed as well.

01/25/2010 - What is a Website Wireframe?
When you're planning a website, it can be tempting to jump right into the HTML editor and start building. But the best designs are done with planning, and the first type of planning you should do is a wireframe. A website wireframe is a non-graphical representation of the page(s) on the site. Wireframes can be fancy with complete representations of the entire site or they can be simple sketches on a napkin or anything in between.

01/24/2010 - Before You Add Multimedia to Your Website
Before you decide to add sound, video or animations to your Web pages, you should consider the ramifications of doing that. Many people find multimedia to be annoying, and you could risk losing customers if you use it. So keep these tips in mind when you decide to add sound, video or animations to your Web pages.

01/21/2010 - How to Create a Simple Shopping Cart with PayPal
Paypal makes it easy to turn any website into an ecommerce site. You can create a shopping cart or buy now button easily, and all you need is a Paypal account. This article will take you through the steps to create a Paypal shopping cart with HTML and through the Paypal interface.

01/12/2010 - Sams Teach Yourself Drupal in 24 Hours by Jesse Feiler
In 24 lessons, you will learn how to install and run a Drupal CMS website. Each lesson is designed to take an hour or less.

01/11/2010 - Prioritize Your Content and Put Important Stuff First Using CSS Float for Layout
Learn how to use CSS floats to lay out your Web pages in any fashion you like, without changing the HTML. Putting the most important content first in the HTML gives robots and search engines a leg up in knowing what content is important.

01/08/2010 - CSS Margin
CSS margins are an important tool for Web designers to understand. They provide control over the box elements by adding or removing space between the margins.

01/05/2010 - How to Use Web Metrics
Most Web designers and website owners have some type of analytics package that they can use to evaluate how their website is doing. But most people use it only in the most minimal way. While you can get a lot of information just by watching the pageviews on your home page, there is a lot more information in your analytics than that. Learn how to use your analytics package effectively.

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