Ludwigwam

Design Techniques

Since you asked, here is a nitty-gritty discussion of how I will craft your website and how this can benefit you and your message.

Nitty-Gritty Proficiencies (for the Web-Savvy Types)

  • Markup is hand-coded in XHTML.
  • Styling is hand-coded with CSS.
  • Dynamically created content is rendered with the aid of Javascript and PHP.
  • Setting up a CMS on your site, through which you, the client, can take charge of your content.
  • Sites are coded efficiently and semantically.

Languages Used

I hand-craft every page in XHTML Strict, according to the standards for validity set forth by the W3C, and use CSS to set the layout of your site. This provides ultimate flexibility for your design while also providing the best cross-platform and cross-browser compatibility to your site. I employ PHP and Javascript for defining the behavior of dynamic webpages, and Flash for pages requiring animation and interactivity.

Separation of Presentation, Style, and Behavior

I observe the three-tier model for web design, and keep them separate for the greatest ease in site maintenence: presentation, style and behavior. XHTML lays out your website's presentation, CSS defines how it is displayed, and I use PHP, Flash and Javascript to add dynamic behavior to pages that require it.

Flash animations are accessibly coded with, where possible, XHTML alternatives so that they can read the important content and understand the point, and are prompted to download the software if they desire.

Simple is usually better

Someone has said that a thing is perfect not when there is something more to add to it, but when there is nothing left to take away from it and have it still perform its function.

Given the choice, I opt for the simplest solution. My experience as a programmer has taught me that the simplest solution is almost always the most compatible, the quickest to load in a browser, are more scalable (which means they are applicable as solutions in more instances), and are the easiest to maintain and adapt to new needs. However, my professional opinions are merely guidelines for your thought; when "simple" just doesn't get the job done, your dream can still be brought to life.

The bottom line is, you can expect to get your message out to the maximum number of people, and have that message effectively communicated.

Search Engine Optimization

You may have heard of this as SEO. It used to be assumed in the web world that "if you build it, people will come". In today's Wide World of the Web, we rely on Google, Yahoo!, and whatever other search engines there may be to deliver web pages that we might be interested in.

How will your page be found among all those out there, and how can I facilitate those search engines in finding your site?

  • I will meticulously add descriptive titles to each page in your site.
  • I will code your site semantically so it is search engines index each page properly.
  • I will carefully choosing tag words that match the text of each page.
  • Search engines penalize sites that use frames and non-standards compliant code. I avoid using frames and as stated before, work hard at writing valid XHTML and CSS.
  • Images are tagged so that though search engines can't see the image, they know what is depicted.