Best Designing Practices
Optimising Web Designs
Optimising your website’s files is very important for better utilisation of server resources. Even a high end server can fail to deliver the speed and performance that you look for, if the site is not optimised.
Images
1. Do not scan and directly upload the images to the server. Always compress the file to lower space occupying format such as .jpeg or .gif.
2. As a thumb rule, save an image with photograph or more colors as .jpeg. Since JPEG format has more colors in its color pallatte, it will occupy less file size. Hence it will download faster.
3. Save an image with text or less color as .gif. Gif is a highly compressed format. Since texts have less colors gif will compress them to the lowest possible size and this will enable faster download.
4. Never use images in formats other than .jpeg, .gif, .png.
5. Always work and save your images with 72 dpi. More than this will not make any difference in quality of the picture as far as web is concerned.
6. Do not save as one single image file. Cut the same image into pieces and assemble them in FRONT PAGE or DREAM WEAVER.
7. Some designers use automated tools to slice the images. This affects the site performance drastically. Too many small images will end up in more downloading time than fewer numbers. Hence, number of pieces must be chosen optimally.
8. Do not use more than 7-9 images per page in your photo gallery.
9. Use thumb nails to show preview. Let the visitor decide which one to be seen at high resolution.
Html Pages
1. Do not stack all the contents in on single page. Split the pages into different menus.
2. Programs such as Front Page and Dream Weaver have indicators that will show the downloading time for the web pages that you create in them. As a thumb rule a single HTML page should not exceed more than 30 KB. However, this is not applicable for manuals or documentations. But avoid opening these file from your website. Alternately, you can allow the user to download and then open in his/her desktop.