Dusting off the bookshelf I ran across a copy of Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates . The book was published in 2002 and had some interesting techniques that were popular at the time. While most of their site building was accomplished using image slices and table structures some of the other advice in the book is still relevant today. There are many passages about the web design business that are eye opening for anyone wanting to enter the industry. In the first chapter there are 7 basic rules of web design that are still relevant and should be considered by all developers.

Just because you can does not mean you should: Web technology offers many options and tools to build Web sites; however, just because the technology is there does not mean a designer should use that technology just for the sake of using it. Many times, adding technology can impede the performance of a site and/or irritate users enough to leave the site. Probably the oldest and truest example of this rule is blinking text. An HTML tag called “blink” developed by Netscape, makes text blink on and off infinitely. Although not supported in many browsers, such as Internet Explorer, designers abused this tag in the 1990s. Users quickly became annoyed with this technique; text would continually blink without providing a way to shut it off. When using a new technology, the important question a designer should ask is, “Does the technology add value to the site, or is it being added strictly as a novelty?”

There is almost always an exception: There rarely are absolutes in Web design. A designer, therefore, should be careful of ruling out a technology or design method simply because it did not work for another site. Take, for example, blinking text. Although it did not work for 99 percent of the world’s Web sites during its existence, there are instances today where it could be helpful, such as when a user fills out a payment form but mistakenly leaves out the address. There are some sites that highlight the error in a different color (such as red) so it is easier for the user to find and correct the mistake. Unfortunately, many times several colors on a page are vying for the user’s attention, which may make it difficult for the user to see the red “error” text. Blinking text, used in this instance, might have improved the functionality. If the text were red and blinking, the user could quickly identify and correct the problem.

Users are the ultimate judge: Opinions are never lacking when a site is in the design process. An experienced designer may think a site should function or appear a certain way, but the designer’s boss may think differently. The bottom line is that the users are the bottom line. If they do not like or understand a certain aspect of a site, they are the ones the site should satisfy.

Crossover experience is something a designer should always strive for: Professional Web designers should try to understand and use the best of all worlds in their designs, regardless of how they relate to technical or aesthetic beliefs and standards of how a site should be designed. Whatever the issue may be, a designer benefits from understanding as many technical aspects as possible when designing. A perfect example is the use of forms. Although it is important to make a form easy to use and attractive, the designer must also take technical considerations into mind. One pitfall for nontechnical designers is creating a form that looks and works great in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 5 and higher but that drastically stretches the page horizontally in Netscape 4.x, because Netscape handles the form’s field spacing differently.

Humility is the best approach: Because Web design contains so many intricacies, there are always going to be designers with more attractive sites with newer technology, or designers who use technology in a more creative way. If a designer does not let pride get in his or her way, learning from others can strengthen Web design skills.

It is impossible to please everyone: Whether it is the more than 400 million Web users around the world or 10 people in the office, a design is never going to make everyone happy. Everyone has an opinion. However, there is a fine line between making the majority happy and attempting to please everyone by creating a site that pleases no one. A designer sometimes needs to make a stand to maintain certain functional and aesthetic aspects of a design.

Try to stay on top of specifications and standards: Web specifications and standards are constantly changing and will continue to change. The designer, however, should have a base understanding of the latest techniques that will affect future work. One example is XHTML—the future of HTML. Unlike new technologies, XHTML can be applied and supported by browsers as outdated as Netscape 2.0 and IE 2.0, which makes it applicable for today’s broad Web audience.

UPDATE:
The author has updated this book to stay current with the times. The latest version is Advanced Professional Web Design: Techniques & Templates (CSS & XHTML). The new book includes 20 CSS-driven templates, 80 XHTML table-based templates, 10 e-newsletter templates, 10 signature templates, and 20 Photoshop designs that can be coded.

Neil Duffin has written a nice review of CSS - The missing Manual from a beginners point of view.

I found the book to very thorough but it didn’t really offer much new for me. Perhaps at the time it was written there was not the plethora of CSS books available. In general I like the missing manual series as they often have unique perspectives and are quick reads. Friend and Artist, Gloria Hopkins recommended “Dreamweaver 8 the missing manual” to me when she was redesigning her website.

Both of these books are available from WDB at 37% off list price with some used copies available. Just click the covers below to read more reviews or to purchase.

I was revieiwing a clients site for redesign earlier and saw what amounted to chaos. The original developer used Tables for everything, including drawing borders. UGGGHHH. If you are just getting started or switching from Table layout designs to CSS and web standards layouts, or just trying to enhance your CSS skills, Below are a few books I recommend. Building web standards sites is not difficult (compared to rocket science) but there are many ways to approach a design and some work better than others. Read and practice the methods outlined in the books and CSS design will become second nature.