- Prepare to Plan to Prepare for a Development Plan
- Visual Site Design
- How to Structure Your Site
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
How to Structure Your Site
Navigation structure, file structure, now site structure? What’s with all this structuring!?! Of them all, site structure is the most critical to developing your site, and it is this area that causes the most confusion and frustration for newbies.
Web design is all based on references—references to other pages, to images, and to other content. If these references are broken, the site won’t function properly. So if you’re new to all this, here’s one suggestion: After you’ve decided on a site structure, draw it on paper and keep it beside you as you work to help you stay on track. Okay, let’s have a closer look.
What’s File Structure?
File structure refers to the way you organize and save all the files used in your site. When you create hyperlinks or use images and other media, you’re creating reference paths to other files in your site structure.
Typically, I create a folder on my hard drive and name it after the project I’m working on. This folder is called the “root” of the site. Inside this folder, I organize all the content related to the site into subfolders. How you decide to organize your own project is completely up to you, but usually simpler is better. I always suggest creating three folders on the root level (the top level) of your site, htm for all HTML files, img for all images, and media for MP3, PDF, and other files.
Many times you can begin to understand how a site is structured just by looking at your web browser’s address bar—that is, unless the web site is database driven (in that case, you just get a seemingly incoherent line of text). We’ll spend more time discussing site structure in the next chapter, where you set up your first site in Dreamweaver.
Imminent Doom
Not organizing your site content into a single folder but instead leaving files scattered all over your hard drive will result in ultimate destruction of your site! When you go to upload your work, those scattered files will be missing, resulting in a site that will not function.
What’s the Deal with Index Files?
Okay, this is critical. The opening page of your site (your home page or splash page) is typically called something like index.htm, and it has to be placed at the root level of your file structure—otherwise, your site won’t work. When you navigate to a site, say geoffblake.com, your web browser will look for an index.htm file. If the browser finds it, it’ll display it on your screen. If it can’t find it, it will display a directory listing or an error message of some sort.
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Noteworthy
There’s more than one default homepage name on today’s web. Be sure to find out what the page naming convention is for your site’s environment. Depending on the ISP, OS, or web server, your default home page might be called index.cfm, index.html, default.htm, or index.jsp, to name a few examples.
You can use this behavior to your advantage. Let’s say I want a survey on my web site. I could create the survey page and save it in my htm folder, but this would result in the following URL: www.geoffblake.com/htm/survey.htm. Kinda lengthy. To make the URL shorter and easier to remember, I can set up the URL to read www.geoffblake.com/survey. How? Well, I can create the survey page and then save it as index.htm inside a survey folder in my site structure. When a browser is pointed at a folder, it will try to find an index file to display. A site can have more than one index file, just not in the same directory.
Knowing this, you can make important URLs much more succinct and easier to remember. If I ran into you in the grocery store and asked you to fill out the survey at my web site, the second URL would be much easier for you to remember than the first one. Use your imagination; you can use this approach for a products page, a bio, a resume, or whatever else you want.
How to Ditch Work and Train for a Title Shot
Well, you’re on your way to becoming a Dreamweaver heavyweight champion. But there’s a nagging thorn that’s keeping you away from a chance at the title: the daily grind of a job! So call in sick and play with Dreamweaver instead! Now wrestling the boss can be harder than cinching an arm bar on an alligator, but remember, whenever you’re trying to pull one over on the boss, think smart. Your excuse for not making it in has to be believable (space aliens or chemical leaks won’t cut it that stuff would be on the news). Further, the boss has caller ID, so you’ll need to use your cell phone or a pay phone with the appropriate amount of background noise to make your call convincing.
So think things through and plan ahead before you start dialing. Here are a few excuses to help you get started. A successful pull-off means you’ll have an entire day to spend with Dreamweaver rather than commuting to work and pretending you’re a team player.
A Fiery Explanation: Say that you headed out nice and early this morning and were making great time until you began smelling smoke. Upon pulling
over to investigate, your car burst into flames, leaving you stranded on the side of the highway. Nothing was salvaged, not
even your Sammy Davis, Jr., bobble head, so you won’t be making it in any time soon.
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Power-Failure Forgiveness: Explain that early this morning, there was a power failure in your neighborhood, knocking out electricity for three square
blocks. You’d love to get a jump on those TPS reports, but the manual release on your power-operated garage door is seized.
Besides, no electricity means no coffee. Reminding the boss how grumpy you are without coffee will seal the deal.
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Burnt Justification: Another commuter excuse. This time, as you set out to get a head start on traffic, some jerk with Jersey plates totally cut
you off. In a tense moment of swerving and braking, you spilled your coffee into your lap, causing second-degree burns. The
paramedics said the scarring shouldn’t be too bad. Flowers and well wishes from the office staff would be greatly appreciated
as you ride the road to recovery.
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A Holy Excuse: Explain that last night just before bed, it happened again—you were stung with your stigmata. Although you’re feeling okay
now and you could come in, you don’t feel that you’d be very productive. Typing would be hard, and your hands would be a major
diversion for co-workers, sinking everyone’s productivity. Rather than cause distraction in the office, you feel that the
day would be better spent in spiritual reflection.
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