Main twitter is still GoldChoiceUK.

I think it is important to set out these ‘guidelines’ so no confusion is made.

1. The Proposal…

You need to spend time with your client in making sure you fully understand what each other requires and what your client wants in content. Take a notebook/pad or even a laptop to write the notesin digital format so you can print copies to give the client and to file for later.

2. Drawing up designs….

This is your job as designer as you need to show what you can sell to the customer and how you can change it to make it a clean site to navigate.

3. Getting photographs or images…

This can be done by either but usually the client will want specific pictures up and they need to find time to do that. If it is a simple site then you may consider using a free site that you dont neet to pay anyone to use images from. If you do use graphical content from other sources dont forget to state where they are from.

4. Timing…

It is your job to keep time on a task as you dont want to be wasting the clients money. Note down the times that you work on each individual project and work out your rates accordingly. The client should not pay for time that you, as designer, have not worked on
the project for. Keep a diary to space work out so you avoid working on one project for too long at a time. That also helps because you can stop falling behind with work.

5. Signing off…

You need to make sure that you have done everything in the proposal, and even made it better than that if you can. Talking to your client at the end of the project about extra things they may want is great and will earn you respect. They may want to pay you to keep the site updated on a regular basis.

6. After the sign off…

So basically much of the planning rests on your head to complete a project but you have to work well with your client to get exactly what you need to know to complete it all on time so they use your company or services again.

You may be wondering why I have decided to put this post up, and how I can relate it to web design… I thought about writing a post about Aspergers and Social Networking after 2 of my friends wanted posts about how an Aspergers sufferer deals with Twitter and what not to do. This is a follow up post I wanted to add.

Anyone can use a social network and I have developed myself online by making new friends and finding old ones. Being able to keep those friends is a massive step for me. I never before thought that social networking was going to be that easy for me. Infact I took to it like a duck to water.

I use Twitter and Facebook lots, but Twitter has the upper hand as I have been able to express what I like and talk to almost anyone I wanted to (including celebs!).

Twitter is a lovely way to share web design knowledge (see I told you I could link it to web design in some way!) and the freedom to reply to things I think are worthy of a comment. I enjoy reading blog links and the like but if it wasnt for Twitter I would never had known about it all.

Facebook is for closer friends and only select people can read your status when you approve them (just like Twitter I add) but it is a totally different ball game. I dont use Facebook as much but I like the fact that it provides an extra help source when requiring knowledge about something. You can reach out to an entirely different range.

When on Twitter I post about all sorts of things that interest me. I get replies based on them and now I have a seperate Twitter for a few of the interests in my life. Like one for web design related stuff, one for gaming and one for Aspergers. I like to use Twitter on those accounts in completely different ways. My main account that I established myself on the internet was through GoldChoiceUK Twitter. I liked how Twitter worked from the start and through that I was able to talk to people with the same feelings as me with the different subjects I like.

However all this social interaction on the internet made me mute in the real world and not able to talk to my parents in the right way. Not that I swore or anything – no – but I was rude to ignore things went downhill rather fast and rapidly. and I started to stay up till all hours of the night Tweeting and just messing about on my PC. I started to get really fed up of not being able to find a job too. I still cant find one and it is become really hard. There is simply nothing out there! That is when I set up a Twitter for my Aspergers friends/followers. I wanted to give back to them my experiences and how I felt and they could relate to it all.

As I have been on Twitter for over a year I have seen myself grow in a number of ways, which is great. I have been able to make funny comments and have a bit of a joke and make friends who actually care. I care for a great deal of them all too. I have special friendships with some of them and some of those I could not have ever done without. They have all made me feel really welcome and I have enjoyed having such a lovely relationship with them all. I wouldnt have done half of the things I have done this year without the aid of Twitter as it has helped me to communicate at a level that is acceptable by all. I have learnt how to Tweet and talk to others. I wouldn’t have spoken to Beverley Knight on the radio if I wasnt on Twitter. That made my confidence really high and I feel able to make conversation to a wider audience.

It is easy to forget I have Aspergers sometimes and my Tweets just make sense the way they are. I may Tweet some random things but that is what it is for. I enjoy exploiting myself with my disability and to prove what I can do and say and to show the whole world that Aspergers is really not the worst thing known to humankind if worked on well and having Twitter’s experience has made me realise how important it is to be real and alive.

Aspergers is not the end of the world and I know I can push myself to learn whatever I want and I will learn more as I continue to use the social online networks. It has increased my self confidence and I never thought I’d ever come in contact with such a lovely bunch of friends as I have now. Twitter has made me belong to society instead of feeling too odd. Aspergers is my way of living and I have made it work for me which is great.

If you have Aspergers or know someone who has please get them to read this and then get them onto Twitter (If they are old enough).

My post on Andy’s site… Contacting The Millions
My post on Clair’s site… Twitter with Aspergers

I thought of writing this post to tell people who are interested about making their own sites (or they can drop me a line to make one ) a few resources I keep to get inspiration and learn how to code.

1. My experience

I am not being big headed in any way at all but it is important because I feel that 1-to-1 teaching is great and there is someone there to ask if you have a problem.

2. Website building magazines/books (online and offline)

Online:
There are a range of books and websites to help out with long term design.
For online forum based knowledge I recommend Boagworld. The forum offers loads of things to get people started. There may be answers to your questions there. Also go and pick up a copy of Paul Boag’s book Website Owners Manual for further tips if you have already the HTML basics and you want to learn how to take your website/team to the next level. Why not have a listen to the Boagworld Podcast which often has a special guest they have interviewed.
If you are a young budding web designer check out Scrunchup. Their newly created online magazine recommends and delivers some of the tips from real web experts.

Offline:
For offline go to a local library and find the computing section. There is a selection of books to help first time website makers. – I have a book called Build Your Own Web Site (published 1998) that I learned the basics as kid nearly 10 years ago! I don’t know if it is still around but you may find a similar book that may help you get the very basics of what code actually looks like.
Failing that you can go and order one of the many Sitepoint books available. I haven’t myself read one or had one in my hand, however I love the range and I doubt that you won’t find what you are looking for.
In the way of magazines, there are a few but I picked up an issue of Web Designer Mag from WHSmith or buy a subscription from their site. I rate this publication as it has a CD/DVD of extras and the magazine itself has tutorials and general ‘webby’ stuff and goodness.

3. Use online tutorials
Some great tutorial/hands-on resources to help you get the best out of learning how to code.

a. W3Schools is a great ‘testing’ site with tutorials and ‘sandboxes’ to test your newly learned skills.
b. The W3 Consortium is the web standard site for web standards!

4. CSS Zen Garden for ideas and style

Lovely site that shows many designs by many people and is a great way to not only learn some HTML but go one better and learn CSS too. I rate this site highly.

5. Read blogs and other articles of interest
This is where I get to show off my good web friends! I have several sources that I look at regularly and some I have written for in the past.
a. Andy Kinsey has his blog called AK Designs, and regularly writes a great piece about SEO (Search Engine Optimistion). You will also find odd other things on his site that he has written about to express his enjoyment of a service/product in the hope that you too will find it useful.
b. Clair has knowledge of web design in the PHP area. She has a blog that she updates with all kinds of things including hardware tech and software. Some really nice articles that are easy to read and provide an insight to a techie’s life.
c. Jamie Knight is an autistic guy who I started to talk to on Boagworld Forum. Jamie has a great site of really useful web information and Tech stuff.

Finally use my website to gain knowledge and through the posts and tutorials. There is no substitute for just reading and finding all you can really learn.

6. Twitter
Twitter, we all know about, is a great tool for getting help with a coding problem. Go ask some of the top designers your questions and they will be pleased (I’m sure) to help you.

I hope that you have an insight into where you can go for tech and web related articles and help.

URL’s and resources in this post (order as discussed in the post):

GoldChoiceUK: www.goldchoiceuk.co.uk
Boagworld: www.boagworld.com
Scrunchup: www.scrunchup.com
Build Your Own Web Site: (ISBN: 07460 3293 5)
Sitepoint: www.sitepoint.com
Web Designer Mag: www.webdesignermag.co.uk
W3Schools: www.w3schools.com
W3 Consortium: www.w3.org
CSS Zen Garden: www.csszengarden.com
Andy Kinsey: www.andykinsey.co.uk
Clair: http://cds-world.co.uk/blog
Jamie Knight: http://www.jkg3.com

So far we have looked at ways to get feedback and the feedback you may experience.

In this final part I would like to go through how you can approach changes and how to maintain a healthy site.

With all the feedback you have (if a large amount) it may be a good idea to put it into one document to pick over.

I submit my sites for review on Twitter as I have followers that specailise in design reading my feed there. The more places, and people, you submit the url to the more views you will get from different people thus helping your design skills.

My tip: The feedback I get I could do what I described above but in Windows Vista I like to use the Snipping Tool. With that I don’t have to worry about the ‘have I copied/pasted that’ problem because I’ll have the data in .jpg format. Then I can disregard all of the pointless comments. If they are major changes they will need to be done first. Small tweeks wont be as noticable so they can be done later on.

You may like to thank your friends for helping you as they are a good second-eye for spotting mistakes, and I know I miss them occasionally.

Finally when all the hard work is done you can relax and let visitors come to your page. However… one slight catch… to maintain a healthy site you should update it often. Maybe you could have a set day in the month where you check for broken links or you may want to add new features… all to keep people interested!

You could add:
A blog – assuming current site is only a showcase
A forum – depending on type of site
You come up with something more fantastic than I can? Tell Me!

I hope you have enjoyed my 3 part blog post topic- I hope to do one again sometime.

So now you have made your site and you have hopefully used a method of getting some feedback that I described in my last article.

Now I want to tell you about types of feedback and how you may view them.

I’ve already made a few sites and submitted them for public review. I was amazed by the views that people had of them. They did like them and a few were giving me quite a bit of useful info. For example on one site they mentioned how spacing could make it look better.

Just accepting feedback is good but if all you are getting is ‘your site is good/bad’ then maybe you need to select more carefully who exactly you show the site to and who you market it for. You may need to do major tweeking.

All the marketing can be decided before you make the site as long as you get it out there and show the world how good your new site is!

If you are being criticised then always have an open mind and be ready to make site changes. That will be covered in the third and final installment of this series.

With positive comments coming your way there is nothing to worry about and you can pat yourself on the back!
However dont get too down if you have negative comments because they may help you to become a better designer.
No responses lead to a feeling of rejection so choose tthe best feedback method for you!

In the final part: Making change

Getting website feedback is a tough job if it is one of the first websites you have designed. I learned all about this in the last few websites I have created, and even using my own site as a dummy to get feedback.

I think it is good to know when you are going wrong, or where you think the site could be improved or indeed the next one. Alas you won’t stop learning new and better techniques.

Making mistakes is good practice to improve on future sites. When you make your first site for a client mistakes can be solved then at the first website rather than the second, third, or tenth when it might have been made ‘wrong’ for years… When I say ‘wrong’, wrong in the sense of ‘it should not be done that way’ to ‘you shouldnt ever do it like that’. That is kind of a big extreme so learning from mistakes early on can be positive. Many different scales of mistakes can be made on these levels, so it is not surprising that the first time you test a site’s SEO that things go wrong. They may go wrong for the better, which is not a problem.

How to get feedback is the first point I want to make really clear. If you feel isolated and worried that you may be told that your site design sucks, (Video provided by Paul Boag of web design company Headscape) you may want to post your link over at The Boagworld Forum, where some lovely people will kindly look at your site and review it in the kindest possible way. You need to join Boagworld.com Forum before being able to post anything.

The other way to get attention is through Twitter.com by posting a tweet to some friends, or one in general for everyone. It’s up to you. However when I did that I got only 1 comment despite the fact I had many followers. You may need to think if this is how you want to get your link out there. Again a sign-up is required to post on Twitter.com.

Finally you may have your own site (or indeed know of another forum with a special area to leave web links), where you may decide to post a blog or something to mark the release/relaunch of a site.

So there are many ways to go about getting feedback, so don’t be put off by it. I think that it is very useful to have feedback that one day will prove very valuable to you.

In part two: types of feedback you may get.

I have tried flash layouts, frames, tables and layers in the hope that I would stick to a particular design. I have found that working with layers is the best way for me as I can use CSS to define the location and other style properties of items on the page.

My different layouts ALL had pros and cons to them, which I´d like to talk about here now.

The first layout consisted of only Macromedia Flash. Straight away I hear alarm bells ringing because some search engines will not pick up on Flash-only sites. I had a very curvy design for it. Later I gave the main menu the drag ability, so it could be moved around within the Flash movie. All this happened between March 2006 and December 2006.

Soon I started to listen to Boagworld.com´s podcasts, and listening to ´The Great Flash Debate´, I finally was persuaded that I should have a HTML alternative. I think that having Flash is good as most browsers/computers support that content, but a Flash-only option is not enough. So I got to work on that straight away.
During my experimenting I used frames for a while, but then I found out that some people turn frames off, thus stopping the site working if you don´t have an alternative layout. I found this a little stupid, but it all made sense. If anyone really prefers a frames layout for their site, (they are not *very* common now) I can say I know how to do them!
Frames are quite useful though as you can fit a lot into them because they will scroll if there is more than a page of text. If you have hundreds and thousands of links then you can get to them easily.

Then I used a table based design and things were much more simple. However you can only really position them in 3 places normally (left, right and centre). Later in 2007 (July/August), I decided to learn a bit of CSS, so that I could colour and position them where I want regardless of the limitations of normal HTML. This again enhanced my knowledge and reading a 400 page book certainly taught me well. I haven´t finished it yet as I have been changing my site too much.
Then I realised something was missing.

Into my life came DIV´s, a layers format, and everything was more user friendly. A DIV can be positioned anywhere you like and can even nest. All my sites are now designed with a DIV layout and I only use tables for things like data that has to be listed a certain way.

If you think this article was interesting or have something to say about it please comment!

This is the reason:
The position: in CSS will want one of 5 options.
They are absolute, fixed, inherit, relative or static.
I had been using the absolute one because I wanted it to stay in one place. In this case the middle. I used left: to define how far over I wanted it to go, and positioned it nicely with my 17" 1280×1024 resolution monitor.
Using position:absolute is wrong because people might be working with the site in a small window or their monitor might be a different resolution. For 800×600 viewers the site would be just useless!

Oh dear! That was very foolish I know. I was ending up going to other browsers (Internet Explorer 6, Firefox etc) and checking it and changing it to display correctly. That was pretty bad too as nothing ever was right.

I found a site called Web Generator, which looked pretty cool as it is a Web 2.0 utility.
I made a mock up with that and downloaded the HTML and CSS files for it.

In looking at the CSS, I found out that it wasn´t using ID for DIV layers but a class instead. I also noticed that it wasn´t using the frustrating position:absolute code, but the display:inline and float:left code. This worked for what I wanted to do.

Using a class for a DIV allows multiple DIV´s to be assigned to a single style, if you want it that is.
However ID (the individual DIV name), will only be useful for a single DIV as it works on name.