Letting Visitors Customize Your Webpage

I've really been enjoying the BBC website. If you haven't taken a look at it recently, check it out:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

What's so wonderful about it is that you can make it be the website you want it to be. No signing up or registration necessary (good luck talking corporate America into using that approach)--just drag and drop the different page elements where you want them to be--and it REMEMBERS the next time you visit. Don't like business news? Just click the X to remove it from sight. Focused on the weather? Drag it to the top of the page.

And suddenly that page goes from being the BBC homepage to being my own personal source of information, customized by me for me. Which also makes it much more usable, and makes me a lot more likely to go back to that page when I'm looking for news that I know I'll find relevant.

Deciding on the size of your Web Page

When you're designing a webpage, it's important not to create a page that requires your audience to scroll side to side or up and down much in order to see your content (anNOYing!) But how can you know how big your viewers' browser windows will be before you even put your page up on the web?

Google has released this great tool called browsersize. http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/

Basically, you type in the URL of a webpage in the text box at the top of the screen, and Browsersize shows you what percentage of people will be able to view a given portion of the page. It's based on the browser window size of people who visit Google, so it should be a good estimate of the total population. It's probably safe to assume that people on campus have higher resolution monitors than the public at large, so if you're making a page specifically for a Penn audience, Browsersize should provide a conservative estimate for you.

Read more about how it works at http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/static/about-browser-size.html

Dreamweaver CS3 for Dummies

Today's featured book is Dreamweaver CS3 for Dummies by Janine Warner. We're big fans of the Dummies books here at the Vitale Digital Media Lab. They're great for beginners, as well as for more experienced users who need a refresher, or who need a complicated topic explained in a simple manner. Our books don't circulate outside the lab, but you can use them while you're here.

Do you want to create a sophisticated Web site that's easy to develop and maintain? Whether you're a beginner or an experienced Web developer, this friendly guide shows you how to utilize Dreamweaver's newest enhancements to build and manage state-of-the-art, professional Web sites quickly and easily.

• Set up your site and create new pages

• Work with text, graphics, and links

• Define and apply styles using CSS

• Add audio, video, and Flash® files to your site

• Use Dreamweaver'sdatabase features