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Assorted HTML design tips
Imagemaps may also take a long time to load. For this reason, avoid them on the main index pages.
Splash Image Mapper is a good place to begin designing an imagemap from a ready made picture you have created. An organisation type chart is one possible way to start off mapping a site visually. Get it from the site http://www.gosplash.com/ (if it's still available).
Map This! is another good image mapping tool I've used previously. Sadly, the programs I've seen lately seem to be limited trial versions only. This is fine if you just need to make one or two image maps, which is a likely scenario. Such programs typically range from 500KB - 2MB. They are really not that complicated in many ways, since they calculate X - Y co-ordinated on an image and generate basic code to represent this.
In addition, older browsers may crash or fail to read pages with java scripts. To avoid this, the hide tags should also be included. They enclose the entire script and are placed immediately after the script tag and before the closing tag.
Some scripts need to be placed in the HEAD section. Some other parts may need to be place in the BODY tag, while many can be placed entirely within the BODY section itself.
The other type of java used is the applet. It is a different file, commonly called *.class and can be more complicated to design. Many are modified from a template version.
Javascript can do some clever things but like other features such as Shockwave, they often require a browser to be enabled or have a plug in. Visitors can be put off by the delays in loading such pages or the need to download and configure additional software before viewing a web site. Use with care and only when they truely improve a web page, not just look 'cool'.
RECOMMENDED (ie. ones I've tested and used) EDITORS
Images ~ Word mucks up image sizes, horizontal rules and so on, and seems to hate percentage widths.
Finding Stray or Errant Tags ~ viewing the code in source format and Notepad use the find options and set the case or whatever suits to find all B tags, etc, and visually scan for the paired sets when one seems to have not been closed, as with a Word HTML file (see Word notes above).
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APPENDIX
Splash Image Mapper ~ available widely on CD or Internet in shareware and full versions.