All Categories :
HTML
Chapter 4
HTML's Role on the Web
CONTENTS
You've already seen how HTML is used to emphasize and organize
text in Web documents. And you've seen how hypertext and hypermedia
links can be used to maneuver on the Web, access information,
and download different file formats. You've also seen that extensions
to HTML from Netscape and Microsoft have added certain abilities
to HTML.
Now let's discuss where HTML is today and where it's going in
the future. In this chapter, you'll learn about the advantages
of Web pages compared to other Internet services, how HTML has
changed with the Web, how to recognize and understand the different
flavors of HTML, and how to decide what types of HTML you're going
to use.
Having discussed how exactly the Web works, you can move on to
why you might want to create Web pages. There are a number of
reasons you may want to do this-more than likely, you've already
got some ideas. But consider the following possible examples:
- Small Businesses-Not only is the Web an inexpensive
place to advertise your business, but it's also a relatively interactive
and convenient way to communicate with customers and potential
customers. If you haven't already, it's a good idea to put up
some Web pages that explain the services you provide from your
small business or home office. Then put your URL on your business
cards, your brochures, and other advertising so that customers
know where to go for detailed information about you.
- Large Businesses-Large businesses should be on the
Web too, especially technical and customer-service-oriented businesses.
The Web is a wonderfully unique way to provide customer service,
technical support, and informational services at relatively low
cost to the business. A good Web designer and a creative Information
Systems (IS) staff can put together some very unique services
that might save a business tons of customer support dollars (see
fig. 4.1).
Figure 4.1 : Federal Express has come up with a great reason to use the Web-customers can track packages without calling their 800 numbers.
- Community Groups-Do you lead or participate in a group
in your neighborhood, church, school, or community? If you do,
then a Web page is a great way to offer information about the
group, present a meeting schedule, post announcements, and recruit
new members. A Web page can even be a great way to inform members
of changes to the club or the schedule, or to praise special members
for accomplishments.
- Hobbies-Even if your major hobbies aren't computer-related,
you can create a Web page and put it up on the World Wide Web.
Eventually, people with the same interests as you will be visiting
your page, sending you e-mail, and helping you find more information
about your hobby. You may even find others who've put up similar
Web pages, and you'll be able to add links to their information
on your page.
- Personal or Family Pages-What else can you put on a
Web page? Your résumé, samples of your work, samples
of your kids' work, pictures of the house, the car or the kittens
you're selling, and even clips from home movies. Is there a better
way to make up-to-the-minute photos available to your family than
on the Web? Maybe not. It's also a great place to post writing
samples and old articles about yourself or your family from the
local paper.
Another emerging use for HTML on the Web is as a basis for something
called a Web application. In essence, a Web application
is a Web site designed to do more than simply present pages and
hypermedia links to its users-it actually acts as a front end
for data processing.
For instance, consider the notion of a Web site designed to give
a company's salespeople the ability to access product information
and confirm orders while on the road. Using HTML, the basic interface
for this sales database can be made available on the Web. With
the appropriate browser software and an Internet connection (perhaps
even over a cellular modem), a salesperson for your company has
nearly instant access to the information she needs.
Once the data are entered on the page, they are passed by the
Web server to programs (often referred to as CGI-BIN scripts or
applications, as discussed in Chapter 15)
that process the information-looking up the product in the database
or taking the order. The results of these programs can be generated
complete with HTML codes, so that the answers can be viewed by
the salesperson in her Web browser.
Not all Web applications are necessarily business-related-and
even the applications that are don't necessarily have to be limited
to employee use. Consider one of the most popular Web applications
available: the Web-based search engine.
These Web applications use HTML pages to offer an interface to
a database of Web sites around the world. You begin by accessing
the page and entering keywords, which the Web application passes
to a CGI-BIN program. The program uses your keywords to check
the database of Web pages, and then generates an HTML page with
the results.
The URL for that results page is returned to the Web server, which
treats it as a standard link. Your browser is fed the link, and
it loads the newly created page, complete with hypertext links
to the possible database matches.
Let's take a look at the popular Infoseek search application.
Start out by entering http://guide.infoseek.com/ in your
browser and hitting Enter or Return.
Once the page is loaded, it should look something like figure
4.2. In the field on the Web page that allows you to enter text,
enter a few keywords that might suggest a hobby that interests
you. One of my hobbies is acting, so I might try entering acting
plays musicals or something similar.
Figure 4.2 : The infoseek Web search application.
Click the Search button on the Web page, and the Infoseek engine
will begin searching for related Web pages. When it's finished,
you're presented with a list of hypertext links. Click any link
to view the related page and see if it offers the information
you're seeking.
Most small or large businesses have a compelling reason to create
a presence on the World Wide Web. It's an important new medium
for communication that is relatively inexpensive to implement,
it's a boon for dealing with customer service issues, and it's
gaining popularity in leaps and bounds. But any good HTML designer
should realize that there are also certain disadvantages to the
Web.
There are many good reasons to commit to creating a presence on
the World Wide Web. I've already hinted at some of these in this
chapter, but let's look at them in detail. Most of these are geared
toward businesses, but you'll notice that these advantages are
available to any Web site:
- Multimedia presentation-A Web site allows you to do
things that are simply not possible in any other medium. With
some of the visual impact of television, the informational utility
of print, and the personal appeal of radio, the Web is an effective
tool for taking marketing information to another level. Products
can be explained and offered in depth, along with pictures, video,
sound, and even animation.
- Interactivity-There are a number of different areas
where the fact that your user can interactively determine what
to view or hear can really make the difference for a business.
Especially important is the added value the Web gives you for
customer service, technical or product support, and immediate
feedback. While most of any Web site is automated, it gives you
an opportunity to answer frequently asked questions and point
customers to resources that may help them solve problems on their
own. While this may seem like an advantage reserved for computer
companies, consider the implications for service-oriented industries
like travel, consulting, catalog sales, and business-to-business
sales.
- Flexibility-If your business relies on printing or
publishing as a medium, you may immediately see the advantage
of the Web. Changes on the Web are relatively instantaneous, and
the speed with which an update can be made is measured in minutes,
not weeks. Consider the financial planner's or real estate agent's
sales newsletter. Instant changes on the World Wide Web give their
Net-savvy clients a time-based edge. Incorporating the Web into
the services you offer a client gives you an added value in their
eyes, especially in time-sensitive industries.
- Easy High-Tech-Whether you're a small or large business,
it's important to keep up with technology in order to satisfy
customers and be up on the "latest." Web pages are moving
toward a point where they'll be expected of large businesses and
not unusual from small ones. Like e-mail a couple years ago, and
fax machines before that, it's become important to keep up with
the Web. Fortunately, it's also rather easy to get started with
HTML and quickly develop a Web site.
Let's roll all of these advantages into a hypothetical Web site
for a travel agency to show exactly what I mean.
All-Rite Travel has decided that it needs a Web site and is trying
to determine the ways in which the site will help win and keep
customers. The agency relies on professionally designed and printed
brochures that are updated annually for general information about
the agency and its services. It has a quarterly newsletter for
repeat customers and generates laser-printer flyers and mailers
for special deals. How can the Web help All-Rite Travel (see fig.
4.3)?
Figure 4.3 : Here's what our fictious travel agent's index page might look like.
Multimedia and Interactivity
First of all, the agency's presentations can be multimedia-oriented.
Taking advantage of the Web protocols allows sending sounds, graphics,
and even video of travel destinations across the Web. If the agency
has pictures of accommodations in a vacation resort, for instance,
it can put those on its site. Sounds, video, or text generated
by a travel writer or photographer can also be added. A map to
its offices, links for customers to send e-mail, and information
about its affiliations can all be online.
And using hypertext, All-Rite can pick from relatively unlimited
resources for more information. It would take only a few hours
to build links to all of the Chambers of Commerce in major U.S.
metro areas. Links to airlines, major hotel chains, limousine
services, car rentals, and credit card companies could all be
added.
Flexibility
While All-Rite would probably want to continue with its print
advertising and brochures, the possibilities for offering information
over the Web are enticing. Since customers can take on as little
or as much information as they want, the Web can house all sorts
of extras. Special employee pages could tell customers which agent
is most specialized in their area of interest. Editorial writing
by agents and other specialists could give tips on travel safety,
saving money in restaurants, or tracking expenses on corporate
trips.
And the Web page could be instantly updated with the best deals
the agency comes across or packages-as they happen. The moment
you're ready to make a sale notice or offer a special price, you
can do it on the Web. Once All-Rite's customers are used to its
Web presence, those with a special interest in traveling can easily
check the Web site every few days for the latest offerings.
Easy High-Tech
Once the agents have learned a little HTML, they can add pages
or edit them on their own. Make the Web site known on business
cards, brochures, and elsewhere, and customers will see it as
an extra value-All-Rite is "plugged in" to the Web,
and its Internet-savvy customers can learn a lot of what they
need to know without bothering to phone or come by the agency's
office.
It's difficult to say that there are disadvantages in having a
Web site, since most people and companies will use a Web site
to enhance their marketing and customer service efforts, not supplant
them. That said, there are a few hurdles to leap, and they should
definitely be considered before your Web project takes off:
- Learning Curve-It will take a while for folks to learn
HTML, figure out how to upload pages, create appropriate graphics,
and design effective Web sites. You'll also need to find an effective
and helpful Internet service provider (or a similar in-house IS
employee at a larger corporation) who can help you get online.
- Appearance-To be truly effective, a Web site also needs
to be attractive and easy to use. For many companies, especially
larger ones, that will mean using professional artists, writers,
and designers. Beginning this task can be daunting, and will require
a reasonable budget-which may be intimidating when management
isn't sure what the benefits will be.
- Maintenance and Timeliness-One of the worst things
that can happen to a Web site is for it to sit dormant for weeks
or months because it's the pet project of an interested employee
who has less time for it than she originally anticipated, or because
every change to the Web site must first be approved by a committee.
It's important that a Web developer be relatively free to spend
time on the project, and that someone be available to make timely
decisions. Without this, the Web site loses some of its inherent
advantages.
- Security-Transmitting data via Internet technology,
including the Web, is inherently a rather unsecure process. For
data to be transmitted over the Web, it has to pass through a
number of different servers and hosts-and any of the information
you offer could potentially be read or held by any of these people.
This has been a strong argument against commerce on the Web, as
people recognize the dangers in revealing personal information
(for instance, credit card numbers). Currently, it's difficult
to create completely secure Web sites that offer access only to
password-bearing users, and those passwords are often not impossible
to intercept.
- Copyright Issues-The lack of security holds true for
the Web designer-nearly anything you create on the Web can easily
be read or copied by anyone with Web access. This is intimidating
both to artists and publishers who want to make sure that Internet
access doesn't, in some way, devalue their published (and profitable)
efforts.
- Cost-Depending on the size of your organization and
the expertise of its people, a Web site can quickly become expensive.
Learning HTML and creating a reasonable site isn't that difficult
(as you'll see in this book), but maintaining the appropriate
equipment, paying the dedicated staffers, and bringing in consultants,
designers, programmers, and IS technicians as the site grows can
quickly expand the budget. The advantages will often outweigh
these costs, but any Web developer should be aware that Web sites
tend to get bigger and more time-consuming as time goes on.
| Secure Connections on the Internet |
Some Web server software packages offer an implementation of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a protocol that sits "on top" of TCP/IP (the Internet networking protocol) and "below" HTTP. Its purpose is to secure the transmission of HTTP data over the Web.
With an SSL server (usually noted by its https://-protocol URL) and an SSL-capable browser program, transmissions over the Web are encrypted in such a way that users trying to read the data as they pass over the Internet are treated to nothing but garbled text.
SSL is a feature of, among others, the Netscape Enterprise Server, which is designed to allow users to access a Web site in a secure fashion so that credit cards and other personal information can be passed with relative assurance.
Although this is not directly relevant to HTML designers, if you have the opportunity to create a commercial Web site (or otherwise ask for personal information from users), you might look into the possibility of using an SSL-based secure Web server to offer your users peace of mind. And, while SSL isn't the only security scheme, it's the most widely supported.
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You already know that the Web is really only a few years old,
and that graphical browsers have been around since only mid-1993.
So how could the Web have had enough time to change dramatically?
In the computer world, it doesn't take long.
The Web and HTML were initially designed for use by academics
in a fairly limited way-they planned to collaborate on physics
projects and share information in a hypertext format. Publishing
on the Web meant they could put experimental data and their conclusions
on the Internet, with links to other data and other researcher's
notes, or even links that would download graphs and charts.
A few years later, people are talking about the Web as if it were
literally the greatest thing since sliced bread. The World Wide
Web is touted as the next logical medium for publication. It's
the printing press of the future, where everyone who puts together
a newsletter, magazine, sales brochure, and (in some cases) a
television show will have to have a presence.
Sounds pretty demanding, doesn't it?
Along with these changing demands for the Web have come changing
demands for HTML. It's only in the last year or so that professional
designers, writers, layout artists, and their ilk have begun to
take an interest in the Web. And what did they find when they
got there? You have to use HTML, with no control over justification,
no wrapping text around graphics. In the Henry Ford tradition,
you could use any color for a background-as long as it was gray.
And HTML itself is some bizarre cross between word processing
and programming that designers aren't always thrilled to learn.
Given this atmosphere, it becomes clear why programs like Netscape
Navigator-with their special layout commands-are so popular. Many
professionally developed Web sites have shunned users other than
those with Navigator, thinking, "If they can't see it, too
bad. The design can't be compromised." It's up to each designer,
right?
The problem with these extensions and extras is that HTML's entire
philosophy goes against the idea of strict layout and design.
From the beginning, HTML was conceived as a very nonspecific method
for presenting pages. With many implicit commands, it allowed
browser programs considerable flexibility when it came to emphasizing
text. Essentially, an HTML browser is given a suggestion like
"emphasize the word 'weight,'" but it isn't told exactly
how to do it. It could choose italics or bold or place the word
in a slightly different font face. In HTML 2.0, the font family
isn't specified, nor is alignment on the page. That's up to the
HTML browser-at least according to the original theorists.
But then again, HTML was only originally intended for scientists
to share ideas and figures-not for Madison Avenue to share its
latest campaigns.
With these commercial demands, however, have come different solutions.
For every extension Netscape adds to HTML, there is generally
(eventually) a standard agreed to by the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) that meets the same need. Unfortunately, the implementation
isn't always the same. So, it's possible for an HTML 3.0 level
standard, for instance, to provide for exactly the same layout
functions as Netscape-but do it in a way that isn't compatible
with Netscape's browser.
So HTML is currently in a bit of a flux. The best you can hope
for is that the HTML standard is agreed upon and maintained more
quickly in the future as more ideas pop up. At the same time,
it's important that the standard remain well thought-out, and
that it isn't allowed to become bloated and unworkable.
In fact, this is probably the justification for recent changes
to the standard's bodies. With the W3C taking control of HTML,
it suggests a shift in the ultimate power over HTML to the corporate
players. From now on, you can probably assume that HTML extensions
beyond what is generally considered HTML 2.0 will become standard
on a case-by-case basis. Overall, this is probably a good thing,
since standards can be agreed on as technology emerges-and competing
browsers can all use the same methods to incorporate new technology.
So the question becomes, which side do you choose? Do you develop
pages that use Netscape-only commands? Do you develop two sets
of pages-for HTML 3.0 and for Netscape? What about those special
Internet Explorer commands?
There are a couple of different scenarios you should consider
when putting together your HTML pages. You'll need to know more
about HTML, but once you do, you can make an informed decision
about the types of commands you're most likely to use and which
ones you can do without. Of course, you can use as many different
flavors of HTML as you choose-as long as you remember to give
your users a choice (see fig. 4.4).
Figure 4.4 : A 'front door' page allows users with different browser programs to choose how they'd like to view the Web site.
| Tip |
You can add to your site CGI scripts that identify a user's browser and serve it the correct type of HTML.
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With that in mind, then, let's look at the possibilities.
If you can get by with less sophisticated layout functions, go
with the lowest common denominator-currently HTML 2.0. This level
of HTML lets you add text, graphics, and different types of links
so that pages are very complete and useful. With any level of
HTML, hypermedia links can be made available, but they'll still
be limited to the browser's ability to handle them. Even text
browsers can save hypermedia files (like sound and video) which
the user can view or hear later using other programs.
What HTML 2.0 doesn't include are a great deal of explicit formating
tags. There's no way to center text and graphics, for instance,
and only limited ways you can format graphics on the page. Aside
from clickable graphics links and some calls to external scripts
and programs, there isn't much "interface design" you
can accomplish with HTML 2.0, either. Data-entry forms, tables,
frames, and other elements are all added by other levels of HTML.
As the HTML 3.0 level standards become more and more widely recognized,
you can easily update your pages from HTML 2.0 to HTML 3.0. It
may be a while before this is necessary-browsers have only just
begun to recognize some HTML 3.0 elements.
Remember, though, that even with HTML 3.0 you'll be preventing
a good number of viewers from getting the full effect of your
pages. HTML 3.0 incorporates special graphics features, background
colors and images, tables for displaying data, and other features
that may seem indispensable, but will be lost on users of older
graphical browsers-and any of the text browsers. If you're going
to use HTML 3.0 elements, you should include at least a text-only
option as well.
If you've spent any amount of time on the Web, you're sure to
have encountered pages that say something like "Netscape
Navigator is recommended for viewing these pages." With Netscape
controlling around 60 percent of the browser market, a number
of HTML designers have felt free to use HTML elements that can
be interpreted only by Netscape-including certain implementations
of tables, Netscape frames, special layout tags for centering
or right-aligning pages, and other features. You'll have to decide
for yourself if leaving out 40 percent of your potential users
is a good idea.
It's absolutely true that some of the most attractive Web sites
are designed using Netscape's variant of HTML (or special Internet
Explorer tags), and that might be most important to you. If so,
you should at least consider adding additional text-only or HTML
2.0-only pages to your site for other users.
The bottom line is that you should always consider your HTML 2.0
and text-only users, and make efforts to include them in your
Web sites. Other extensions to HTML and add-ons for Web sites-including
the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), Java and JavaScript
programs, and others-will work only with certain browsers. Much
of the time, noncompliant browsers will simply ignore these commands,
but if this is the case, you need to be aware that some users
aren't seeing everything you have to offer.
When you use a non-HTML 2.0 element, it's a good idea to let your
users know. A simple statement such as "These pages are best
viewed in…" is a nice way to let folks know that they
might be missing out on something. If your first priority is the
appearance of your page, this is a decent compromise to make.
If your first priority is giving your users information, though,
then you're best off either using the lowest common denominator
of HTML (HTML 2.0 and, over the next few years, HTML 3.0) or offering
different ways to view your sites to your different users.
There are certain advantages to the Web, such as multimedia, interactivity,
timeliness, and a certain air of "tech awareness" that
make creating HTML pages something of a necessity for businesses
and a good idea for families, too. There are disadvantages as
well, including the cost in time and money, the learning curve
for Web design, and the constant need to update.
HTML has been forced to evolve over the last year because of the
involvement of millions of people, larger businesses, and commercial
artists. Spearheaded by Netscape Navigator, a number of extensions
to HTML for page-layout purposes have confused the mission of
the Web. As a designer, it's up to you to decide who your audience
will be and the most appropriate flavors of HTML to use in order
to reach that audience.
- Is it possible for a Web site to actually save businesses
money? What business services are often enhanced by Web sites?
- Why is the Web's multimedia capability an advantage in using
the Web for your business?
- Explain why the Web's "flexibility" was an advantage
for our fictional travel agent in the Travel Agent Web Site example.
- What's one of the worst things that can happen to a Web site?
- What is a Web application?
- The Web was originally conceived as a research tool-what has
it been touted as recently?
- What HTML standard is considered the lowest common denominator
of HTML?
- Give an example of an HTML extension to Netscape that doesn't
appear in the HTML 2.0 specification.
- Use a browser other than Netscape (preferrably an older version
of Mosaic or a text-based browser) to access the Netscape home
page at http://home.netscape.com/. Anything look different?
- With your browser, access some big-name corporate sites like
http://www.microsoft.com/, http://www.apple.com/,
and http://www.ibm.com/. Notice the types of information
they offer and how the information is presented.
- If your ISP offers a page of local business links (or if you
can find some via a Web search engine), take a look at those and
consider how (and if) you would improve on them in some way. What
do they do better or worse than the large corporate sites?
