The right way to build a website?
I recently saw someone claim to be an expert in the ‘right’ way to build a website.
My response was…Really? I didn’t know there was a right way?
If we are going to limit ourselves into being right or wrong, then I simply don’t want to play. To me web design might be thought of as art. And the last time I checked there was no right or wrong way to be an artist. It’s whatever comes out that counts.
The last thing we need, in my opinion, is to have another set of ‘rules’ telling someone they are wrong. To me, if the site looks good in a browser and the creator of the site is happy about it, the users are happy, then that’s what counts, ultimately.
Otherwise, you get into other-peopling. Which in this case is a group of people who you don’t know, never met, telling you your web design is all “WRONG”. That you don’t have a doc statement , or you used tables instead of CSS, or you didn’t use alt tags. Give me a break already AND go get a life. Really.
If you want to build a website using tables, then go for it. If you want to make your entire site flash oriented, then screw what everyone else thinks. It’s your site, do what you want to with it. If you want to use text that doesn’t match the color scheme, then great. It’s your site. Do what you want.
Here’s what I have noticed recently. Some of the most popular sites on the net are not ‘compliant’ with the standards. Most of them aren’t even close. Does that stop them from making millions? No. Does that stop them from coming up first in the search engines? The answer is no. Not from what I have seen. So what’s the point?
The real problem, in my opinion, is that CSS really SUCKS. There, I said it. And I don’t mean that to be nice. It truly sucks. Why? Because it’s not visual. Not even close. I haven’t seen a decent visual CSS editor yet. The company who makes a drop and drag, truly WYSIWYG, visual CSS standards compliant web page editor, ought to be given the Nobel prize in usability. And will change the face of web design and probably make millions along the way.
But in the meantime, to have a beginner start with using tables or CSS? It’s a no brainer. Start visual. Drawing a table is visual. Coding in CSS is not. CSS is very left brain and if you like designing websites and like making sites, then evenutally you’ll want to go through the BS of learning CSS. But be warned, it’s not a point and click sort of deal. It’s a measure by the exact number sort of deal. It’s probably great for knit-pickers. You know the definition of a knit-picker? That’s someone who looks for the flyshit in the pepper. That’s a knit-picker.
So hey, for people who like following the speed limit, counting pixels on the screen, obsessively doing math in your head, then go for html compliance. If you’re a detailed oriented person then you’ll love CSS.
Otherwise, just have fun designing. Ultimately there really are no rules, because the rules are just made up as we go along anyway.
Robert