Considering Page Layout

Before jumping and designing your web site with Nvu, it's often worthwhile to think about how you want the website to be designed.

Some considerations are:

Navigation - how to get from one page to the next
How many pages you'll need
What pages you want to have in the site, including any of the common pages (about us, links, contact us, etc)
Header and any images or pictures you want to add

I typically start off with a blank piece of paper and sktech out the basic design - how many columns 1, 2, 3 and the overall design, colors, text, etc..

The most common layouts are having the navigation at the top or on the left hand side (as shown here).

One reason you generally don't see links on the right side is because different people use different browsers and the size of the screens vary, and some people have to scroll over to the right to see the links, which isn't all that functional.

Typically the navigation is just simple text or a graphic rollover image. (you'll also see flash, but that's a whole different story...and coming soon!)

For the free lessons we are just doing simple text links. They are just as good as graphic links, and probably better for a couple other reasons. But certainly not style wise.

Anyway, that's the basic layout. Header at the top, navigation on the left and then main content area in the middle. This is the most common layout on the web. And the one we're going to use for our tutorials.

After getting your feet wet, you can design your site however you like and maybe even break away from the norm...

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Using Tables

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