Website Templates

Is it true that website templates are indeed inherently deficient? - If such reasoning were true, however, why would website template usages continue to be such a reliable resource for the entire web design industry itself?

The truth is, used properly, in union with professional template customization, website templates can provide you with a unique and high quality design at just a fraction of the cost of hiring someone else to do a custom design starting from scratch.

In fact, whether they advertise it or not every web designer custom or not uses some form of website template. Just as a wise contractor makes good use of a blueprint to guide the construction of a building to its successful completion, every web designer also uses a template or basis as his or her guide in creating a unique and well-organized web site.

What then, are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a website template? - Two clear advantages are time and money. Typically speaking it can take many days for a good designer to create a preliminary mockup of such quality.

Also, consider the time necessary to piece the original design into slices and the actual rendering of the design onto HTML and resources spent validating that code on all major browsers. The cost of which will most certainly be passed onto you, the client.

On the contrary, however, every website template is like an almost finished web page that has been preliminary designed, sliced and pull together with all the graphics and necessary coding so as to help you put your website online without difficulty and in no time.

Just what are you getting at here? - With that in mind, I’m implying that since we don’t start from scratch but build on pre-made website templates, we are faster and way less expensive than hiring a regular web design studio.

What’s more, many of our prospective clients are amazed when we show them how they can have professional template customization on anyone of our website templates custom-made to the specific needs and goals of their business for only $380.

How is that possible? - This is possible because, we only use website templates from the world’s leading providers and every template we customize comes already built and thoroughly tested by a professional web designer, as apposed to hiring some web design studio who’s in-house talent (or lack thereof) is full of print designers who’ve moved over or full of programmers who fell into web design and are nothing more than a bunch of hobbyists.

You wouldn’t want a designer who’s passionate about PHP? You can get a PHP developer. You want a designer who’s passionate about design. You don’t want to be haggling neither, no, not if you could see beforehand what it is you are buying and know exactly how much it’ll cost you.

Consequently, since we do not develop from scratch but because every web template is made by a professional that understand layout, white space, typography and the like; this enables us to pass that savings onto “you”, the client.

In addition, you don’t need any special skills you simply choose a template hop over to the contact form and give us some general information (e.g. some suggested color schemes, colors to avoid, styles or websites that you likes etc.). Then at your convenience we can contact you to review your projects objective and tell you more about the process.

Is it true however, that website templates are indeed resold? - Ok, yes, our web templates can be sold repeatedly to different customers, however, we thoroughly track and show you the total number of times a particular template is downloaded and we make every effort to ensure that the total number of downloads never exceeds five.

In addition, there are now over 3,000,000,000 webpages online according to statistics on www.google.com so there is a very little chance that you will ever find the same design twice.

But, be that as it may, template customization is the only sure-ways to have a website that is both affordable and unique. Template customization allow you change the templates color scheme, insert texts, substitute graphics, logo, titles, Meta tags etcetera, etcetera…

The result is a unique product that works intuitively to help your customers identify your brand, which in turn is what truly defines branding in the classic sense of the term meaning to establish a unique identity. And that shouldn’t have to cost a fortune.

So does the use of web templates present an insurmountable obstacles or irremediable technical issue, or can web templates, along with template customization, provide you with a unique and high quality design? I’m sure you’ll agree with the latter.

Can I see some template customization examples? - Thought you’d never ask! We encourage you to take a moment of your time to see our template customization portfolio this will really help you see some neat ideas and creative solutions we bring to the templates we customize.

Should you wish to acquire more information about our template customization services simply jump on over to the contact form and tell us what you think.

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Making your own template customizations is easy we can help you by providing the tools needed in doing this through comprehensive template editing tutorials and articles such as these. Yet we are aware that running your small business is foremost in your mind.

Consequently we can help you focus on that. Our basic template customizations package is very affordable. In addition we will plan and consult with you every step of the way to determine what your website needs. Our template customizations are always delivered on time and we make sure that you have the most standards complient web sites possible. In this article we will teach you a number basic HTML rules that you may very easily apply to change or update the look and feel of anyone of these website templates.

Are you a beginner struggling to learn basic HTML? Or maybe you have a template that you want to make changes too, but you are not sure how to proceed, well this article is just for you. Many people are put off building their own website or changing templates because they think that learning HTML very difficult. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Others also believe that creating your own website means purchasing expensive software. Yes there are many different programs out there that can be used to create a website for you, but basically you can do it all for free if you are willing to spend a little time learning the basics of HTML.

All over the Internet you can find websites offering template that you can download to your computer and add your own content too. Some of these templates are better than others, but even if you do find a high quality template, you still need to know some basic HTML otherwise website will have exactly the same design as everyone else who downloaded that same template.

Like everything else in life learning basic html just requires the right information.

So many times I have been asked by visitors to my HTML for beginners website how do I make my words bold? Or how do I make my text bigger? Using simple tags before and after the text involved will do this.

Here are some more Basic HTML Tags to get you started: -

< *b>Types the text in bold.< */b> This tag will make your words appear bold.

< *i>This should be italicized.< */i> This will give your words an italic look.

< *u>Underline this text.< */u> This text will be underlined

< *hr /> This forms a horizontal line. ___________________

< *font color="######">Change color.Text here< */font> This will change the color of (1) word. This (######) should be placed with the code for the color you want to use. For example if you wanted your words to be red the signs would be replaced with #ff0000

So your code will now look like this and your text will be red < *font color="#ff0000">Change color.Text here< */font>

< *small>This should be in small.< */small> Make your text small

Combining Basic HTML Tags

Perhaps you may want to combine some of the basic HTML codes above. Lets say you want to make your text bold and italic. This is what your code will look like.

< *b>< *i>Text in bold and italic< */i>< */b>

Notice we have put both the bold tag < *b> and the italic tag < *i> together to give us our bold and italic text. These combinations can also be applied to color. If you would like to make your text underlined and green, this is how the tag should appear.

< *u>< *font color="#00ff00">Change color of 1 word.Text here< */font>< */u>

In all of the above code the * should be removed to make your code work correctly. The * is used to allow you to see the actual code but must be removed when placed on your site.

These are just some of the simple things you can do to change the look and feel of your website. To learn more why not check out some of the online basic HTML tutorials to get you started and in no time at all you will be past the basics of HTML and onto pro HTML coding.

About the Author
Basic HTML is not difficult to learn. Visit Web Monster at his brand new blog http://html-code-for-beginners.blogspot.com to learn more about basic HTML coding.

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In a previous post, Top 10 Things Flash Developers Don’t Want You to Hear“, I discussed a number of reasons why I thought it might be wise to reconsider the whole idea of having an all Flash website. One of my biggest concerns had to do with Flash inhibiting Google’s ability to crawl the content. While I have never argued the possibility of making Flash content search engine friendly I do appose the notion that this is some how not even a problem nor that meeting all of these extra hurtles is worth the amount of time and extra money you’ll spend on optimizing Flash sites the right way vs plain old HTML. Notwithstanding in this article we will discuss a number of cases where it is actually practical to utilize this technology.

Article: When Use Flash? The following question is the sorest and the most disputable as for the usage of Flash. So, let us discuss how this technology is applicable for creating Flash sites. At first we have to define the purposes of a site, because they are to determine the choice of technology for creating the site. If your site is intended for selling some product or service, especially, if competition is intense, creating a Flash site is not cost-effective.

This is due to that reason that Flash is not indexed in full by search engines, that is why it will be just impossible or it will cost big money to make these sites occupy the first positions by specific keywords. In such a case an html site is much better suited. Therefore, a Flash Internet shop selling lots of various products is nonsense and rival non-Flash sites with correct search engine optimization will easily overcome regarding the traffic and hence regarding the volume of sales.

Of course, there are Flash Internet shops which function effectively, but most often these are the shops selling specialized products and belonging to large and well-known companies, which do not need heavy advertising. For instance, there is the site adobe.com, which has the like narrow specialization of its products, and those who use their products, as a matter of fact, already know where to buy them.

There is one more type of sites, which offer users a specific product; these are promo-sites (sites designed to present some concrete product or service). There both Flash and html can be used. Again everything depends on the purposes. Let us assume that we want to advertise a new brand of a cellular telephone and we want to do it extremely elegantly. In such a case we need a Flash site, but only on condition that our Flash promo-site will have visitors, but they are evidently not going to come to us from search engines. That is why users are often stimulated to visit a promo-site from producers’ websites or by means of advertising.

This type of sites has a small life-cycle, because they are most often created to demonstrate new features of a definite product. Since new models are continually being created, the old promo websites lose their significance, that is why a website must get its visitors as much as possible interested. This can be achieved most impressively by creating a Flash promo website.

The following type of sites is a forum. The situation with forums is very similar to the situation with internet shops. If a forum does not belong to the company producing a specific product (such forums are very scarce) or it is not created for a very limited number of individuals, but created to attract as many people as possible, there is no need to create a Flash forum. This also concerns blogs.

I am not going to divide websites into groups, I will just do their very brief survey and say from my personal point of view where else it is appropriate to use Flash:

* Chats, because chats are often tied to definite resources and they do not need any additional promotion, and if it is an avatar chat, using Flash is the most suitable choice.
* Galleries, if this gallery belongs to one definite artist, has a small amount of text information and directed at a select circle of users.
* Business card site usually has minimum information content, most often there are the address of the company, contact information (telephone number) and some general information about the activities of the company, that is why original decoration made using Flash will be quite to the point.
* Online portfolio, because this will give an opportunity to make its appearance very bright and make it more dynamic and interesting.
* Guestbooks can also be made with the help of Flash.

I have listed the main things, but there are many more hybrid websites, which combine in themselves various features. The major point to be taken into consideration here is the following: if you want to attract a lot visitors to your resources (especially if your website is developed for selling some products or services) sparing the expenses or completely avoiding them, it is better to make such websites without using Flash or using Flash partially (use html for all text information and Flash for some elements).

Anyway, whatever your website’s purpose is - portfolio, gallery, business website, ecommerce shop, etc. - it is not necessary to order custom web design and hire a flash programmer. There are much simpler and modern solutions nowadays. I am talking about Flash Templates and Flash CMS templates. They are pre-made Flash web pages that require making additional changes to suit your needs and preferences. As a rule, flash web templates are easy-to-use, suitable both for newbies and professionals, and allow launching a website in no time. I recommend a large gallery of Flash web templates at FlashMint.

About the Author
Trenty Fox - Marketing Assistant at FlashMint.com. FlashMint is a leader in an industry which offers Flash Web Templates with high-grade graphics, thought-out structure, remarkable flash and sound effects.

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Intro: In the last article “Top 5 Design Principles Behind Web 2.0 Templates” I talked to you a little about Web 2.0 templates and how one of the characteristics of Web 2.0 are central layouts. In this article we discuss the pros and cons between liquid layouts vs fixed width commonly know as central layouts. The author Moe Tamani explains what both design layout really mean and examines the best approach for you to use on your website.

As every experienced web designer should know, there are two types of layout that you can choose from when designing web pages. One is the fixed width layout and the other is the liquid layout. The fixed width layout sets the width of the web page at a specific value, no matter how wide the viewer’s internet browser window is, whereas liquid layouts adjust their width depending on the width of the visitor’s browser window. The choice between these two layouts is not always an easy one and we will explore in depth the factors that will influence your final decision.

Fixed width layouts mean that you have a preset width which you will design the rest of your web page around. The main advantage of this approach is that it gives you greater direction and control over the eventual organization of your web page. Fixed width layouts are best used with print backgrounds, because these help maintain a consistent appearance even across different internet browsers and operating systems. In a liquid layout, however, the overall layout of your page is a percentage function of the size of the browser window being used to view it. They are useful for maximizing the use of space provided by any screen resolution or browser window size. Web designers who are tasked with conveying as much information as possible in a limited amount of space will often choose a liquid layout. It is important to both you and your web design company that you understand which layout would suit the needs of your client better.

Which layout you eventually choose will greatly affect the final look and feel of your web site, not to mention the functionality of the site. The ease with which visitor’s can scan through your site for relevant information and identify the content that they wish to find is largely dependant on your choice of layouts. It is thus absolutely essential that you understand the needs of your client and the kind of website that they want you to build in order to design a web site that reinforces the marketing strategies of your client. Your web design company is also likely to stress the importance of choosing the right layout when you take on any projects.

The Web Design Benefits and the Drawbacks The pros and cons of each layout type are listed below, so you will be able to make a better-informed decision regarding which type of layout you should use for a particular project.

Fixed Width Layout o Pros * Pages that you design look exactly the same when viewed using any internet browser or operating system. * Images and other non-textual objects will not overwhelm the textual content of the page, regardless of the size of the browser window or viewing monitor. * The scan length of your pages stays constant no matter how wide the viewer’s browser window is. o Cons * Viewers using smaller browser windows or monitors to view the site will probably have to scroll horizontally to see the entirety of the page. This tends to annoy online visitors. * A large amount of whitespace is usually generated when viewers use large browser windows to view the site, resulting in wastage of otherwise useful space. Also, more vertical scrolling may be required than should be necessary. * Font size changes can adversely affect the overall layout of the page. Large increases in font size can cause the layout of your page to become distorted, making it messy and unappealing.

Liquid Width Layouts o Pros * Layout adjusts its size to fit any browser window size. * All the available space in the browser window is utilized, enabling larger windows to display more information while not compromising the viewing experience using smaller window sizes. * You can achieve consistent relative widths, ensuring that your web page can accommodate your client’s varied design requirements such as font size changes. o Cons * Liquid layouts do not allow you to fix the width of the page and other elements on the page, making proper organization difficult in some situations. * Columns containing text may become either too wide or too narrow for comfortable viewing of the text. * Fixed width elements on the page may not be correctly displayed. Some browsers may attempt to correct for a lack of space for fixed width elements by increasing the width of the element, thus disrupting the order of the other elements in your layout.

Often, the best approach to use is to use both types of layout within the same web site or even within the same page. The type of layout you use may be dependent on which part of the site you are currently working on. A good example is fixing the width of the central column of the page so that text contained does not become distorted while allowing the layout for the rest of the page to be liquid, making viewing of side-bars and other elements more flexible. With practice and diligence, you will eventually learn the best combination of both layouts to use in any situation that you encounter.

About the Author

Moe Tamani is a SEO web design consultant Dallas Web Design.

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