Is there a standard that you should follow when creating a site?

[budbiss]

When I create a site, I just make sure that the code I write is clean, formatted and to the point, but I never follow any type of format or anything. Is this how everyone does it? Or are there some sort of standard format to which you follow?

[webboy1]

Hi Budbiss ...... and welcome to Webmaster World!

There is no specific format as such that you "must" follow. Most of the time it really depends on what you are aiming to do .... and what the purpose of your site is.

There are standards such as W3C (an accessability standard) that more and more people are trying to conform to. To meet the lowest level does not take to much work, and is worth while ..... even if it is just to show that you are aware that the standard exists. I think i also read in another thread that this sort of standard will become a legal "Must" in the not to distant future.

Other than accesibility standards, it is really just super important that your site is useable i.e. people can see your links, it doesn't take forever to load, it doesn't require some obscure download that nobody has etc etc.

Again, it largely depends on what your (or your clients) objective is for the site.

Other than this, you should be fine. Web development is a learning experience. There are many things that you will learn as you go along ...... and keeping tabs with this forum will certainly do you know harm at all!

Cheers,
Webboy

[webboy1]

Oops ..... my apologies. I welcomed you to the forum thinking that it was your first thread. I read the wrong bit! I see you have actually made well over 100 threads!

Sorry!

[encyclo]

Apart from the validation side of the equation, a business-orientated site should try to follow general design conventions, so that new visitors can navigate easily - this includes things like using underlines for links, having the company logo in the top-left corner of every page which links to the home page, etc.

On the validation side, accessibility is the most important, followed by ensuring your site validates for both HTML and CSS.

Thankfully though, there is still a large place for creativity in the equation - so you can express your ideas within limits and find your own route to a good design.