Use of Fonts on Webpages

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Use of Fonts on Webpages

Will fonts have

virago

4:29 am on Aug 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

I want to use a modern font on my webpage (besides Times Roman or Arial) but unsure about how other computers will view it.

I have a feeling that if the user's computer that comes to my site does not have the font on their computer then they will not be able to view it. Is that true?

I don't want to use it and then find out that they cannot view it in the way I want them to and then computer reverts back to a default font.

Prolific

4:53 am on Aug 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

well, other than using images or having a fallback font that is similar (which doesn't sound like a possibility.) you're out of luck. If its not a lot of text - perhaps a heading you can use a graphics editing program to make an image using that font. Other wise there are some CSS ways of defaulting to certain fonts if the user doesn't have your first choice.

body {font-family: your-crazy-font, verdana, arial;}

This would revert to verdana if the user doesn't have your font, if they don't have verdana it would revert to arial. So you see you can still get some choice in what it reverts back to at least.

virago

5:15 am on Aug 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

Thanks Prolific,

Sorry I am not a web designer but what you are saying is that if I want a certain font to be viewed by a user then the user MUST have my font on their computer.

If you could clarify that then that would be great.

I don't want to do grahpics (except for a couple of headings) as I want it search engine optimised. But your suggestions about offering backup fonts sounds worthwhile.

Prolific

5:48 am on Aug 11, 2005 (gmt 0)

yes, that is correct.

shazukura

10:35 pm on Aug 15, 2005 (gmt 0)

One option, although many users won't bother, is to locate some cool public domain fonts and provide them (or links to them) in your site, recommending that they install your preferred font(s).

Then, do the CSS thing to set your preferred font, but also include a back-up setting.

MikeBenson

12:23 am on Aug 16, 2005 (gmt 0)

your best bet is to stick with verdana from a usability standpoint. most web users are accustomed to that font, arial or times new roman. most web users can be very picky about how content is displayed and wont hesitate to back right out of your site if its difficult to read. that said, you can do what prolific said to ensure that your text would be displayed if the font doesnt reside on the user's computer. if they dont have it, i doubt seriously they would go get it. you could certainly create graphics with a fancier font and use an alt tag or recycle that content into your page if your looking for se optimization.

collymellon

11:02 am on Aug 17, 2005 (gmt 0)

isnt there a way to import the font through HTML?

massacre90

11:06 am on Aug 17, 2005 (gmt 0)

there is a code that allows you to have a spacific font but if a computer does not have that font you can set a secondary font, ill try and dig it out for you and then ill post it.

massacre90

11:16 am on Aug 17, 2005 (gmt 0)

Here you go this code should change the text to soot the computer looking at your page...

im sure you will know which areas to change to fit in with your design this is HTML coding and must be under the <body> tag

please reply if this works for you, it worked for me with a little altering.

[edited by: massacre90 at 11:19 am (utc) on Aug. 17, 2005]

massacre90

11:18 am on Aug 17, 2005 (gmt 0)

this may be a little long winded but here are examples om this code minipulation.

Font family

Parameter name:
textFontFamily
You can set the font family to:

Serif
SansSerif
Monospaced
Dialog
DialogInput
Symbol
For example,

<param name="textFontFamily" value="SansSerif">

Font size

Parameter name:
textFontSize
You can set the size of the font to:

xx-small
x-small
small
medium
large
x-large
xx-large
bigger (Increases the current base font size by 1)
smaller (Decreases the current base font size by 1)
nnpt (Sets the font size to a specific point value of nn)
+n (Increases the current base font size by a value of n)
-n (Decreases the current base font size by a value of n)
n (Sets the font size to the point size associated with the index n)
For example,

<param name="textFontSize" value="x-large">

Font weight

Parameter name:
textFontWeight
You can set the weight of the font to:

plain
bold
For example,

<param name="textFontWeight" value="plain">

Font style

Parameter name:
textFontStyle
You can set the style of the font to:

plain
italic
For example,

<param name="textFontStyle" value="italic">

Font color

Parameter name:
textColor
You can set the color of the font to:

black
blue
cyan
darkGray
gray
green
lightGray
magenta
orange
pink
red
white
yellow
For example,