Domain names. Web forms. Working with images and media on the web. MBA 563 WEEK 5
DOMAIN NAME SELECTION AND REGISTRATION
What is a domain name? A domain name is made up of two elements that when put together must be unique A top-level-domain A second-level domain A domain name resolves to the numeric IP address of the web site on a web server via a Domain Name Server (this service is usually handled by the company that hosts your website) The Domain Name System - controlled by ICANN in the US (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) In Canadian, domains are managed by www.cira.ca (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) Each country in the world has a similar system Many resellers of domain names now, but they must be certified registrars eg. local ISP (Shaw, Telus etc) Internic.ca, hostpapa.ca (just a couple of examples) There are many others
Two ways to get a domain name: register a new (or expired) domain name or purchase an existing one Registration of a name not in use: purchase the right to use the domain name for a certain period in return for being the registrant Cost per year is around $15 for a name not already registered (cost is variable sometimes free with a hosting package) Secondary market: buy a name from its current registrant Top 10 most expensive domains (Wikipedia)
How important is your domain VERY important name? It is a key piece of branding for your firm Think about all the places it will be seen and heard (print materials, on the side of a bus, business cards, emails, search engine results, online and offline advertising, TV and radio, personal conversation etc) A domain name is made up of two elements that when put together must be unique A second-level domain (viu.ca) A top-level-domain (viu.ca)
Selecting a second level domain name The TLD and second level domain name pairing must be unique It will be difficult to get the name you want creativity needed to find a domain that is: descriptive and/or memorable (includes your keywords) user-friendly (no hyphens) you can say it over the phone not too long (shorter is better) not too difficult to spell not too close to an established name isn t already in use in another TLD with dodgy content Remember you also need to protect your brand think about registering common misspellings and derogatory domain names
Choosing a domain name Top Level Domains Decide which Top Level Domain(s) you want to register Types of TLDs (Wikipedia) Generic TLD USA only (restricted) TLD Country code TLD Internationalized Country Code TLD Generic TLD (gtld) expansion Information about domain names (especially new gtlds from ICANN (video 6 minutes) Country codes with liberal usage policies used for domain hacks or available to be licenced for commercial usage eg.: Twitch.tv (using the TLD for Tuvalu) http://postach.io/ (using the TLD for the British Indian Ocean Territory)
Activating and using your domain name In order for you to actually use a domain name you need access to a Domain Name Service (DNS) server to host it. This is one of the services offered by ISPs (Internet Service Providers) / Web hosting firms
Staking claims to social media usernames As part of your domain name search you should also check availability of usernames on key social media accounts Register usernames even if you have no intention of using the social network service at the moment Consistent web presence is important
WEB FORM DESIGN
Creating forms for a web page For your web project you have to design a form for inclusion on your web site (the form information should be included in the wireframes). We will use Google Docs to provide the technology (NOT the Wordpress form), but for your plan you need to know the basics of good form design Forms are used to collect information of various types from users and as a way of receiving feedback or orders.
What is a web form? Front end what you see on the web page Created using HTML and CSS Boxes, input fields etc Button to submit the data entered into the form Back end what happens on the server to process the form and capture the data This needs a custom script on the web server Made easy for us now by technology such as Google Forms which generates the HTML for the front end and automatically captures the data and displays it in a spreadsheet
The 6 components of web forms Labels These tell users what the corresponding input fields are for (what content should be in them) Input Fields Input fields enable users to provide data or feedback Actions These are links or buttons that, when pressed by the user, perform an action, such as submitting the form. Help This provides assistance on how to fill out the form. Messages Messages give feedback to the user based on their input. They can be positive (such as indicating that the form was submitted successfully) or negative ( The user name you have selected is already taken ). Validation These measures ensure that the data submitted by the user conforms to acceptable parameters. http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/08/extensive-guide-web-formusability/
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/08/extensive-guide-web-form-
Google Forms Google Drive includes a form creation module that allows you to create many types of forms for use on a website Once you have created your form you can embed it on your website (See slides for WordPress Step-by-Step Instructions for how to do this) The data entered into the form by site visitors will be automatically captured in a Google Docs spreadsheet for you Create a Google Form (info from Google)
4 Form elements (input fields). You will need to include at least 3 in your web project form Text boxes for single line entry Text area for multi line entry (creates a large text field for comments etc) Check boxes when multiple answers are possible Radio buttons (multiple choice) when only one answer is possible Drop down list (for a fixed list of responses) Sample form created using Google Docs
Making forms better for your users Text boxes how big should they be? Should you constrain the number of characters? Names (first, last, family etc) not all names fit neatly into boxes! Labels make them clear and useful Phone numbers, postal codes show an example of format Required fields (indicate clearly and don t make it required unless you really do need the data) Submit / Reset buttons
WORKING WITH IMAGES AND MEDIA ON THE WEB
Image formats for the web HTML can support three image compression formats (other file formats such as.psd will not work on the web): JPEG which uses the file extension.jpg - it is the most commonly used format for photographs on the web GIF which uses the file extension.gif - it is best used for diagrams and simple images which use blocks of colour PNG which uses the file extension.png - it was designed specifically for web use as a replacement for the GIF format, and is not really suitable for photographic images The html code for inserting images on a page is the same no matter what image format you use.
Image size Images are often the most byte-heavy element of a web page that has to be downloaded Important to optimize images to make the file size as small as possible so that the page renders quickly The browser will rescale images but it is much better to ensure that the natural size of the image is as close as possible to the display size Remember that when using responsive design, the width of the screen being used will trigger a resize or cropping of the image (you need to plan for this)
Crop versus resize Resize: retain all of the original image but make it smaller in size (pixels height / width) - constraining aspect ratio / proportions Crop: remove part of the original image
Pixels Web images are measured in pixels Always start with an image that is larger than your intended display size Trying to make an image larger will distort it
Video Don t use ordinary web servers to host video the file must be fully downloaded before it begins to play Use a streaming server instead Easiest way is to upload video to YouTube or another video service Use embed code to put it on your site
Finding images and video to use in your web project Creative Commons Search Engine