lofton.net

Over in the menu area on the right of the standard theme is a drop down that allows you to change the design of the site. I created several designs based on the same html code to show the power and flexibility of using CSS for web design. I got the idea of course from csszengarden.com, which was the inspiration for me to finally get into using CSS back in 2001. Prior to that I was a wizard with table based design. I dabbled with CSS, but the differences between browsers was maddening. Upon finding csszengarden.com and going through several of the linked supporting sites I learned the secrets of browser quirks and standards mode and how to force them to use standards mode. It was awesome to be free of the constraints of tables. I laugh now because there are number of web designers who want to bring back tables or rather refuse to give them up.

Tables are for tabular content. If you have a series of stats, a set of values that need to add up or similar data then a table is perfectly Ok. For layouts however, I remember the frustration of tables not being able to have different vertical dividers. If you had a table with two rows and the first row had 2 columns and the second had 3 columns, then one of the cells in the first row had to span two of the columns in the second. You could get around this by adding more columns or the taboo of table inside of tables, but it was a mess. There were a number of other table snafus that one had to deal with between browsers as well. So when I hear of someone advocating the benefit of table layouts, I just shake my head.

Originally, I set out to write up the differences between user experience and graphic design as there are many web designers who promote themselves as experts in usability. I enlarged it to cover pretty much all other participants in a web project, from marketers to developers. Many of whom speak about the importance of user experience and usability, but do not understand how to actually ensure that it is incorporated into their process. However, I am going in another direction with this post as I find myself somewhat at odds with folks in my own profession, who after years of research have finally come to view users as people. The new buzz is creating interfaces/interactions that connect to a user’s emotions. To which I say nonsense…

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More and more web designers are seeking to dispel the notion of the browser fold. Yet there is still the reality that users can not see all of a page’s content if it is taller than a browser window and they will potentially leave the page before discovering the additional content. There is often an email sent from the CEO or other senior manager stating that they want some graphic or link moved above the fold. This typically ruins the layout or requires major reworking to get things to fit.

I guess I should back up a bit and explain that the fold is an invisible line where the content of the page is not visible below the bottom of your browser window (and/or to the right side if there is also more content than can fit into one screen horizontally). It is borrowed from the print world where certain print formats such as newspapers and brochures are folded. The content that was most important appears on the front page before the fold to be sure that the consumer would notice it.

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