![]() | |
![]() |
Designing Your Websites Directory Structure
Any kid, and their grandmother too, can make a webpage. There are many "wysiwyg" webpage design applications that let you create a webpage as easy as typing text. But only a few people can create a WEBSITE. The stumbling block is knowing how to link webpages together to form a website. I have seen many websites that consist of a single webpage - about a mile long! The first problem is that websites are contained in virtual directories. You know that your webpages can be found at yourdomain.com, but the actual path to yourdomain.com on the web server may be known only by the system administrator. And the system administrator can move your website to a different folder, or even a different computer, without changing its virtual address. The second problem is that most people don't know how to write a relative link. Relative links have the advantage that you don't need to know the path to the webpage that you want to link to, you only need to know where it is "relative" to the webpage containing the link. Designing Your Directory Structure The first step to implementing a website is to design the directory structure. Let's design a directory structure for a simple download website. The website consists primarily of articles and digital material that visitors can download. You could just dump everything at the top level of the website. Good luck maintaining that website! To keep the files organized, you need to create sub-directories (folders) on the website. Even though the website consists only of articles and digital downloads, you need five sub-directories, as described below.
You understand what the "articles" and "downloads" sub-directories are for, but what are the other three sub-directories for? It's standard practice to provide certain features on your website, as listed below.
Each of these features requires a webpage. Instead of dumping the webpages at the top level of the website, or mixing them in with articles or downloads, let's put them together in a folder named "general" (I'm sure you can think of a better name). All of your webpages use certain things in common, for example, your logo graphic. If your web server provides SSI (Server Side Includes) all your webpages can share a common header file and a common footer file. You might also define all your website's styles in a common style sheet. Let's put all of these files in a folder named "common". Your contact page might use an email form. If your server provides server-side scripts, you would place the email form script in a folder named "cgi-bin". Cgi-bin stands for "Common Gateway Interface - Binary". Few people use CGI any more, and those that do don't use binary files, but the folder name has stuck as a traditional place to store scripts. Almost all websites come with a preconfigured cgi-bin folder, and the website may be configured so that the cgi-bin folder is the only folder with rights to run scripts. I would also recommend that you create certain sub-directories for some of the above mentioned directories. Most web pages contain images. You could dump all the images in the same folder with the webpages, but when you get more than about 50 files in a folder, it becomes difficult to maintain. You should create an "images" sub-directory in the articles, downloads, and general directories. The downloads directory should also have a "files" sub-directory to store the downloads. This arangement of directories and sub-directories will provide good file organization for the example website. Understanding my reasoning for this directory structure should help you to design a directory structure for the website you have in mind. Default Page Configuration Every website has at least one default webpage configured (also called the "home" page). The default webpage is the webpage that is returned when the user enters or clicks on a link containing only the domain name, without a specific file name. On a Unix or Linux web server, the default webpage will usually be "index.htm". On a Windows web server (IIS), the default page will usually be "default.asp". The website administrator, or if your webhost provides the required "control panel" feature, you can actually configure any page to be the default page. If your web server has more than one default page configured, I would recommend removing all but the default page that you intend to use. Now, let's assume that all of your webpages need to link to an image file named "logo.gif" stored in the "common" folder. The relative link on your default webpage would be as shown below. "common/logo.gif" The website file manager interprets this as "look in the folder named common for the file named logo.gif". However, the link on any webpage contained in one of the sub-directories would be as shown below. "../common/logo.gif" The website file manager interprets this as "go up one level, then look down in the folder named common for the file named logo.gif". This difference in the link may not be a problem unless you use SSI or ASP (Active Server Pages) to build your webpages from a common header file and a common footer file. Then you need a different link in the common file depending upon whether the page linked to the common file is the default webpage (where you would use common/filename) or a webpage contained in a sub-directory (where you would use ../common/filename). There are several ways to solve this problem. 1. If your website has a server-side scripting engine like ASP or PHP and you know how to program, you could implement code that selects the proper link. 2. You could use the complete path, including the domain name, on all pages. This will cause problems if you ever have to move your website to a different web host (Until all the dns servers across the planet have been updated). 3. You could put your home page in a sub-directory, for example "common", and make your default page into a re-direct to your home page. Then you would use "../common/filename" for all links. The following meta tag, placed the head section of your default webpage, will immediately redirect the users browser to your real home page. meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0,url= "http://yourdomain.com/common/homepage.htm" In this article, I showed you how to design a directory structure for your website and how to create relative links to link all your webpages together to form a website. Website visitors don't like to do a lot of scrolling, so try to keep your webpages to only two or three screens high. Please, no more websites that consist of only one mile long webpage! Copyright(C) Bucaro TecHelp. Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included. About The Author Stephen Bucaro To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com. To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp.
MORE RESOURCES: Website Design: What's the Best HTML Editor? | Florida Realtors Lecturer, Digital Media (Web Design) (Level A) job with ... Times Higher Education 8 Web Design Trends We Noticed in 2023 MUO - MakeUseOf Top 10 web design companies: 2023 reviews and comparisons The Jerusalem Post AI tools are killing web design jobs in South Africa Rest of World U.S. announces official web design system Boing Boing Wix vs. Squarespace | Website Builders | U.S. News U.S. News & World Report 19 Free Web Design Tools from Summer 2023 Practical Ecommerce Best Website Builders for Small Businesses (2023) | U.S. News U.S. News & World Report Director, Digital Strategy - Emory Communications and Marketing ... The Chronicle of Higher Education The Pros and Cons of Creating a Website With Canva's Website ... MUO - MakeUseOf Problem with swiper slider - JavaScript SitePoint Mission Lane: AI Revolutionising Financial Operations FinTech Magazine Motor Carrier Operations: Improvements Needed to Federal System ... Government Accountability Office Doozy Marketing: Pioneering the Future of Digital Dominance ... Digital Journal Tucson's Molly Holzschlag, known as 'the fairy godmother of the web ... TucsonSentinel.com Regulator: “Harmful” Web Design Could Break Data Protection Laws Infosecurity Magazine Joint journey: The Ferraz Rodrigues brothers' path to collaborating ... Illinois State University News Mizzou alumna uses web design expertise to give back to ... University of Missouri College of Engineering About Web Design and Development | Web Design & Development ... Utah Valley University When and Where to Use REM and EM Units in Web Design? hackernoon.com Wix's new web design platform looks seriously cool Creative Bloq Área de web design tem alta demanda por profissionais Portal Comunique-se 16 Best AI Tools for Web Designers Designmodo The Mysterious Case of the Fake Gay Marriage Website, the Real ... The New Republic Website Development: In-Depth Guide For Beginners Search Engine Journal Top 10 Web Design Mistakes: What Businesses are Doing Wrong Times of India Capturing codes: New England 7th graders learn web design Dickinson Press Game Design and Interactive Media BA Major West Virginia University Web design, development firm named among Inc. Best Workplaces SiouxFalls.Business WAcademy's Web Design Interns Have Successfully Developed Over 30,000 Free Websites for Global SMEs Yahoo Finance 22 Free Web Design Tools from Spring 2023 Practical Ecommerce Jeremy McGilvrey, A Web Design Agency Announces Web Design Services In The Woodlands, Texas Yahoo Finance Opinion | Reasons for ambivalence about the 303 Creative Supreme ... The Washington Post This Colorado web designer doesn't want to make wedding sites for ... Colorado Public Radio Portfolio Requirements for Web and App Emphasis | Web Design ... Utah Valley University The ultimate guide to web design: Learn the fundamentals Interesting Engineering How does web design influence how we read online? Reader's Digest Top Web Design Trends 2023 Designmodo Singapore's Leading eCommerce Web Design Agency Verz Design raises US$2M in Series A Round Yahoo Finance |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
RELATED ARTICLES
Creating the Perfect Website - A beginners Guide Are you looking to create the perfect website? A complete novice when it comes to HTML, CGI, FTP and all the other associated pieces that make up the website puzzle, then this article is definitely for you.By following the 5 guidelines listed below you are guaranteed to create the perfect website. How To Choose A Website Designer When you're self-employed, choosing a website designer is a crucial decision, as a good website can bring you more business and a bad one can drive away prospective customers. Below are some important things to consider when selecting a website designer for your new site or site redesign. Web Site Templates and Their Benefits Unarguably, the most important part of your website is content. To draw in clients or customers, you need captivating content and search engines are blind to web design. TEN Answers That Turn Your Visitors Into Your Customers You know.. Digitalize It! : (Modification of images with tools such as Adobe CS and Corel) Then it was a choice among crayons, paints and palettes for an artist and designer to create art. It was a box of crayons that make one happy designer during his early years of formation. Double Ad-Trackers Its Not as Crazy as It Sounds Here Are 7 Reasons Why? A Double Ad Tracker is an Ad-Tracker that points to an AD-Tracker. It may sound a bit like overkill to have an Ad-Tracker Pointing at another Ad-Tracker but it's not crazy. How To Rescue Your Graphic Design Project When All Else Fails Whether you're giving a critical sales presentation to a client, producing visuals for a meeting, event, trade show or seminar, or unveiling the new company logo before an audience of shareholders, top-notch graphics will help ensure that you, your products, and your message receive the attention they deserve.Yet when you decide to do the graphics in-house to reduce turnaround time or cut expenses, those logos, photos, charts, graphs, pictures, timelines, illustrations, etc. How to Make Effective Use of Web Fonts Writing for your web site is not the same as offlinewriting. The fonts used for print media are different thanweb fonts. How To Give Your Business Credibility Let's face it. Buying products and services from the Internet can be a bit intimidating. Save Time and Boost Profits with Free Content Public domain gives you a head start creating ebooks, ecourses, newsletters, teleconferences, website content and email registration incentives you need to keep in constant touch with clients and prospects.Public domain refers to information free from copyright protection. Other Ways to Look at Things Many people today are tired of the Microsoft software that came pre-packaged with their operating system. Some have switched over to Apple's Macintosh line, but for the most part we just put up with what we have. Why Content is King of Website Design If there's one thing that most web site developers can agree on, it's this: content is king.That's not, of course, to say that good design doesn't matter. How to Double Your Online Sales Without Spending Another Dime on Advertising Learning how to convert visitors to your web site into buyers, is the single most important factor affecting the success of your online business. If you don't have paying customers, your business will fail. 6 Design Flaws Newbie Web Designers Make: Fool Everyone Into Thinking You Know What Youre Doing Even if you're not an accomplished webmaster you can still have a professional looking website. You may be like I was five years ago-you're teaching yourself web design and you're starting to catch on to that HTML stuff. Be Friendly to Search Engines The object of search engines is to give their visitors a list of web pages relevant to the search words, in the order of relevance to the search words. So what do they want from websites?Relevance to a search:The frequency of the search word on a web page is an indicator of its relevance. Why Web Pages Appear in the Wrong Location after Uploading to my Website? If your are a new web designer, you may face a common problem after uploading your web page to your web server. The problem is that the web page appear in the wrong location on your website, and will not be accessible when you type its address in the browser address box. Website Design Firm Website design firms come in all shapes and sizes.When choosing which firm you would like to build your website, there are many factors which you need to take into consideration. Web Design - 7 Key Things to Avoid A search for "web design" on Google returns more than 325 million results. So how do we start eliminating all these so called designers? Here are a few of the most common shortcomings. Optimized Web Page Template I want to give you a free web page template that will besearch engine friendly. Why?Well, I assume you want your web page to come up as high aspossible in search engines because that generates freetraffic. Imitation, The Smartest Form Of Flattery Unless you are an inventor, most likely you are selling a product or service that is being offered by someone else, somewhere, at some time. The first person to start your type of business would have gone through a lot of trial and error. ![]() |
home | site map |
Webdesign-box © 2006 |