web design style guides

[Diff-chan]

I am trying to finalize my website and I'd like to know if anyone has some good style guides for the web. I am more on the programming side of things so Im not looking for anything fancy, but something that shows more like I gave a shit about it. The site is completely CSS-driven so I understand how to build it from the tech end. Thanks.

[MarkRyan]

You looking for a website with style guides or just some general pointers?

Some things I always keep in mind:

• Have a defined width for the page--pages that adjust width based on browser size are super blah (sorta like this forum....).
• Center the body of the page in the browser like so.
• As for width of the page, shouldn't be wider than 1024 (and to really support 1024 browsers without having horizontal scroll bars, page shouldn't be wider than about 980 pixels). For sites I make, a width of about 790 works well. Looks good in a 800 x 600 browser and, more importantly, looks good even without a ton of content. Really the only reason to go wider than 800 is if you're trying to showcase a LOT of content on one page, like CNN.com or IGN.
• Pick a set of colors--three or four--and stick to them.
• Have consistent design throughout the site. If you come up with a sort of shell for the site you can fill in the content--however various it might be, photos, text, front page hub, whatever--and keep a consistent look throughout the site. A simple header at the top of every page can tie the site together.
• Have a nav on each page in the same location. Let people bounce through sections of the page (or just jump back to the homepage or contact pages) from anywhere within the site.
• Blocks of text should be in pretty tight columns. Wide columns of text--500 pixels or wider--are a bit tough to follow with the eye.
• No one else seems to really do it, but I think text aligned-justify looks really sharp. See here.

[Diff-chan]

Right now I have a header with a navigation bar but no real header graphic, I figure it should be alright.

RIght now I think I have the width set to 850, I tested it in 1024x768 ad looked good, I might take a look at getting it down to 790 but its kind of funny, I didnt know people still used 800x600.

The blocks of text thing should be fine, see what Im doing is basically expanding out what I did with my IGN list, where I wrote about every game I had. I had a lot of fun doing it, so self-indulgent it may be I think it'd be fun. But anyway the section about games I have one column of text and one smaller sidebar with information.

Based on what you have told me (and your site does look good), Im not totally clueless, I just need some tweaking. Which is what I already knew but Ill fool around with your suggestions.

edit: what fonts are currently en vogue?

[MarkRyan]

Yeah, I don't think there are many people still using 800 x 600--most Dell-and-like PCs have been shipping at 1024 resolutions for years. Still, some people don't run browsers maximized, and as I said before, for me the most important reason I keep the width down is because I don't need extra width--it's hard to fill a really wide page with content if you're not running advertisements on the side of the page.

Verdana is a good font to use. I used Tahoma on my site I think, but I sorta wished I'd gone Verdana now. It's attractive and easier to read.

[Rumpy]

Your site looks really good Mark, top shelf design.

[mollipen]

Why not give us a link to what you've got so far, so that we can make suggestions?

Edit: Width wise, I tend to keep most of my stuff at 800 of skinner. Part of that comes from back when I was really anal about making sure things still worked for 800x600 people (of which, honestly, there aren't many left), and partially because I tend to have my browser no where near fill up the width of my moniter, so it's just preference.

[Diff-chan]

Why not give us a link to what you've got so far, so that we can make suggestions?

I dont have webspace (or a domain) to put it in, actually Im really paranoid about picking a bad domain. If I did I would get it online ASAP.

[mollipen]

If you want someplace to put it temporarily just for the purpose of feedback, I can put it up on my server. That, or take a few screengrabs for us to check out.

I know what you mean as far as picking someone, though... it's a god-damned crapshoot when trying to find a hosting company worth a damn. I think I've been through three in that many years. I'm current with Site5, and they've been pretty good so far. You never know how things will turn out, but I've been with them for a year so far, and I've had no real complaints with their service or support.

[Fe 26]

Shidoshi and Mark know style. As long as I've been aware of them online, they've been ahead of everyone else.

[Diff-chan]

Your mom ain't too far behind, butt.

If you want someplace to put it temporarily just for the purpose of feedback, I can put it up on my server. That, or take a few screengrabs for us to check out.

I know what you mean as far as picking someone, though... it's a god-damned crapshoot when trying to find a hosting company worth a damn. I think I've been through three in that many years. I'm current with Site5, and they've been pretty good so far. You never know how things will turn out, but I've been with them for a year so far, and I've had no real complaints with their service or support.

Do they have PHPmyadmin and all that shit?