Creating Research-Based Web Sites with Netscape Composer

Creating Content

You need to get your content for the site into electronic format during the design process.  This means typing texts into word processors and scanning images into electronic files. 

Word files can be used to create your electronic content, but don’t expect the formatting to work once you paste it into Composer (things like numbered lists and bulleted lists sometimes need to be rebuilt inside a Composer page).  Sometimes, it is best to simply use Word, don’t worry about formatting, and save the files as .txt (text) files.  This removes any Word formatting that could cause problems in your pages.  Once you import the text into Composer, you can format it there.

If you want to scan your own images, please be sure you are creating graphics that are optimized for the web.  This means usually reducing the size of the file and compressing it into the .gif or. jpg. format.  GIF files are good for things like logos or cartoons, since they can display only 256 colors per image.  JPEG files are good for photos – they are capable of displaying millions of colors.  One important aspect of whatever file you choose is to try to balance the quality of the image (number of colors, size) with download speed (smaller files download faster).   This can get complex, so if you need some guidance with this process, contact Jerry Slezak, Instructional Technology Specialist (jslezak@umw.edu - Monroe 206 – 654-2118).

You also need to gather any URLs from other sites that you might want to link to as resources.  This information is also needed for your bibliography for your internet sources.