bightmlil.jpg (3026 Byte)

HTML TIPS
  1. The general rule of thumb regarding bandwith is that it takes 1 second for a
    user with a 14.4 modem to download 1 kilobyte of information into cache.
    Therefore, a 40k graphic will take about forty seconds to download, half
    that time with a 28.8 modem. I can remember a day (not too long ago) when
    web developers agreed that the best websites were those where a single
    page totaled no more than 100k of text and graphics. Those days are long
    gone.
  2. Interlacing GIFs increases file size by 1.5 - 2%.
  3. Including HEIGHT and WIDTH tags within the image tag speeds up graphic
    display.
  4. View Source. Looking at the source code of websites that impress you is
    still the best way to pick up new HTML techniques.
  5. To make your page automatically jump to another page without a user's
    prompt, embed the following code the following code in your
    <HEAD></HEAD> tag:

    <META http-equiv=refresh content="10;url=http://www.jump.com">

    ...where 10 is the number of seconds you want the current page to be
    displayed before the jump, and http://www.jump.com is the URL of the site you
    want the user to jump to.
  6. Using HSPACE (horizontal space) and VSPACE (vertical space) with the
    IMG SRC tag will give you horizontal and vertical padding around an image.
    For example, the following with give you 10 pixels above, below, and on
    each side of your image:

    <IMG SCR="image.gif" HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10>
  7. When creating type for the WWW in an image editing or draw program
    such as Photoshop or PaintShop Pro, use anti-aliasing when working with
    font sizes larger than 12-14 points. In general, san-serif fonts such as
    Helvetica or Arial increase legibility.
  8. Although many are surfing the net with much larger monitors, the majority
    have 15-inch screens with a view area of 800 by 600 pixels.
HTML AND SOUND
Adding sound or background music to your website is easier than you think.
It's just the ongoing war between Netscape and Microsoft that makes things
a bit tricky.

For example, Microsoft's Internet Explorer supports the <BGSOUND>
(background sound) tag but Netscape does not. So, if you're a dedicated
Gatesian, and don't care who arrives at your site using the Netscape
browser (or any other browser, for that matter), just use the <BGSOUND>
tag. However, if you are more interested in accomodating everyone who
views your page, then use the <EMBED> tag, supported by most browsers,
including Netscape 3.0 and Internet Explorer 3.0.

<BGSOUND> TAG

Two attributes make up the <BGSOUND> tag: SRC (source) and LOOP.
The SRC attribute calls up the sound file and LOOP specifies how many
times the audio clip will play. For instance, to play a sound file called
hal.wav on a website viewed with Internet Explorer, just upload the sound
file to your server as raw data and include the following code in your HTML
document:

<BGSOUND SRC="hal.wav" LOOP=6>

In this instance, the sound file hal.wav will play 6 times in a row. You can
make the sound file play as many times as you want by changing the value
of the LOOP. If you want the sound file to repeat for as long as the viewer
stays on your page (and keep in mind that this can be annoying), use
LOOP=INFINITE. Your HTML will read as follows:

<BGSOUND SRC="hal.wav" LOOP=INFINITE>

Using the BGSOUND tag, sound files can be uploaded and played in WAV,
AU, or MIDI format. As with images, remember to keep sound file size to a
minimum. A 60k sound file will take about one minute to download via a
14.4 modem, and only after it has loaded, will it begin to play.

<EMBED> TAG

The EMBED command works on both Netscape Navigator 3.0 and
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. Although the tag works a lot like Explorer's
BGSOUND, it includes several different attributes.

To embed a sound file (let's use hal.wav again as an example) and have it
play in the background, upload the sound file to your server as raw data
and include the following tag in your HTML document:

<EMBED SRC="hal.wav" HIDDEN=TRUE AUTOSTART=TRUE LOOP=TRUE>

EMBED SRC tells the browser where to find the sound file.

HIDDEN=TRUE tells the browser to load the sound file but not to
display a sound control panel. If you use the attribute
HIDDEN=FALSE, a sound player control panel with play, stop, pause,
and volume control buttons will be displayed. Keep in mind, however,
that if you choose to display this sound control panel, you must also
specify a HEIGHT and WIDTH attribute for the CONSOLE
(WIDTH=144 HEIGHT=74 is suggested). Your tag would then look
like the following:

<EMBED SRC="hal.wav" HIDDEN=FALSE AUTOSTART=FALSE
LOOP=FALSE WIDTH=144 HEIGHT=74 CONTROLS=CONSOLE>

AUTOSTART=TRUE specifies that the sound file will automatically
start to play as soon as the file is loaded. If you change the attribute to
AUTOSTART=FALSE, the audio will not start to play until the user
instructs it to do so.

LOOP=TRUE specifies that the sound file will play an infinite number
of times. With LOOP=FALSE, the sound file will play only once.
LOOP=4 (or any number you choose) will cause the sound file to play
4 times.

Sound files can be uploaded and played in WAV, AIFF, AU, and MIDI
format. In addition, you can use the EMBED tag to play QuickTime movies,
AVI files (under Windows 95 and NT), and VRML files.

Copyrights 1997 by Matthias Kannengiesser