STONEY'S GRAPHICS

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I decided to add this page, because from time to time I'm asked to view a website for someone. I always try to send back constructive feedback to improve their site.
The following is my opinion ONLY; this is NOT written in stone anywhere. I treat those asking for advice the same as I would want to be treated.
Just add a little humor to this so everyone will know I have done just about every single one of the no-no's below except for bandwidth theft. My first homepage was neon green, no organization, graphics all over the place, and boy did I ever love the comet cursors. My husband still picks on me about my first homepage, LoL.

There are quite a few no-no's in my opinion when designing a website.

At the time of writing your text, avoid underlining words for emphasis, it confuses people as they are usually associated with links. The underlined words causes people like me to spend more than a minute trying to click through to another page only to realize there isn't a link. Avoid the use of capital letters unless used sparingly. Oh mercy, all capital letters kills my eyes. Writing your whole text in capital letters makes it very difficult to read. Multiple spelling and grammar errors also cause it to be very difficult to read. I'm guilty of typos, but a page full of spelling errors is hard to read. If you don't have spell check, cut and paste it into a blank email and run the spell check from that, then cut and paste it back into your code. Another way to check your spelling is to use an online dictionary. I use Merriam-Webster Dictionary to check my spelling. I use Microsoft Word to check grammar and spelling, but I prefer to have a friend or two to proof my writings.

Heavy graphic's make it a nightmare to view a site. If you have a lot of graphics that you would like to share with others please limit the graphics to no more than 8 per page. Sometimes four to a page is more than enough.

Flash sites: Flash is cool, however it is a nightmare for people using dial up or have a slow connection. People want to be able to view your site quickly, not wait 10 minutes for a skip intro link to appear. Lose the flash and you will see a GREAT difference in traffic to your site. People surfing the internet like "SIMPLE". You can have an awesome site without all the bells and whistles.

Floaters and Comet Cursors seem to be pretty however, those things are soooo very annoying when I'm trying to view a page. Drop the floaters and Comet Cursors. Another one that is a pain is the applets. :-(

Busy backgrounds, LOUD colors, moving backgrounds give me a migraine. So, for the sake of those that have migraines please use neutral colors, and NO moving backgrounds.

Navigation needs to be simple otherwise it becomes frustrating to view a site. Include navigation on each page of your site either at top, bottom or side of page. Sites having navigation only on the index page becomes the biggest pain, because your visitors have to click on the back button for every page.

Music on pages is fine. I do recommend you choose a midi, mp3, or wav of a good quality. Do NOT use poor quality music, it's annoying. I can guarantee if I visit a site with poor quality music, floaters, mouse trails, and/or those annoying mouse cursors I will NOT visit again.

Sites that have more than one theme appear to be cluttered, unorganized and quite boring. Try to keep all pages along the same theme, unless it relates to the story or poem; still try to keep the same theme.
Don't steal other people's bandwidth, that is a HUGE no-no, and don't take graphic's to claim as your own. Always be sure to give credit where credit is due.

For those of you that do not know what bandwidth theft is I'll give you the definition.
Bandwidth theft means that you are direct linking to my images. You MUST upload the files to your own server. Right click on image save as....to your computer. I am paying for this space and when images are directly linked to mine it is the same as stealing and it is illegal. Believe me your sins will find you out and I will be there to make your site look like crap. In the past I have added stolen bandwidth or sample to a graphic so others know you are a thief. However, I usually notify a person via email first, because I do realize some people are new to web building. Should I find out a person is knowingly stealing the bandwidth I have paid for I WILL make life a living hell. Here is a link to "Internet Tips and Secrets” an awesome website containing great information concerning bandwidth theft as well as other interesting and helpful articles. Also another great site for tips is "WebTechGeek.com".

I have found a couple of sites pertaining to COPYRIGHT information, which I feel would be helpful to everyone. "What is Copyright Protection" and "Copyright Basics" are two sites I recommend for a better understanding of Copyrights.