Assignment 1

Web Authoring: Protocols, Design Conventions and Software

IntroductionIn this report I will be discussing web authoring, it will contain the protocols,

design conventions and software.

Web AuthoringWeb authoring is Software for designing and presenting webpages it is a mix

of things in this assignment we will be looking at the different rules to create

a website these are brief explanations:

Protocols which are also named rules these are used to govern the exchange

of data and information over the internet.

Design Conventions is planning and considering factors. The main

convention being rules of website design.

Software is lots of tools available to build websites these are divided into two

categories. HTML Text Editors and Visual Editors.

ProtocolsThere are many different protocols found in web design, in this assignment I

will briefly explain the protocols I understand and are familiar with.

-URL which is abbreviated for Uniform Resource Locator is the web address

of a website; it directs you to a website for example http://google.co.uk

-Domain Name which is a memorable word people can type easily into a

search engine for example “Twitter” is the domain name of

www.twitter.co.uk

-Top Level Domain Name is the last section of a URL. It indicates the type of

website or its location. Examples are listed below.

Country Codes:

.uk .jp .ie

Organisation Codes:

.ac .gov

-Domain Name Registration is how users buy a domain name for example if

someone bought a “name” with a top level domain name “.co.uk”.They will

be sold and managed by Domain Name Registrars.

Design ConventionsIn this section of my assignment I will be discussing the different design

conventions behind web authoring. I will explain each convention and use

visual examples.

The Rule of Thirds is an important design principle; the rule is applied to the

layout and composition of images and websites, they can be divided into

three vertical lines and three horizontal lines and when those lines cross they

are the “point of focus”. A viewer’s eye will be drawn to the position

naturally. Websites that use the Rule of Thirds are seen as visually appealing

and neat.

As you can see in the

picture the Rule of

Thirds is used and the

point of focus is where

the lines cross, this

would be the main

story in the middle of

the page. Viewers will

be drawn to it.

Color Schemes are also used in the design of a website and picking the right

color scheme for a website is important in setting the tone and feel of it. The

three main color schemes are:

-Monochromatic means ‘one color’ it is a website which only uses one color, and it uses all tints, tones and shades of that color.For example this is a monochromatic palette:

If used in a website the colors will never clash as there is only a single color and the design feels more minimal.

-Analogous which is a color scheme which uses similar colors and they are located next to each other on the color wheel.For example this is an analogous color scheme:

If used in a website the colors will match well and it creates a comfortable

design.

-Complimentary which are colors that are opposite but visually work well together, they are found opposite each other on the color wheel.For example this is a complimentary color scheme:

If used in a website the colors will tend to look balanced and appear brighter

when next to each other.

Fonts are important for a website, visually and for usability. They are divided

into two categories which are Serif and Sans Serif.

The difference between Serif and Sans serif are:

-A Serif is a line that trails off a letter shape, it is a small decorative flourish

they are seen as more traditional typeface, and they are commonly used in

fonts like the Times.

-A Sans Serif does not have any flourishes at the end of strokes; Sans-serifs

are commonly used in arranging typed letters and words, a technique called

typography. Sans is French For “without”.

SoftwareThere are two main types of software used to build websites one of

which is called Text based editors and that is any word processing

program that you can use to type and edit text, you can write HTML

codes and create HTML pages with a simple text editor, which helps

you build websites. They are dependent on you knowing all the codes

you will need to build the website you want.

An example of a code:

“<p> is used to make a new paragraph: example – <p> text

paragraph </p>, <br> is used to make line breaks between text:

example – sentences<br>.”

Another type of software is Visual based editors which lets you build

websites visually and makes you do much of the programming by

yourself, one example would be a software application called

Dreamweaver which’s main function is to design, manage and publish

websites.

ConclusionIn conclusion, I would like to briefly explain what I have talked about

throughout this report and share what I have personally learnt. I gained

knowledge in Web authoring; I understood that there are different aspects of

making a website such as Protocols, Design conventions and Software; all

these are needed to create a successful website. I can use and apply this to

designing my own superhero website for example; by choosing the right

color scheme in my design conventions (Monochromatic, Analogous or

Complimentary. The definitions of which are above. I also learnt about the

different fonts used Sans Serif and Serif which I never knew about before this

topic,