|
|
|
|
When I first began to design these web pages, I was using my magnificently new and
fast 750 MHZ (can do
roughly 750 million one-clock-tick things per second) DELL notebook with its massive 128 Meg
(million characters
roughly) of RAM (memory) and a gigantic 9.3 Gig (10 billion characters roughly) hard drive. |
|
|
Where many
people were just coming to learn that they could expand their screen area
from 800 by 600 pixels (very
small horizontal by vertical dots) to 1024 by 768, mine provided a whopping 1280 by1024. |
(If you’re a tech, bear
with me – I’m trying to help people that aren’t – well, myself too.) |
|
Where many people
were appreciating a color palette of “High Color (16 bit)” (thousands of colors), mine allowed up to “True Color (32
bit)” (millions). |
|
|
I naturally
set mine to its greatest offerings. |
|
|
Then I got
into web page development, knowing nothing about it. I proceeded to find a
place that would host a web site for me, convert everything that is anything
in my computer to a web page, and upload it all. When I got to where I
figured that I wouldn’t mind others seeing the wealth of information that I
had to offer, I began to email the URL (web site address) to select friends and family. |
If you are a prospective
client and are worried about whether or not I know what I’m doing, rest easy
that I don’t. I’ve been studying computers since 1969 and have learned that
everything changes way too fast for anybody to know anything. What you need
is the ability to assimilate and make your best guess, and then friends,
family and clients (aka: beta testers)
that let you know when something doesn’t work. |
|
The first
response I got was from my niece, Ginny, and she said “Excellent!”. That made
my day. The next was from my sister, Hannah, and she said “The text blends
into the background; hard to read.”.
Huh?? It does not! She doesn’t know what the h*** she’s
talking about! |
As I type this, I have a
toothache, so if I seem a little abrupt, or downright cranky, you’ll
understand why. Also, there is a fly
buzzing around my office and he’s been here a couple of days now. This is
February! |
|
Well, at
some point, I began to realize that if she was having trouble, then others
might have trouble, so I better look into this. I decided
to read the directions. |
To see how refined your color scheme is (or is not), take a look at this color chart at varian.net. If you cannot see a difference between 2 adjacent squares, it might be time to adjust your color settings. |
|
They told me that I’ve got to design these pages for people with small screens and few colors. In fact, there is a rule that says you have to confine yourself to
something called the browser-safe palette (aka: the Web palette, the color cube, the 6x6x6
palette, Netscape palette, Explorer palette, or the 216-color palette).
!! Bummer! 216? |
You also might enjoy reading Web color Basics, a short but informative article by Lynda Weinman, a noted professional and author of various Web
design books. |
|
I have now
reduced my screen size to 1024 by 768 and my palette to High Color (16 bit). Hopefully,
your system is advanced enough to handle that. If not, then you need a new one. Arrogant? Me? I will
proceed to re-evaluate my pages in this light, with the 216 color
rule in mind.
|
To adjust your settings
in Windows: ·
Right-click on your desktop and left-click on
“Properties”. ·
Click on “Settings”. ·
Select the desired “Colors” and “Screen Area”. ·
Click on “Apply” to see how it looks. ·
Click on “Advanced” and adjust your basic “Font Size”. ·
Click on “OK” twice and reboot your system. You
might then want to go back in there to fine-tune your “Appearance”, “Item” by
Item, a very nice feature. Keep in mind that a screen
size larger then 1024 by 768 can actually slow your system down. |
