Policies for Web Pages

Policies for Web     Technology Links     Computer Use Agreement Student Names on Web Pages Tech. Department

Naming Conventions
Underlining
File Size
Format Of Pages
Linking

     After a thorough, yet still incomplete review of our web site it has become clear that the use of the filenames default.htm and default.html, index.html, and index.htm have been overused in some places. In order to prevent unnecessary loss of files due to errors in uploading to our web site, we are instituting a different naming convention for files on our web site. This will allow files to be more easily identified by filename. It will also allow files to be distinguished across campuses and across the entire district*. The exceptions here are for the main campus and district web pages and any pages created using a photo album tool.

    The naming convention will have a few overall guidelines and then each campus will have some leeway in how it is to be implemented, as per the advice and consent of the individual campus webmasters. These webmasters are as follows:

Charles Sanford –– Elementary Webmaster
Roxane Castillo –– Middle School Webmaster
Vicki Mueck –– High School Webmaster


Section of Site Filename
NISD District Main Page index.html
High School Main Page high/index.html
Middle School Main Page middle/index.html
Elementary School Main Page elem/index.html

Guidelines and Rules Examples
Each filename within each campus needs to be descriptive and conciseScience_dept.html Ms-athletics.html Hs_clubs.html
When a break is needed, use the underline key _ or the dash - No Spaces are allowed in filenamesComp_sci.html Ms-nurse.html Hs-nurse.html
Every filename needs to be UniqueNot menu.html and menus.html But hs-lnchmenu.html Or ms-lnchmenu.html
Filename cases need to be consistent. Either use all lower case or first letter upper and the remainder lower case. Any of the above examples is correct.
Filenames should be less than 15-20 characters if possible curve_topleft.gif curve_topright.gif hs_clubs.html ms_athletics.html
Special Characters should not be used. The only allowable ones are - _ You may not use !@#$%^& *( ) + = \ / ~ ` ' " / ? < > , . { } [ ] or any other special character

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UNDERLINING

The standard on most web sites today is to use the underline feature for hyperlinks only. Hyperlinks are links to other parts of a page or other pages or web sites. In order to be consistent with the majority of web sites on the Word Wide Web, it is necessary that we follow this underlining convention. When a hyperlink is set up, it will generally be automatically highlighted in a different color and underlined, thus setting it apart as a hyperlink. Please change the formatting of your web pages to conform to this recognized convention if your pages do not do so already. The parents, students and teachers and other visitors to our site will greatly appreciate the consistency of the use of underlining.

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FILE SIZES:

Maximum File Sizes:
Pages are to be less than 80k* (k=kilobytes), but some exceptions will be allowed.

Images:
are to be less than 50K and no larger than 600 px wide and 600 px high,

PDF files:
max. 120K limit, some exceptions will be allowed.

Background Images:
No more than 20K.

Sound Files:
No more than 60K, some exceptions will be allowed**

* When a page is said to be less than 80K, that number includes all image sizes on the page, the html file size, and any other files loaded onto that specific page.
** The use of sound can be a challenging project. The web page designer must consider the audiences ability to download the file in a reasonable time period (less than 1 minute). If this cannot be accomplished, the option to not download the file should be allowed, or the sound file should not be used. Also, if a larger sound file is used, the file size should be stated for the user to see just how big the file is before attempting to download the file for their listening pleasure.


Preferable Image File Sizes
Thumbnail images: 100-150 px max height and width Regular size images: 275-450 px max height and width Team pictures: 450-600 px max height and width
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FORMAT OF PAGES:


Titles of Pages: Placing a Title in the Head Tag is required!!!
They are for the purpose of linking pages, setting a bookmark or favorite, and also show in the top left corner of your browser screen. Please be sure to make an appropriate title for the users of your page.

Using Background Images and Coloring:
Maximum Text to background contrast is the desired goal. Black on white is the standard, but other combinations are allowable and encourage in moderation. Too much color variety between pages creates eye strain and makes tracking more difficult for the eye. Background images should be solid colors or close to solid and significantly lighter than the text and other images. The background image should not dominate the page but should accent and compliment the content. Multi blended colors are rarely used correctly, but through careful consideration, they can be used effectively.

Using Animated Gif Files:
Animated gif files are wonderful and provide a little pizzazz to pages, unless they become too plentiful or distracting. 1 or 2 animated gif's per page are the limit, and not all pages should have an animated gif.

Using Internal Links:
Internal links within a page are encouraged. Providing Links to other related pages encouraged also. See the section on Linking.


Author and dating of file—internally and externally


Internal –
means in the html code of the file itself. The header tag is a good place to place a comment listing the author's name or by using the meta tag for author.

External –
at the bottom of the page, a section should state who the page was created by and when the file was last update. Look at an example.
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LINKING:


Linking of to other parts of a page and to other pages is strongly encouraged. Several mandatory links are required. Links at the bottom of the page are required. These bottom page links need to link back to your school main page, the district main page, the department main page, and the section main page. Look at an example.
See a tutorial on linking:
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Tech. Department

Last Updated 08-23-04