Building a website solution
Once design plans for your website or multimedia application have been finalised, it is time to code your solution. Websites are created using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).
HTML is typically written (or generated) in two ways:
- Using a plain text editor, e.g. Notepad, Notepad++, TextPad etc.
- Using a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor, e.g. Dreamweaver, iWeb, SeaMonkey, Composer, etc.
Once you have decided on a method for creating your website, it is time to start bringing your design plans to life. Storyboards should be designed fit for third party implementation.
Hand coding versus authoring package
| Hand coded website | Web design software |
| Less code created – faster load times and search engines can crawl it faster. | Easy to use – just drag and drop, no coding required. |
| Can create more bespoke functionality. | Professionally designed templates. |
| Greater control over design. | WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors. |
| Requires a programmer skilled in HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript. | Can produce lots of unnecessary code. |
| Slow – websites take longer to develop. | Reliance on the software program to edit the HTML. |
| Easy to make a mistake. | Limited options. Typically, web design software relies on templates, with limited options for the look and feel of the site. |
| Hand coded website | Less code created – faster load times and search engines can crawl it faster. |
|---|---|
| Web design software | Easy to use – just drag and drop, no coding required. |
| Hand coded website | Can create more bespoke functionality. |
|---|---|
| Web design software | Professionally designed templates. |
| Hand coded website | Greater control over design. |
|---|---|
| Web design software | WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors. |
| Hand coded website | Requires a programmer skilled in HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript. |
|---|---|
| Web design software | Can produce lots of unnecessary code. |
| Hand coded website | Slow – websites take longer to develop. |
|---|---|
| Web design software | Reliance on the software program to edit the HTML. |
| Hand coded website | Easy to make a mistake. |
|---|---|
| Web design software | Limited options. Typically, web design software relies on templates, with limited options for the look and feel of the site. |
Websites will often be created using both methods. A designer will create the layout using a WYSIWYG editor and the developer will hand code functionality in an IDEIntegrated development environment (IDE) - a software application that provides facilities to computer programmers for software development..