waiariki: writing for the web

7/28/2019 Waiariki: Writing for the Web

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/waiariki-writing-for-the-web 1/131(c) Copryight Sue Emms/Waiariki Institute Technology

W W W

wing fo he we

wod-

wing-

we

Sue Emm

Wiiki Inue of Tehnology



Abstract

Dening he Inene, he We, owe nd ue; he oppounie nd limion of ehnology,

ex on he We, inil onideon ound how ue ed we onen.

Quoe

“Wing we opy h i eeve fo oh humn nd eh engine i i of n .”

B Tllen

(c) Copryight Sue Emms/Waiariki Institute Technology



A SUPER FAST INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET

Anyone who wn hei wing o e on he we, o who wihe o wie fo we pulion, will nd i

helpful o hve genel undending of wh he Inene i nd how i wok, eue wing fo he

we in’ only ou good wing. Some ehnil knowledge nd expee i vil.

We’ll egin, hen, wih he fe inoduon eve o he Inene, he Wold Wide We, nd he onep

of Ue.

People oen ue he em ‘Inene’ nd he ‘Wold Wide We’ inehngely - u hey e wo ep-

e hing. Pul Gil pu i hi wy: “he Inene i newok of ompue, nd he Wold Wide We i

olleon of HTML pge on hoe ompue”.

To explin fuhe:

The Internet i mive ominon of ompue wold-wide. Million of hem. Peonl, uine,

govenmenl, ll joined y le nd/o wiele onneon.

No one own he Inene, no one goven i o h uhoiy ove i opeon.

(Some govenmen y o onol wh i llowed in hei ounie, u no one h onol ove he

ene hing.)

Think of he Inene he hdwe.

The World Wide Web, uully lled he we, i olleon of HTML pge on he Inene. I i he

huge moun of owe

dedied o odng he HTML pge.

The we i ed on pul ompue lnguge: hypeex nfe poool (hp).

Think of he we he onen nd he owe.

Users. Th i, people who ue he Inene in ny wy, whehe i i eng owe pogm, e-

ing we-pge onen, ineng vi oil ie, o eding weie.

Think of he Ue ‘u’.



BROWSERS

People who ed hough we pge e oen lled owe. I’ impon

no o ge hung up on eminology u i i eqully impon o e we h,

in he Inene wold, owe i no peon, u owe pplion whih

llow ue o nvige ound he viou HTML pge on he Inene.

The mo popul owe, he me of wing, e Mozill Fiefox, Google

Chome, Ope, Apple Sfi nd Inene Exploe.

Mny ompue ue ke hei owe fo gned - i i omehing whih i on hei ompue when hey

uy i - u hee e nume of popul owe feely ville, nd whih n e downloded o llow

ue o peonlie hei owing.

The impon hing o know i hi:

Dieen owe my diply onen dieenly

Wh h men o you, wie of we onen, i you need o e we h you eful wekingnd fomng of ex - whih look ei on you ompue - ould e jumled, low-loding me on

omeone ele’.

(I dioveed h, peonlly, when eng hi PDF fo uploding. Woked ne in eCmpu, nd didn’

wok ne in Sid. Tuned ou I’d ued fon nd pge ize h ween’ omple. R. I hould hve

ed he dieon moe loely!)

The Wiiki Inue doe no eommend one owe ove nohe.

Bu knowing how you ex will look, epeilly if you e eponile fo uploding i o he Ne, i p ofeing we-vvy. Go o We Bowe Reoue y Jennife Kym o ed moe ou he mo popul

owe.

http://webdesign.about.com/od/browsers/p/bl_browsers.htm

http://webdesign.about.com/od/browsers/p/bl_browsers.htm



A BRIEF HISTORY...

Alhough ely veion of he Inene hve een ound fo dede, he Inene we know i ody

only hi i ide in he le 1990. A nume of hing led o he enomou hnge in Inene uge.

() Emil. The dven of emil engged he vege ue wih he Inene - eue emil

w n ey inoduon ino ehnology h, peviouly, w een he povine of

‘geek nd ned’.

() Fe Inene onneon. In he 90, mo people wih Inene hd dil-up on-

neon h migh hve eemed miulou in he dy, u w hingly low (56kp*).

To ompe: if you wn o downlod feue-lengh lm on n vege odnd

onneon (in New Zelnd), i will ke ou 1 hou. Wih dil-up onneon, i will

ke ou 3-5 dy).

Bodnd ived he un of he enuy nd uddenly he Inene eme om-

pleely elevn. D ould e nmied ueful peed, nd d velling down

elephone line ould e pli eween elephone nd Inene, mening n odiny

phone line w no longe logged up wheneve peon wen on line.

() Wiele ehnology ived nd, uddenly ue ould onne nyple, nyme, ny-

whee. Wheeve, wheneve, howeve.

KEY THOUGHT. The ivl of he Inene pved he wy fo he Wold Wide We.

*KBp - Kiloye pe eond. Eenlly, he highe he kiloye nume, he fe he odnd peed.

The impact of wireless technology

Wih he ivl of wiele ehnology nd f Inene onneon peed, he ommeil wold up

nd ook noe. Suddenly, people ould ee oppounie fo mking ig money. The eul? The Inene

exploded in ize, pupoe nd populiy. The eul w he ung of he ‘do-om ule’.

The ‘do.om ule’ efe o how quikly he Inene expnded nd he wy i u, ju like op u-

le will pop if i i lown up oo f. Huge nume of ‘-up’ Inene ompnie wen u hi poin.

The burst of the bubble was a good thing

The u of he do-om ule le mny people ou of poke, u ough ou lee fou on wh

he Inene w ll ou, nd i poenl pupoe.

Buine nd ommee moved in o ell o infom o hei weie; dine eduon eme eie

o mnge - onen ould e eed nd oed nd peened in ineeng nd ineve wy; online

gming pidly evolved o eome he pefeed fom of elxon (eng ou TV, lm, nd ook). Peo-

ple ng mking onneon wih omplee nge nd developing genuine nd meningful elon-

hip.

Innovve hinke ough enely new ide o he pge - Feook, fo exmple, whih w lunhed in

Feuy 2004; YouTue in 2005; Twie, in Mh 2006.

KEY THOUGHT. Developmen on he Inene hve hnged he fe of peonl ineon, uine op-

eon, puli elon, new epong, eneinmen, eveyhing.



AVAILABILITY IS APPEALING

The ee of eng nd uploding we onen mke i vey ppeling o ue viey of level.

Some people onide he we ge wy o:

Mke money - elling u online o pomong o-line evie.

She infomon, eihe feely, o pid onen.

Conne wih like-minded people.

Be hed (vi log, e.)

The ovell fou of he Applied Wing qulion i on wing. A uh, we don’ pln o ide-k oo

muh ino how o wie le u, fo exmple, o he ehnology ide of hing like uilding weie -

hey e oh huge opi h need nd deeve epe oue.

Bu ju wie of:

Five hunded ye go needed o know how o dip quill ino n inkwell nd o lo hei pge

popely o he ink didn’ mudge;

Seveny ye go needed o know how o oll ppe ino ypewie nd ue on ppe;

Thiy ye go needed o know how o ue wod poeo;

Tody need o know how o ue ompue-

-omeone who wn o wie we onen need o know enough o wie onen h look good on

wepge, whih ppel o ede, whih n e found, nd hey need o know how o uplod ue-

fully. We will e diuing ll of hee opi houghou hi oue.

KEY THOUGHT. Thee i no need o e duned y he ide of pulihing online, in ny fom. The Wold

Wide We i imply nohe oppouniy fo wie o e ed. Bu i

doe men wie need o we few moe h hn only h of

‘wie’.

GETTING NOTICED

Wh he peviou infomon ell you i wh you no dou know

ledy.

The Wold Wide We i monou. I i huge. Thee e lielly

illion of HTML pge ‘ou hee’. How hen, do you nd he igh

peon o umi you wing o - o ge he piee of wing you’ve

uploded noed? Thee e nume of wy, nd we will diu viey of hem houghou hi

oue.

Bu hi poin i’ woh menoning one impon wy o ge noed: h i, y mking pge ppel-

ing o eh engine. Ye, hoe ool like Google, Ak Jeeve, Bing, nd hunded moe you ue o eh

he we.



WHAT EXACTLY IS A SEARCH ENGINE?

A eh engine i owe pogm h ehe weie oding o he pul eh em pu in

y ue.

Seh engine ue 'pide' (i of owe, illy, h wl ound he we) o idenfy ie

whih onin he ue' eh em.

Seh engine ee de of he infomon found y he pide - whih i why you n

omeme ge uk wih old, hed meil: eh engine h i dieoy of oed infom-

on nd h' whee i goe when new eh i ed. Th n e fung u, on he

ohe hnd, omeme he i he only ple you'll nd h weie you looked 6 monh go...

Seh engine e enomouly omplex nd leve. They eh fo wod nd phe exly

eneed nd hey wok ou whih wepge o eh, ou of he illion 'ou hee'.

So, how does a search engine decide a webpage is important to the user?

Mehod vy eween eh engine2 u inlude:

Poximiy ehe - he engine know you loon nd ie o gue ou wh i lol nd mo

elevn;

Popul ehe - he engine noe wh ohe engine hve found, nd wh people e ledy

owing;

Keywod ehe, nd ode hidden in ex, nd g.

The moe onneed weie i wih ohe ie, he moe oen i i viied, he moe likely i i o efound y he pide. Th' why you'll ee people exhnging link, o liking 'like' he oom of log

po.

KEY THOUGHT. Conideon ound wing we-onen inlude mking ex 'ndle' o eh en-

gine. (Moe on hi le in he oue.)

So far so good?

Th' ief kgound o he Inene nd he Wold Wide We. I i hee, in ll i gloiou nd m-

ive exiene, nd i h hnged he wy we live ou live.

Chnged wh we do, mye, nd how we do i - u i hn' hnged he eene of who we e. I' hi

onuene of new ehnology nd 'who' people e whih mke wing fo he we o ineeng.

I help he wie o know h, genel ule, people o infomon in viey of wy.

Plee e wih me: he info h follow my eem digeion, u i i helpful nd elevn o hoe

who wn o wie good we onen.



WAYS OF ABSORBING INFORMATION

By listening

People o infomon ully. Th i, hey lien. A one me, infomon w

hed moly hough oie old ound he mpe, mye, o he lol meeng

ple.

Speke my hve emphied deil wih he ue of pop o geue o fil expe-

ion, u he pime infomon w poken in ome wy. One eon velling min-

el wee popul in Euope, nd ong nd dne w popul in Polynein ulue

e. i h hyme, ong nd dne mke omplex info memole.

Tody, long wih dionl oy-elling mehod, dio nd pod mee ul need.

By observing

People o infomon hough wh hey ee. Oiginlly, wy k in me, h would hve een he

oevon of 'live' on, whehe i w whing Go h mmmoh, o Minnie milk ow.

I w oen uoniou lening o oing of

infomon.

Tody, viul need e me h wy nd hough wide viey of medi - lm,

eleviion, ‘how-o’ demonon, ge how, ee pefome, nd o on.

By doing

Mny people o infomon y doing. Thi kind of peon i lled 'kinehe'. They like hnd-on

ppoh o nding ou wh hey need o know. They would he go hough he poe of eng wepge, y, hn i in l nd lien o omeone ell hem how o do i.

If hey whed ove omeone' houlde h peon eed pge, kinehe peon would oon

e edging hei wy ono he e nd king ove he keyod.

Mny ompue pogm oe ineve, 'hnd on' lening hough

imulon nd gme.

KEY THOUGHT. Mo people o infomon in nume of wy, u

len mo ongly owd one of he ove yle. They pefe o lien,

o ee, o o do

Where does the wrien word feature?

You my noe h ex hn’ ye een menoned.

Th' eue ex hold unique ple. Ye, i i ed nd, ego, i mu e viul. Bu i i no uly viul

in he ene h i i no ey o n like n imge on een. I ke onenon o ed lok of

ex nd ke mening fom i.

I m no iiing he wien wod, y he wy.

I m fn of eding nd i i lwy my pefeed mehod of oing infomon nd of eneinmen.

Bu I m ng he f -- eding ex in' neeily ey.



Compe, fo inne, he dieene eween eding ex whih ell you how o uild gge, wih

ex h inlude piue of how o uild gge; nd hen ompe hoe mehod o whing n -

ul demonon of how o do i. If i' well wien, he plin ex my give he e pei info, u i'

likely o e he hde o o.

Tex plu imge n give le inuon nd i illin eue he uilde n go k nd hek, nd

wok hei own pe.

A live demonon n e good IF he demo llow live ineon.

If i doen', hen upiing moun of deil n e mied y hoe whing. I' n knowledged f

h mo people hve poo oevonl kill, fo viey of eon.

KEY THOUGHT. Tex i one of he e wy of onveying infomon nd deil - u how h ex i pe-

ened n mke ll he dieene o he ede.

WHAT MAKES TEXT SO IMPORTANT?

We ould pend ye diuing hi opi! Bu keeping fou on he poin of hi oue, hee, gin, i

upe-f oveview:

Wing h een ound fo hound of dede u i w hd wok poduing ppe nd ink, nd

wing w uully le o expe - ined ie, pie, e. Few people ould ed.

The pimy mehod of hing infomon in ely oiee w ol. In n 'ul' oiey (fo wn

of ee expeion), he oo w king. People liened, nd hey wen wy nd diued wh

hey'd hed.

The ik wih hi kind of infomon hing w miinfomon - he 'Chinee whipe' ee.

The ivl of m pinng hnged he wy oiey oed infomon. Pined meil llowed

people o ed nd ee. I w enhmk - h i, efeene poin h helped op miinfo-

mon (i.e. people ould efe o wh w wien nd dipel umou.)

M pinng hnged he dieminon of oie nd knowledge. Now, nyone ould he hei

opinion. Knowledge w no longe unde he onol of mll ele goup (uh eligiou ode

of he dy).

In ho peiod of me - elvely peking - pined meil eme he pefeed mehod ofdieminng infomon, of hing ehing meil, of eneinmen.

KEY THOUGHT. The pinng pe w he Inene of i dy. Ju he Inene h hnged oil ine-

on nd oiey ody, he pinng pe hnged oiey in i dy.

For nearly a hundred years, the printed word held sway

The pinng of imge w diul nd oly, nd mo ook nd newppe onined pge nd pge

of denely-wien ex. Due o viey of fo, hee w lile onideon of fon yle, whie pe

nd imge.

No-one omplined - h' ju he wy i w. Few people ody would enjoy eding olde-yle lyou.



WHAT TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS...

Le' hnge dieon lighly. Thee poin o egin:

1. The vililiy of he we o lmo eveyone foum fo hing infomon mke

i vey ppeling.

2. People e no ed of (o impeed y) ehnology peviou geneon.

3. Tehnology h, pehp fo he me eve, eome ue fiendly in genuine nd

meningful wy. Thee i lo o len, ye, u muh of he 'wok' h een done fo ue.

Compe, n exmple, ely we-pge whih hd o e wien in HTML ode, wih he

'edy-o-we' weie emple feely ville. Ue n imply opy nd pe meil

fom Wod doumen nd, voil, hey hve eed weie.

A he level we e diuing, ehnology ody llow nyone o e n expe pling we onen on

he Inene. If peon n ge hei hnd on ompue, if hey n onne o he Inene, hey n pu

onen on he we.

I migh e dily log, Feook ommen o omplex weie - he opon e huge - u he poin i,

nyone n do i. Ue n:

1. Cee hei own pe y eng new weie, o y uing emple e up y ny nume of

ognion.

2. She onen feely wih ohe online ue hough hed weie.

3. Sell onen o ohe ie owne, in he me wy hey migh ell o pin mgzine edio ouine opoon (depending on wh he onen i. )

Ju he ivl of he pinng pe in 1454 hnged people' peepon of wh hey ould do, o h

he ivl of he ompue nd he Inene ody. Pulihing i no longe he povine of peilied pu-

lihing houe. Pulihing h eome he povine of he odiny peon.

In ohe wod - you nd me.

KEY THOUGHT. Tehnology fee people o puue omplex gol h wee one ouide of he vege

peon' gp.



TECHNOLOGY IS A CONTROL FREAK

People my develop ehnology, nd i i 'ou' evn o ge degee (in ohe wod, we ue i fo ou

own pupoe) u ehnology i lo ge limie. Ue n only do wh ehnology llow. I' lwy

een h wy. A ome exmple:

Bk in he dy (3,000 BC nd onwd) people ued ved ylinde o oll n impeion ino ly

le. Cly n' ke uly omplex imge, nd he ving of he ylinde, he peing of he ylin-

de ino he ly, nd he dying poe wee ll long nd involved. If dy ly le w dopped i

w likely o mh, nd ll he wok lo.

Le, imge wee ved ino one, wood nd/o mel, olled wih ink nd peed gin ph-

men nd vellum.

Imgine he kill needed o implemen hi kind of ehnology - nd i limion. No quik delee

o hndy ole of Twink...

Relilly, lhough people of ll ype of kill wee needed o ee ppe o vellum, o ve he

pee, mke ink nd omplee he poe - vey few people ould ully do he jo.

I wn' poe eily ville o Avege Joe.

Compe h wih he ee of ody' pinng. Thee my ll e lo going on in he kgound whih

llow ody' ue o pin u, eenlly, lmo nyone n oo up ompue nd pin pge.

Anyone n, if hey wn, wie ex o ee imge nd uplod hem o he we. Bu o mke he mo of

hi oppouniy, i' e o me i ehnology onep.

KEY THOUGHT. Tehnology oh llow omehing o hppen - nd limi wh n e done.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU

The infomon on he peviou pge i leding o hi poin: when you wie fo he we, you mu wie

o i ehnologil limion well he uul onideon of 'wh you e wing nd fo whom'

you would onide when wing fo pin edehip. Some ehnil limion e oviou, ohe

moe ule.

Hee i one quik exmple.

Font

Conide he fon you e eding. I i n-eif fon - h i, fon wihou k nd uliue. A n-

eif fon mke eding ex on een eie. Why? Beue monio i lowe eoluon (in egd o

pin quliy) hn piee of ppe. Thee i moe whie pe ound he individul lee, nd non-

fuy fon i eie fo he eye o pik up.

In pined meil, eif fon i onideed eie o ed. The eif - hoe lile k nd uliue on

he lee - wok y leding he eye fom one lee o he nex. Th, in un, llow he ede o ed

whole wod nd enene.

On een, hoe eif mke he lee hde o ed.

Wn poof? The ex in hi PDF i Clii 12. Hee i he me ex in Time New Romn 12.



Consider the font you are reading. It is a serif font - that is, a font with ticks and curlicues. A sans-serif

font makes reading text on a screen easier. Why? Because a monitor is actually a lower resolution (in

regard to print quality) than a piece of paper. There is more white space around the individual letters,

and a non-fussy font is easier for the eye to pick up.

In printed material, a serif font is considered easier to read. The serifs - those little ticks and curlicues

on the letters - work by leading the eye from one letter to the next. That, in turn, allows the reader to

read whole words and sentences. At low resolution, as on a screen, the serifs make the letters harder to

read.

What if you enlarge the Times New Roman font? Would h help?

Consider the font you are reading. It is a serif font - that is, a font with ticks and curli-

cues. A sans-serif font makes reading text on a screen easier. Why? Because a monitor

is actually a lower resolution (in regard to print quality) than a piece of paper. There is

more white space around the individual letters, and a non-fussy font is easier for the eye

to pick up.

In printed material, a serif font is considered easier to read. The serifs - those little ticks

and curlicues on the letters - work by leading the eye from one letter to the next. That,

in turn, allows the reader to read whole words and sentences. At low resolution, as on a

screen, the serifs make the letters harder to read.

Wh do you hink? She you hough on he foum.

EASIER READING

You my hve noed h mlle een ize nd hoe line e eie o ed. Th' eue i i

eie fo he humn eye o o he infomon. When we hve o n o long line of ex, i i

hde o ed.

Th hould innly ell you h, in egd o he wien wod, we onen i e peened in

nowe widh - no o he widhe of een. The wie lo need o onide knowledged

‘eding pen’.

The F-shaped reading paern

Eye-king udie hve hown h people who ed we pge end o do o in n F-hped pen.

Th i:

• They n he few line of he pge fom le o igh, ll he wy o he een. Th' he

op of he F.

• Then hey move down he pge i nd ed o he een gin, u only ou hlfwy.

• Then hey n down he le-hnd ide of he pge in vel dieon.

Hed long o 'Reeh on how ue ed on he We' fo ome ool imge h lely demone he

pen. The ed e e he 'ho-po' - he eon mo ed y he ue. The yellow i he nex moed, he lue he le ed.

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/waiariki-writing-for-the-web 13/13

The F-hpe migh e lighly dieen oding o ue o pge lyou, u he genel piniple i ue.

Wh hi ell you i you n' hink "h. I'll ge ound he ehnil ide y eng PDF nd uploding

i" eue you ue i ll likely o ed in n F-hped pen, nd i ll likely o kip p of he pge.

Do the course texts break the F-shaped reading rule?

Ye, hey do. We’ve pu he mjo ody of ex fo hi oue ino weekly PDF. Why?

1. Beue we need o povide you wih lge ody of ex. PDF e eie fo you o downlod nd

ve o you own ompue, nd o pin o. A i hppen, we e ( menoned) expeimenng wih

dieen wy of deliveing ex ed on feedk fom peviou uden. If you hve ny oev-

on o ommen, we would love o he fom you.

2. Thee i dieene eween dedied ede -- omeone like youelf who h gone o pe-

i weie wih pei pupoe in mind, nd he ue who i imply owing hough weie

ying o nd omehing infomve o ineeng.

The dedied ede will fou on he een moe.

The ue owing ound fo wh hey wn will no ed he pge, hey will kim i. Sudie hve

hown h people ely ed we pge wod-y-wod. Ue ju kim he ex nd pik ou indi-

vidul wod nd enene.

We hve lo kep nume of deign onideon diely elevn o eding fom wepge in mind

when wing hee oue. We ue:

-lo of whie pe

-ho onie pgph-plin nd infomve heding.

Thee hing e done fo good eon, nume of whih we will e exploing le in hi oue.

SUMMARY - THE LEAST YOU NEED TO KNOW

Wing fo he we ke ominon of:

1. Wing kill.

2. Undending of he ehnology nd he eminology.

3. Bi ehnologil kill.

4. Awene of he online eding hi of ue.

The need o lend hee fou pe n mke wing fo he we eem omplex o egin wih - e ll,

i' hd enough ju o wie well! – u, wih mny kill, one he i ep e oed, he uild-

ing of knowledge nd pplion of kill eome eie.

waiariki: writing for the web

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