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Scrolling Marquees --
If you have ever seen stock quotes scroll across a screen then you have seen a scrolling marquee. Marquees bring a form of animation that is informative, visually stimulating easy to install and not expensive.
Above is an example of a Scrolling Marquee ----
They can be of almost any length and people tend to read marquees because they bait a person's curiosity to find out what is coming next.
Banners --
Banners are small rectangular boxes placed within a web page usually with advertising information of one sort or another and almost always with ANIMATION (animation means: things inside the banner move around like in a movie or cartoon).
Example
Banners almost always LINK to another page or site (which means if you click on them they will take you somewhere else).
Good banners can require a lot of work, artistic creative design, imagination and technical skill.
We design some of the very best banners on the Internet with our own completely original animation and creative design (called "creation").
We can also take your design or logo re-construct it, put it in digital format, resize, animate and even enhance it (called "re-construction") to something completely different, new and much better.
Links --
Links are "Objects" (a magic word in computer programming lingo) that when you click on them (with your mouse) they take you somewhere else (to another page within your own website but most likely to a completely different website).
A Link can be a Graphic Icon or Banner (one could say that all Banners are Links but all Links are not Banners), a Link can be a word or group of words, or a Link can be a picture or the area inside of a picture can be constructed to be a link to somewhere (image map).
Links are very important to most websites because Links offer one of the major ways in which websites connect to each other (think of the threads in a spider's WEB). Most Links are probably words or small pictures (icons) here you begin to see the difference between a Link and a Banner.
Graphic Icons --
A Graphic Icon is a small picture or image that usually doesn't move (but some are animated) if you use any Microsoft Windows products (Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, Me, XP) you have Graphic Icons all over your computer screen all the time. All the little pictures that you click on are icons (Graphic Icons).
Graphic Designs --
Graphic Designs would be any design or design work involving special patterns, colors, scale and design whether wholly original or a combination of template components and can be from the very simple to the very complex and/or creative.
Animation --
Animation is the combination of "Objects" (pictures, letters, words, drawings, cartoons etc.) arranged in such a way as to make the group of objects appear as a single object that is moving.
As said earlier things that move around, like in a movie or cartoon is animation. I love animation without it we might as well go back to black and white screen Command-Line Dos or UNIX (no blasphemy intended, UNIX is great on higher level Servers).
Site Hosting --
Site Hosting refers to the actual location or place (inside of a computer/Server - a heavy duty PC usually up and running 24-7 usually with high speed T1 internet connections) where your website will actually sit or be placed.
If you visit a friend's home you would be the GUEST and your friend would be the HOST. Your website has to be physically residing (on a computer/Server/HOST) somewhere out there on the Internet.
Domain Name setup --
A Domain Name is the address (or you could think of it as your ID tag, or identifier) assigned to your website. It is how your site is LOCATED on the web another term used is your Universal Resource Locator or URL (key word LOCATOR).
Every site on the Internet is "associated with" (notice I didn't say "assigned to") a number. A special type of number (actually a series of numbers arranged in particular order for a particular reason) divided into four sections.
Web address numbers look like this 255.255.255.0 or 187.37.200.12 (also called IP [Internet Protocol] addresses) so NAMES are used to represent the numerical address because NAMES are easier for people to deal with.
Would you rather have to remember some number like (number used only as a hypothetical [for teaching purposes only] example) 187.172.215.173 or WWW.MONEY.COM? So MONEY.com would be the "NAME" associated with 187.172.215.173 the "Domain NAME".
Scanning -- *
Involves taking a photograph, picture, document, whatever and putting it in a device that for the most part takes a picture of a picture then converts it to a digital format allowing that picture to be displayed on a computer.
This new digital picture will usually be saved in JPEG format (JPEG -- stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group). When a photograph is scanned (with the right software) it can be changed in many ways (lighted, darkened, enlarged, shrunk and so on) then other tools can change it even more.
All scanning jobs involve some degree of resizing below we are referring to specific and distinct (extra) resizing done to fit a particular photo in a specific (and in many cases tight) space on a web page.
When a photo is reduced below a certain size the resolution (how sharp and clear it looks) is affected and depending on the space available many techniques have to be tried to get the very best results.
Scanning for a web page is a lot of work (to do it right) especially if it involves a picture of a person.
Digital Photographic Enhancement -- *
This involves going even deeper into making "digital" changes, corrections, and improvements to a photograph. From the scanner software a photo can be made lighter or darker, change various color shades and so on.
But if you want a blemish removed from your face or the cracks "digitally" removed from an old photo of you George Burns, Bob Hope and Sammy Davis Jr. or that gray hair turned black then this can be done.
This type of work (in spite of the technology involved) is 95% artistic skill/talent and "to do it right" requires a meticulous eye for detail and great patience.
We have done such tremendous work with digital enhancement for our clients simply because we love doing this type of artistic/creative work as much as we love the technology.
Digital Photographic Media Convergence -- *
A fancy way of saying: we can take your important photographs (which you have already taken with a non-digital camera) scan them, convert them into a digital format, name and organize them and so on.
The advantage of this is having an important "digital backup copy" of your photos (that won't ever fade, crack, tear and so on) that you can view on any computer and make other "hard copies" if you wish.
Add to this "Digital Enhancement" and cracks can be removed, pictures can be lightened, colors can be brightened in such a way as to greatly improve the overall quality and appearance of the photograph.
Photographs --
Adding photographs to a website can take on various dimensions, depending upon the sizes, locations, number, format and so on of the photos. In some cases (depending upon the type of site in question) there might be numerous small pictures (of say paintings done by an artist on his/her website) and when you click on any picture it brings up that picture in full size.
This is just one of many possible scenarios in which a good many photographs may have to be incorporated into a website. Websites that are photograph intensive (if done correctly) convey more information, are more interesting and hold the attention of the most number of persons for longer periods of time.
Photography Services -- *
We can take digital photographs of products, equipment, places, persons to be used on a customers website. This service only applies to customers within a short radius (people not too far away).
Also "Onsite Service" fees apply if we send a technician out to a customer's site (see "Onsite Service").
eCommerce Credit Card setup --
When you are ready to sell things on the Internet and you want people to be able to use credit cards when they buy things from you (over the internet) then you (or your company) have to setup an account with a company that provides this service (Credit Card Service Provider)this is more commonly called a "Merchant Account".
Music --
You can have background music on your website and when properly chosen, greatly enhances the quality of the site. As technology moves forward the Internet experience will become more "similar" to Television.
Notice I said "similar" the net will add "interactivity"(which means: you can make things on the screen respond to you with your mouse, keyboard, or even, in some cases, your voice).
With music you must avoid using music that doesn't compliment your site and of course copy write infringements. Music produced before a certain time period is safe (such as old standards and classical) we also plan to produce and develop our own "original scores" just for the Internet.
Movies --
Short movie clips with sound can be added to your website in various ways. Probably one of the most practical ways is to use the MPEG format (MPEG - Moving Pictures Experts Group).
Another good format is AVI (Audio Video Interleave - Microsoft's video for Windows standard), which is quite commonly used in many applications.
One problem with movies on the Internet is that the sizes of movie files are so large that they take too long to down load or bring up (as far as most people are concerned).
And people who bring up your site have to have a fairly new PC, Operating System, and Browser with the right software installed to properly view it.
Streaming Media solves some of these problems but people do have to have the Streaming Media software installed on their system.
In general it is not that difficult to put a simple video on your website but the work comes in when you have to go through the trouble of putting it in various formats so that everybody (or as many people as possible) can view it.
Frames --
So far we have taken much effort to greatly simplify everything up to this point (and we will continue to try) but most of the rest of the items are somewhat more technical.
Basically Frames are an HTML formatting construction (HTML / Hyper-Text Markup Language / the core language or means to construct websites) that divides a web page into individual sections.
Each section is able to contain separate information and scroll independently creating an effect that allows the top/title/header of the page to remain while the middle and side panel sections are independently scrollable.
WebPages built with Frames are a bit more work, people with older Browsers can't access Framed pages also sites built with both frame and non-frame pages respond with a few quirky errors when you go back and forth between pages.
Forms --
Forms are data structures where information can be placed (input); they can be from the very simple to
the very complex. Lets say you want people to answer a few questions and leave there email address a form can be built that can do that. Certain aspects of forms are predefined so if you have seen lots of forms you will notice many similarities.
Java Scripts --
Java Script is a scripting language (a simplified version of Java a full blown programming language [a system that allows one to create instructions for computers]), which was specifically designed to work inside of WebPages (embedded in the HTML code -- see Frames) and can perform very special operations (functions).
EXAMPLE
The date in this Marquee will always be the correct date because of the
"Java Script" PROGRAM CODE.
Java Script is not technically "Java Lite" but for the sake of simplicity we won't quibble, Java Script is a "client side"(means: that functions and operations produced by the JS code "do there thing"/execute/run from the Browser "right on your PC") component.
VBScripts --
VB stands for Visual Basic, Visual Basic Scripts are a less complex version of Microsoft's Visual Basic
Programming language. VBScripts are similar to Java Scripts in that one can create "buttons" and "scroll bars" (interactive controls) and reduce "Server-Side" overhead (extra work for the Server).
VBScript like Java Script works on the "Client Side"(runs from the Browser on your PC) and in many ways is an alternative to some "Server Side" script functions with faster response times. To develop VBScript code requires a little more "out of pocket" expense for Microsoft tools.
Java Applets --
Java Applets are (or can be thought of as) miniature Java programs that can run on the browser. The question might arise then; well what is the difference between Java Applets and Java Script?
Well for one Java Applets (like Java Programs) have to be compiled (changed into a different format/form/type of code closer to what the PC [with the help of a thing called a Java Virtual Machine] likes to chew on) while Java Script is not compiled.
Without getting too technical full-blown programs (weather written in Java or C++ or whatever) are far more powerful, heavy duty, complex, and bulky than tiny little lightweight scripts. But the lightweightness of scripts make them more suitable for WebPages, HTML, and the Internet.
Java Applets have some of the power of programs without most of the bulk (and after they have been chewed on by the Java compiler) can be plugged into plain HTML code and dance around almost as lightly as a script.
The only problem with Java Applets is you have to do some pretty hefty programming to get some fairly modest results many of which you can get far easier using various HTML and other much easier techniques (in my opinion this is probably the reason Java Applets are not all that popular or widely used).
But nonetheless there are still many things that substitutes won't do and if you are willing to pay the price in hard coding work than you can achieve some pretty nifty things that can't be achieved any other way.
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