Web 2.0, A Guide For Newbies by Danny Wirken
A couple of years back Bill Gates introduce the idea of Convergence to the
public. It was a fresh idea that later became a catchphrase for the Internet
Industry. However, that promised marriage between the TV and the PC/Internet
did not fully come into being.
As a result Microsoft lost millions in their MSN TV initiative. But that is all
in the past. Today, the tide had finally turned. Although most people are still
not quite use to the idea of surfing the Internet on their TV screens, they
seem to be ready for their PC screens to be turned into televisions.
Sure, technically you could watch TV shows on any computer with a built in
TV/Tuner card. But what is now driving the rapid acceptance of the TV and
computer coming together is what they call Web 2.0 or the second version of the
World Wide Web.
The term Web 2.0 is somewhat of a misnomer. Since The web and the Internet as a
whole, is not released in such stages like in softwares. Rather, it evolves
erratically as time pass on. The Internet is full of trends in technology. What
is popular today may die out the next day. Or in some cases, it might evolve
into something better.
So in reality Web 2.0 is not really an upgrade. Instead it refers to the
current state of trends in the web. So if someone wants a Web 2.0 website, they
may be referring to a website that has a popular style of design, a social
component, or uses a specific technology or some combination of those three.
Take a look at how to design a site that uses Web 2.0 design conventions. First
stop the page background. The background of a page is generally either very
light (more common) or very dark (less common). This simply follows a good
trend of making text on a page contrast highly with the background for easier
reading.
A background may have stripes or something similar, but the most common aspect
is a slope at the top, fading down to some other color that continues
throughout the background of the rest of the page.
When it comes to logos, they tend to be very simple. Usually they contain
nothing more than the name of the site. Words may be spaced closely together,
along with alternating colors different words. There are only two or maybe
three bright colors in the logo. The most commonly used combination is orange
and blue, although green and red are not too far behind. There's usually a
small reflection of the logo right below it.
Next stop is the page elements. Web 2.0 design normally displays rounded
corners. If the background does not have a gradient at the top, some
round-cornered area of the site will. This are set in bright colors. If there
are only two or three colors in the logo, those colors are all that is used in
the other elements of the page. Simple and clean, that Web 2.0's trademark!
As for the social aspect of the websites, this might come as a surprise but
there's nothing has truly changed here. Once again its guest books, discussion
forums and so on. The only difference is that instead of giving general
feedback on the site as a whole, your site visitors can now comment on specific
articles and updates. Another cool change is that your visitors can now rank
individual pictures instead of just telling how much they like them.
The advances in technology make it possible for such feedback to often result
in instant changes in the site. But that does not mean this was not possible
before. It only meant that the current technology makes it easier to isolate
and extract those people who are spamming with comments or artificially trying
to raise the rank of some item. Simply put, Web 2.0 provides option for social
interaction and that can go a long way towards giving visitors a sense of
involvement in the site.
As for the technology associated with Web 2.0 sites it is Ajax, which stands
for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Here is another way to look at it. Before,
you would load a web page up in your browser, possibly even fill out a form,
then click on a submit button. At that point, that page would disappear, and a
new page would load with information based on what you had filled out and/or
clicked on the previous page.
With Ajax, Javascript is used to update the page you are on without the need to
load up a new page. Let's say you are on a forum board and found at the bottom
of a series of messages is the reply field. You put in your reply and hit the
submit button. Instead of loading up a new page with your reply on it, your
reply is immediately added to the bottom of the list.
Ajax can make a website run much more spontaneously, if used properly that is.
However, like everything else on the web it can be abused. So think twice
before doing anything else. Also, make sure that everyone can access your
website equally. You will need to include non-Ajax options for using your site
as well; otherwise the traditional pages will reload.
Although most web-surfers will have no problem using Ajax, still consider that
your target audience may not be a typical cross-section of web surfers. Your
audience may be primarily older people that don't update their computers as
often. Or maybe your audience is full of people that are likely to turn
Javascript off. Just make sure you carefully evaluate whether using Ajax is
worth it for your site.
So what else could we expect for the web in the distant future? A possible Web
3.0? Well, only time can tell. What's important is that you keep a close eye on
the current online trends, remember these changes daily. Since a lot of users
will judge your business based at least partially on how current your website
appears. So give it some thought...
About the Author
http://www.theinternetone.net
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