1. The web host I am looking at has several different packages. They are basically based on size of site. I anticipate I will have fewer than 50 images and they do not need to be very large. How much space should I consider using (text will be minimal)?

To determine how much disk space you'll need, look at the file size of your largest image and multiply that times the total number of images you plan to have on your site. Take that number and add 5mb. Most basic hosting services offer 50mb of disk space. That should be more than enough for 50 images

Disk space is rarely the issue. The main things you should look for in a hosting service are:

• Customer Service
• Fast Servers (T3 or better)
• Reliability - 99.9% uptime
• Unlimited CGI Access (for Unix/Linux)
• Web-based Administration (Includes site statistics and ability to restrict access to certain directories) Look for Hosts that offer Plesk, Cpanel or Ensim as part of the package.

2. What are the key factors that make a website "good"? (color scheme, organization, information, etc.)

Every one of these - color scheme, organization & information) are extremely important to a good design. Good content (text/articles and images) that is well organized and presented in a professional manner constitute a good web site.

A pleasing, consistent color scheme and design that compliments your images is what a visitor first sees when they enter your site. This creates the mood or look and feel for your site. The menu/site navigation should be located in the same position on each page throughout your entire web site - Consistency. The information should be useful/beneficial/relevant and presented in such a way that is easy to read - keep the paragraphs short. Avoid using animated gifs, flashing banners or blinking text which distract and annoy most visitors.

3. I made a slide show in Photoshop 7.01 of some of my recent photos. I uploaded everything to a web site but then nothing worked. I would like to know what to do after photo files and the html have been uploaded. How do I make it "show up"? My slide show doesn't "show up" when I click on the link for that page. I've had no problems with making other web pages on other sites that don't have slide shows. Also, can more than one slide show be used on one web site?

The File>Automate>Web Photo Gallery option in Photoshop is a great feature for someone new to web site design. When you select one of the slide show Styles, Photoshop creates all of the web pages for you and places them in a subdirectory of your site (which you specify). Let's say I created a slide show using images I took while in Florida and placed them in a subdirectory called "Florida". I would then upload the entire "Florida" directory to my web site. Next, I would create a link to the gallery. An inline link, like "Visit my new Florida Photo Gallery" would look like this in HTML:

Visit my new <a href= "florida/index.html">Florida Gallery</a>

"/florida" is the subdirectory and "index.html" is the main frames page for your new gallery. You can easily create galleries for each of your photo trips or vacations. Each would be linked according to their subdirectory.

• Florida > florida/index.html
• California > california/index.html
• Alaska > alaska/index.html

Keep in mind that you should provide a link back to the main section of your web site from these galleries. Something like <a href="../index.html" target=_top>Return to Home Page</a>. "target=_top" forces the browser to load your Home Page in a regular window and not part of the frameset created by the Slide Show.

4. I want my site to really show off my pictures. Are there any color schemes that work best for that? Do drop shadows help? Are frames a good idea?

This really depends upon the look and feel of your site. In some situations, I use a table that is slightly larger than the image (say +60 pixels) and set the background of the table to black. You can experiment with the border size. This creates the illusion of a frame or matte yet doesn't add to the file size like a matte would in Photoshop. The advantage of using black for the background is that it tends to make your image stand out more.

Splat! is a great plug-in for Photoshop that helps you create great mattes for your images. Then you could place the "matted" image in a table set to the same size as the new image and adjust the frame size to create a "frame". Drop shadows are also a nice way to present your inline images. The only disadvantage to using drop shadows is that if you ever change the background color of your web pages, you'll have to redo all of your images for that particular color. You can also create a nice border around your images by using style sheets.

img { margin: 4px; border: 2px solid #888; }

Creates a 4px space around the image and a 2px solid gray border. You can be as creative as you want with CSS.

5. When I update my site the new pages don't show up for visitors that are returning and have the old pages saved. Is there someway to make the new pages automatically display for those viewers?

You can force a browser to reloada page by adding the following meta tags to the (head) section of your web page.

<meta http-equiv="no-cache">
<meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache">
<meta http-equiv="Expires" content="Fri, Jun 12 1981 08:20:00 GMT">
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1; URL=http://www.yourwebsite/currentpage.html">

"no-cache" keeps the browser from caching the web page and its contents. Note: Doesn't work with some versions of IE.

"Expires" forces the browser to load the new content since the existing content in their cache has "expired". Keep in mind that the "Expires" meta tag can result in this page being removed from search engine listings.

"Refresh" reloads this page after 1 second.

6. What are the best size pages to use on my website? I know many people have their monitors set to different resolutions.

Most designers still design their pages for the "lowest common denominator", which is 800x600. Keep in mind that scroll bars take up some space. With that in mind, you can size your web page to 760. Some of the latest statistics show that more and more users have a monitor resolution of 1024x768. If you're using tables or style sheets, you can always use percentages to set your with. Instead of <table width="760"> use <table width="95%">. For more browser statistic information, visit Browser News Statistics.

7. How can I get the most hits from search engines?

Both Google and Yahoo! list and rank sites based on content (keyword/keyphrases density) and number of high ranking sites that link to your site.

• It is important to include your keywords and keyphrases within the content (text) of your web site.
• Don't use frames.
• Don't use image maps.
• If you have photos on a web page, be sure to use "ALT" tags.
• Update your site on a regular basis. Re-submit your site every time your update your web pages.
• Use a descriptive title for your web page (i.e. Nature Photography by Jan A. Allinder - Jackson, Mississippi)

Editor's Comment: Let us know what you think! Please email the Editor to let us know your thoughts. You'll find the answers to these questions and many more in Jan's eBook: A Photographer's Guide to Web Site Design.

Jan A. Allinder lives in Jackson, Mississippi. She was in the retail jewelry business for over 25 years. Jan is the primary web site and graphics designer for Lucid Images. In addition to her web site design business, Jan is also an accomplished professional wildlife photographer. She is the president of Lucid Images, a division of Lucid Images Wildlife Photography LLC.