Graphics

There is the old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words," and in general that is true. However, it's likely that even a thousand words couldn't convey the emotions that this little cherub does in an instant. Judiciously placed images or other graphics can greatly enhance the appeal of your Web site. You get better results by showing a picture of a certain cell phone, for example, than by merely describing it.

In addition to pictures, graphics can be used to enhance the layout, such as headers for forum topics. This site uses graphics for the titles, because the font is such that many computers will not have that particular font installed. Also, it allows us to use a texture for those titles that matches some of the backgrounds, giving a more consistent look to the site.

In addition to static images, there are more sophisticated technologies to be used where justified:

Animation

One type of graphics image, called GIF for Graphics Interchange Format, can be animated by stacking together several still images that are played in succession. Animated graphics can be used anywhere on a page for emphasis. They might include notices, bullets, buttons, dividers, or just about any place where you need to focus a visitor's attention. They should be used sparingly, however, because when used too much they not only loose their effectiveness, but become distracting and make your site look amateurish. For an example of more animated graphics, and a demonstration of using too many, see our really, really bad example of a Web page that is too busy.

Flash and Shockwave Animation

Flash and Shockwave are both multimedia players by Macromedia. Flash is smaller and faster; Shockwave is bigger and slower, but more powerful. Both allow the addition of animated, interactive graphics to Web pages.

Multimedia

Yes, it is possible to put entire movies and sound recordings on a Web page. Except in rare cases, we do not recommend the use of background sounds for Web pages, because they are distracting. Movies and sounds should be used only to convey information difficult to communicate any other way, and only when explicitly requested by the visitor.