PHP is a programming language specifically written to generate HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the language used to create web pages. PHP has an incredibly rich library of functions to do every conceivable kind of operation on a web site, from processing data entry forms to manipulating graphic images and managing databases. Its command structure borrows heavily from the “C” programming language, regarded as one of the most powerful languages available. (The Unix and Linux operating systems are written in C.)

The name “PHP” is a recursive acronym, standing for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor”. It derives from an older program named “Personal Home Page / Forms Interpreter” (PHP/FI), which was released as Open Source in 1995. It quickly became a favorite tool for web developers and gathered a large group of volunteer supporters who contributed greatly to its growth and development. Persons interested in learning more about php can visit their web site at http://www.php.net/ or consult their very extensive on-line manual at http://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php.

Mashwebdesign.com uses PHP extensively in the web sites we design. Most of our web pages are dynamically generated, meaning that the page that the web visitor sees is not stored on the server, but is generated by the server on the fly at the visitor’s request from a set of PHP instructions. The majority of our sites utilize a template file, which contains all the information about the overall design of all the pages on a particular site. This allows us to make design changes that affect all the pages of even a very large site by editing only a single file.

PHP runs under Apache server software on Unix machines, and is very fast and efficient, making for very fast loading web pages. Over the years, WebSpinners.com has developed a sizeable collection of PHP scripts which can be adapted to our clients’ needs.

The Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) — the language in which web pages are written — is rigorously controlled by internationally supported standards. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is responsible for developing and issuing these specifications. Over the years, various standards have been issued, most notably HTML 2.0, 3.2, 4.0, and most recently, HTML 4.01 and future HTML 5.0. Each successive version adds more tags (the basic unit of hypertext markup) to increase functionality. Occasionally, older tags are depreciated, meaning that they may not be supported in future releases. Web browsers are supposed to ignore any markup tags that they don’t understand, thus insuring downlevel compatibility.

However, browser manufacturers, in order to improve their product and stay competitive, often will include support for new tags not included in any W3C standard. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it often drives improvements in later standards. As an example, the <TABLE> tag was first introduced by Netscape®, and only later incorporated into HTML 2.0. The problem arises when different browser manufacturers chose to implement the same functionality using different and often contradictory markup. This occurred far too often during the bitter battle between Netscape® and Microsoft®, when Microsoft® tried to establish its Internet Explorer® as the dominant browser for web surfing.

When browser manufacturers also provide web site development tools, they are naturally inclined to include in their tools support for their own proprietary markup tags. This is most notably the case with Microsoft’s Front Page® and the “Save as HTML” option in the MS Office® suite. Unless the people using these tools are intimately familiar with HTML, and take the time to hand edit the resulting HTML page, they are liable to wind up with a web site that displays properly, or is even viewable, only on the target browser. (I have even seen Front Page® created sites that show only a blank page on older Netscape browsers.)

We use no proprietary markup tags, relatively few of the tags introduced in HTML 4.0, and make sure that those we do use degrade gracefully on older, pre-HTML 4.0 browsers.

You can, and many people do. However, few do it well. Imagine that you are laying out an advertisement for a printed page — only you don’t know how large the page will be, and you don’t know what size of type your customer will see. It could be printed on a 5½” by 8½” sheet of note paper or a full sized sheet of newsprint. It could be printed in 8-point type (like this) or in 20 point type for the visually impaired (like this). Web site designers confront this problem with every site they design. Computer monitors vary in resolution from 640 by 480 pixels to 2048 by 1536 pixels — more than a 3 to 1 range (WebTV® viewers are restricted to 576 pixels), and not everybody surfs with their browser maximized to full screen (I don’t). Most web browsers also let the user select font sizes over at least a 4 to 1 range.

Needless to say, what looks perfect on your computer screen might look hideous or virtually unreadable on someone else’s. Mashwebdesign.com will design your web site so that it looks good — or at least readable — on every visitor’s screen.

Nearly every word processor, spreadsheet, and database program available has an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) save option, and there are numerous graphical WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web site editors on the market (e.g. Microsoft® FrontPage®, Adobe Dreamweaver). Unfortunately, good web site design does not lend itself well to automated approaches, and without extensive knowledge and experience in HTML and CSS design, the use of these programs is more likely than not to produce sites that look acceptable on only one or a very few computer screens, or which are viewable on only one brand or version of browser. What you see may be what you get, but not necessarily what everyone else gets.

Mashwebdesign.com does not employ such tools, preferring to use only tools that produce tight, clean pages optimized for all viewers and the fastest access possible.

Anything on a web page that changes with each visitor, or that accepts keyboard input, from a visitor counter to a data entry form or a shopping cart, requires a small program, called a script. These programs can either be executed on the web site’s host computer (server side) or downloaded and run on the visitor’s computer (client side). Because client side scripts can significantly slow the delivery of web pages to visitors with slower internet connections and can place an unwanted burden on older and slower computers, WebSpinners.com prefers to use server side scripts wherever possible. Server side scripts can be written in any computer language that the hosting web server supports.

Mashwebdesign.com specializes in custom scripts designed to meet our clients exact needs. Whether you need a searchable database, and the forms for entering your data into it, or a web page whose content you can change from your home or office computer, or a complete eCommerce site with online credit card payment, we can provide the scripts required for the job.

We also have a number of generalized PHP scripts which can be incorporated into a client’s site at a very modest cost (typically from 2 to 4 hours at our standard hourly rate). This include a Site Visitor Counter (free to all clients hosted with Mashwebdesign.com referred web hosting sites), or schedules of interest to your web site visitors, a Password Management System, where you or a designated administrator can add or delete passwords for other users, staff members, or whoever else you wish to have access, and a GuestBook*, where visitors can leave comments about your site (useful for gathering postal or email mailing lists of visitors interested in your products or services).

Web site prices range from free to over half a million dollars. Free web sites are generally paid for by advertising, and require the inclusion of large banner ads on the client’s pages. They also generally require that creation and maintenance be performed by the owner. Mashwebdesign.com does do free web sites, but we can be surprisingly affordable if it is a big website.

Most clients who contract with small web designers like Mashwebdesign.com don’t understand, or even do not want to understand, the nuances of web design techniques, and may be unaware of many of the features that a web site can provide to benefit their business or organization. As a result, the time required to design a site that optimally serves their needs can be quite unpredictable, and the design objectives are apt to change as site development proceeds. For this reason, Mashwebdesign.com prefers not to quote a flat rate unless the potential client has very specific design goals in mind.

Most sites designed by Mashwebdesign.com cost less for a basic 2 to 3 page site with no interactive features to a few thousand dollars for a large site with lots of images, interactive submit forms, databases, and/or dynamic content.

Mashwebdesign.com also has a number of prepared scripts, such as an announcements form, a customer information request form, a guestbook, or a password protection management system, which can be adapted for a specific web site in only a few hours. Pages can be dynamically generated from a standardized template file (as these pages were generated), allowing updates and additions to be done with a minimum of time and labor, and quick and easy changes made to the site’s overall layout and “look and feel.”

In general, people use the web either to be entertained or to become informed. Those who want to become informed will generally have some specific information in mind, and will want to get to that information as quickly and efficiently as possible. They will be inclined to use whatever equipment is readily available at hand, even if it is old and antiquated. (In computer technology, “old and antiquated” can mean anything over one year old.) They are more likely to use slower internet connections, and are likely to become impatient with and pass by sites that take a long time to download because of too many pictures, animations, and the like. They are more likely to be using older, downlevel versions of software.

People surfing for entertainment will likely not have a specific goal in mind, but will be looking for sites with lots of pretty pictures, video clips, real audio, and all the fancy “bells and whistles” that have become standard features on entertainment web sites. They will quite likely have newer and faster computers with more features, and the latest software, and will have fast internet connections so that entertainment sites will download more quickly.

Mashwebdesign.com specializes in web sites that inform — sites that are neatly laid out, download quickly, are logically organized, easy to navigate, and… informative. We try to avoid “bells and whistles” except where absolutely essential to the information being presented, preferring instead to focus on the clear and logical organization of material. This allows us to offer more information at a significantly lower cost. (Bells and whistles, fancy graphics, animation, and the like are why web designers make the big bucks.) Rather than spend our time (and your money) on features that only serve to wow and amaze visitors having the fastest computers and the latest software, we prefer to make our information accessible to the widest possible audience, including those who simply can’t afford to upgrade their equipment and software every year.

Why not “Bells and Whistles?”
Most of the things that move, or that change on the screen after a web page has been downloaded, require little programs, called “applets,” that must be either imbedded into the web page or downloaded along with it. These applets are then executed by the processor in the visitor’s machine, and can consume computer resources that older and slower computer systems can ill afford to spare. Some of them — Java applets in particular — can carry viruses that can infect your computer in a variety of harmful ways. For this reason, some sophisticated computer users, like me, operate their browsers with Java disabled, thus blocking many of the fancy features that webmasters charge so much to provide.

In some cases, these programs can cause an older computer, particularly one with limited memory, to crash or lock up, requiring that the system be rebooted and the visitor to log onto the internet all over again. This is a sure way to loose potential visitors.

A web site is one of the most inexpensive forms of advertising that any business can employ. However, web sites do not advertise themselves. You must first make your customers aware that you have a web site. Always include your web site address on your advertising flyers, business cards, and newspaper or other media ads. Added to your existing advertising, a web site can offer numerous additional features not available from conventional advertising.

• Product or service listings can be posted once, and will need no further attention, and no per-insertion charges.

• Product specifications and feature comparisons can help your customers decide which of your products is right for them.

• A map to your facility and a photograph of the building can help bring visitors to your door.

• A web site can provide application information about how various products can be used, or how your company’s services can benefit the customer.

• Technical support, in the form of operator’s manuals, service manuals, or lists of frequently asked questions (FAQ’s), can be made available for customers to browse or download to their printers.

• A customer information request form can be provided to allow visitors to direct queries from the web to your email account.

If you are not sure what features you want on your web site, you can always start small, and add additional features as the need arises. Mashwebdesign.com can work with you as your requirements grow, and can even suggest functionality that may not have ever occurred to you.

Information for Potential Web Site Clients

Some people expect that having a killer website will instantly bring them fame and fortune online - and it does not happen as of today’s patterns in the web world. There are hundreds of millions of web sites on the Internet, and only a very few have made their owners wealthy. Because the returns expected from having a website will determine to a large extent how that site should be designed, it is important to begin the site development effort with a set of reasonable and achievable objectives.

• How can a web site benefit my business?
• What kind of a web site do I want?
• How much does a web site cost?
• What are “Scripts?”
• Why can’t I design my own web site?
• Why browser compatibility?