WEB REQUEST GUIDELINES

Guidelines to Correct the Most
Common Formatting Blunders and other stuff

We have identified the most common formatting errors that are a Webmasters worst nightmare. Your documents may appear to be perfectly formatted when printed, however when we post these documents to the web, these common errors can wreak havoc to the original format when converting to html format. When this is the case, your documents must be revised and sometime recreated using standard formatting procedures. This can be a very time consuming process and increases your web maintenance time dramatically.

Following these guidelines will assist us in posting your requests in a timely and efficient manner keeping you within the monthly maintenance time. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns regarding your web site.

When submitting your requests be sure to:

• Put the domain name in the subject line of your email.
• In addition, please add the subject of your request.
• Send all requests to webupdate@aptnd.com.
• Convert Macintosh documents to IBM/PC compatible format.
• Notify webupdate@aptnd.com of any email or contact changes.
• Allow 7-10 days for updates.

We make every attempt possible to complete requests on the date received, however; this is not always possible. If your item is high priority please make note of this in your request. We appreciate your attention and assistance.

Common Formatting Errors

• Periods followed by two spaces at the end of each sentence
  This design blunder is everywhere! When there are two spaces after each period, the document has a bunch of "holes" in the text. Yes, I was there when we were taught to do this in typing class, however in the electronic world this is no longer acceptable behavior.

• Two spaces following periods are especially bad when they appear in justified text, especially short columns of justified text. In lines containing a few words, the spaces expand, becoming even more noticeable. Not only that, but sometimes the spaces line-up, creating rivers of white space that trail through the text columns.

• If you can't break yourself (or your coworkers) from the habit of hitting the spacebar twice after each period, use your program's Find (or Search) and Replace feature to locate every instance of two spaces and replace them with a single space.

• The overwhelming desire to use spaces/tabs between columns of text.
  When creating documents with columns DON'T separate your columns with spaces and tabs. Rather, use the table feature creating columns and rows. You can set your table properties to hide the borders. Creating your columns in this way assures that the proper formatting and alignment are kept in tact for posting to the web.

• The overwhelming desire to use spaces/tabs/* for numbered/bulleted lists
  When creating documents with columns DON'T use spaces and tabs when creating drop down numbered/bulleted lists. Use the List/Bullets Tool located on the top menu bar. Let the computer put in the numbers and bullets for you for proper formatting.

• Overpowering graphic accents
  Rules, boxes, and screens should be used with restraint. Often, like children in a candy store, desktop publishers go hog-wild when they discover their software program's line drawing, border, and background tools. Boxitis occurs: pages are placed in boxed borders, the title of the publication is boxed, and vertical rules are added between columns. In addition, many text elements are reversed (set in white against a dark background), and other text elements are screened (set against a gray background). Clutter and slow download time is the inevitable result of this graphic overkill. The conversion process is easily confused and can create unrecognizable results.

• Headlines set in uppercase type and underlined
  Avoid the use of uppercase headlines and underlining. It is said in the world of electronic communication that upper case text has the connotation of screaming. Underlined text is an indication of a hypertext link.

• Limit the use of italicized type
  Use only as necessary. Italicized type is extremely hard to read in any font type, especially when entire paragraphs or documents are set in italicized type.

• Use automatic text wrap
  Do not use a hard return at the end of each line, use only after paragraphs. Let your computer do the work for you.

• Choose your fonts wisely
  Have you ever come across web pages where the text is so large it appears to SCREAM at you? Large and unusual fonts may look really cool on paper but please refrain from using font sizes larger than 10 & 12 pitch. For documents posted to the web use common, easy to read fonts such as Arial, Times Roman, Tahoma, Verdana or Helvetica.

• Newsletter Publication Posting Requirements
  If your newsletter goes to a professional printer, most are happy to create a .pdf version of the publication at no additional cost and will email this file directly to me at webupdate@aptnd.com. This format is the most desired method of posting newsletters to the web. They can be posted quickly and are viewed on the web as an exact replica of the publication.

• If you design your publication using MS Word, MS Publisher
  or other desktop publishing application, be careful to follow the rules previously mentioned in addition to taking care to not overlap text and graphics. In both word and publisher you can use the "save as web page" when saving the document. You will be able to view the document as you would see it on the web. Note: A web page size dimension differs greatly from an 8 ½ x 11 page. This can dramatically alter the appearance of your publication when viewed on the web. This can cause users to have to scroll horizontally to read the publication. Most readers are irritated at not being able to view the entire document without having to scroll from left to right.

• Don't overlap text boxes/frames/graphics:
  For example: you create a text box and within that text box you add text and multiple text boxes and graphics and your boxes overlap and touch each other, creating a layer upon layer element. When converted to html these elements are automatically converted into one large graphic by the software application because of it's inability to read the multiple layers elements in html format. When this case, the entire page becomes a graphic that is extremely large in size. This creates extremely slow load times.

• If you send us your hard copy for scanning:
  Please keep in mind that this is also a time intensive process and the final document will also be large in file size and download time. The scanning process is much like making copies. The original is always crisper and cleaner than the copy because the copy is a second generation. Quality is lost using this method. Quality is dependent upon the type of paper, colors, and graphics used. This is the least efficient, poorest quality, and largest file type.