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In the "Introduction" to the printed version of Writing for the World Wide Web, I promised 'to rewrite' the introduction for the medium of the Web.
I have here revised that print version of the Introduction in a number of different formats, trying in each attempt at a revision in format and design to get p.r.o.g.r.e.s.s.ively closer to what would be more appropriate for the medium of the Web.
Since W4 is an introductory textbook, I have not gone as deeply into the potential of the medium as I would like. I am working on a forthcoming sequel to this textbook that will take us deeper into the possibilities that Web-technology can present us all with. Therefore, remember in many ways as you move through these different formats, they still fail to realize the medium of the WWW, but progressively become closer to realizing the medium of the MassAge. I will return intermittenlty to add more and more ReVisions. So you also be sure to return to this page.
And remember that when using your browser (Netscape or MSIE), you can examine the code for each of these by pulling down the View menu to 'Document Source' or whatever is comparable.
For now what follows are some elementary possibilities for reformatting a long, introductory text:
In this initial version, I have simply coded the text as it would appear in print, which is rather terribly 'blahhh!' here.
In a Table format, I designed a gray background for a white background with black text and added two new, additional changes in the code: paragraph indentions and red text subdirectories. Notice that the format of the Table, unlike the previous example, invisibily boxes and shortens each line of the text so that the readers's eyes are less likely to skip or repeat lines moving from one line to the next.
Here is a slight revision, 2a, without a Table format narrowing each of the lines, but with a left gold margin and right white background ("goldwhite.gif"). Note how I pulled the left margin in just past the gold margin by using three «UL» s.
The changes here are several: The background is one solid color. I varied the flow of the text, however, with a table format that looks like occasional stick-it notes or sidebars. As the text progresses, I include a variety of colored texts to complement what is being said. Note that the flow of the text, like the two earlier versions, is very long. Some would say that it is too long.
To illustrate how the text might be broken up into chunks, I begin the second half of the introduction ("For the Students and the Facilitators") in a different format by chunking and linking the rest of the text successively. Note how each chunk generally fits on the screen of your monitor and requires no, or little, scrolling. Also, note how I have established externals links to names (McLuhan, etc.).
In this example, I followed some of the designs used in the print magazine Allure. The constrasting colors are at times exceptionally bright and can even make the eyes hurt. The point of the design in Allure, which is mimicked here, is that substance is best treated cosmetically. No doubt, such a statement will upset many people. But there is not only a tendency for substance/content in terms of Literacy (words, words, words) to fade in this Electronic environment but there is also a tendency for pictures to replace words. The word becomes image. For better or for worse!
As the example continues it becomes more conservative, thereby representing the so-called conventional prose cosmetically (with a tremendous amount of coding required) and the call for nonconventional prose plainly (with little coding required). For what reasons is the switch made here in this way? What special effect is achieved?
| R.e.v.i.s.i.o.n Five, forthcoming |
| R.e.v.i.s.i.o.n Six, forthcoming |
| R.e.v.i.s.i.o.n Seven, forthcoming |
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