English 434/634
Dr. Desmet
Spring 1997

Table of Contents

Page Layout and Construction

Prose Style for the Web

I. Page Layout and Construction

The book HTML for Dummies recommends making each page of your web document no longer than three to five short, well- written paragraphs.

• The easiest way to keep the text of your web page manageable is to have a central page that provides a Table of Contents, linked to a series of small text pages.
• If you think that you need to have longer pages, you can divide (or "chunk") your document into smaller sections by putting a Table of Contents at the beginning of your document and using "anchor tags" that allow the reader to use the Table of Contents to move swiftly to the part of your longer web page that she wants to see. Use "view document source" to see how I chunked this page.

HTML for Dummies offers these rules for creating the body of your web page:

• Keep the layout of pages consistent to provide continuity.
• Provide plenty of white space for easy scanning.
• Write short paragraphs.
• Use meaningful graphics only when necessary.
• Use hypertext links to other pages rather than make readers scroll down.
• Choose meaningful hypertext links, not "Click here."

• Back to Top

  ---

  II. Prose Style for Web Pages

  The same book quotes Strunk and White's Elements of Style as a guide to prose style. Strunk and White write that:

  Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences . . . . This requires not that the writer makes all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his objects only in outline, but that every word tell. (Cited by Ed Tittel and Steve James, HTML for Dummies 144)

  The writers of this book also offer the following formula for writing paragraphs for your web page. You are more sophisticated writers than most of this book's audience, but it's useful nonetheless:

  1. Create an outline for your information
  2. Write one paragraph for each significant point.
  3. Within each paragraph, make sentences short, direct, and to the point.
  4. Edit your text mercilessly. Omit all unnecessary words and sentences.
  5. Ask for volunteers to review your work.
  6. Revise your text and edit again as you revise it.
  7. Solicit comments when you revise on-line.
  
  
  • Back to Top

    ---

    Adapted from Ed Tittel and Steve James, HTML for Dummies. 2nd ed. Foster City, CA: IDG Books, 1996. 142- 44.