School

[Agustine]

I want to strangle my Multimedia teacher (not literally). He is showing the class Dreamweaver and how to make Image maps with it. So he made a quick image map cheaply with drag and drop methods. After when everyone was amazed, he said: "With this nifty trick you can make one big image for your website and just put a bunch image maps on it, rather then having a bunch of small images that have to load on to the screen. Then I thought, what would be the point of one big image that is virtualy the same file size as all the separate images?

[vchris]

It's better to have many small images then one very large image. The page loads faster with many small images. High speed users probably won't see the difference but Dial-up users will!!! It'll save 'em around 3 hours and 12 mins

[justsomeguy]

I don't know, I think that given a certain file size, that fewer, larger files are better then more, smaller files. The reason is because of the transfer overhead. In addition to the transfer speed itself (which would be the same for one large file or many small files), there is the process of the browser sending the request to the server, the server establishing a connection, and sending the response back. If that only happens once on a page for the entire picture, versus 20 times for 20 smaller images, then I think it will start to add up. You can see it with FTP, if you transfer 100 10kb files, versus one 1MB file, you will see that the single file takes less time then the batch.That being said, I think that if you break the image up, the collective file size will be smaller then the one large image, depending on file type and image content. It would be worth checking out though, but if you are using jpegs, things like your banner you can keep at around 80-90% quality, but things like backgrounds and borders and stuff you can reduce to around 50% without seeing much drop, so you will save on file size. I would expect the total size of optimized smaller images will be less then the one large image, and the difference will probably offset the transfer overhead, so I think that the page with smaller images would take less time to load overall.Also, a page that is essentially one large image will not be indexed by search engines at all.

[Agustine]

I have to bump this topic.This is what my multimedia teacher was supporting for web design before the image maps:Website

[aspnetguy]

Seriously how do these people get to teach this stuff. My graphic design teacher rom college was the same way (not this bad tho). His designs were hideous, but I guess there was a shortage of people that know design AND know how to use Photoshop, :rolls eyes:

[vchris]

it seems like a text based design. It's beautiful

[Skemcin]

Having once been a teacher, I think it is important to be certain you are understanding everything in context.I am not defending your teacher or what he/she has said or claimed, but bare with me for a sec. When I mention context, you have to remember that a teacher is thinking of things from one perspective (knowing what they are talking about) versus a student who is from another (having just learned). Now, regardless of whether or not the teacher knows what he or she is talking about, the student is going to naturally question it - its our human nature. So, unless you question it out loud, you will never know exactly what the teacher was intending. As a student, many folks don't question a teacher enough - students tend to absorb the information and find ways to discredit it without ever involving the information provider (the teacher).So, the next time you are in class, do yourself and the teacher a favor - bring the topic back up and find out exactly what the teacher meant. Let the teacher know why you are questioning it - even if (even back then) you did not know the right answer but your gut was telling you that you were being fed BS - QUESTION IT.What if the teacher was thinking about a map of the United States. You can't cut that up into squares and make links out of that. What if a graphic design for a site is similar to that - image maps would be a good alternative to slicing the image up and figuring out a way to link things correctly. Granted, this are not likely the case, but you still owe it to yourself, your teacher, and your class mates to question anything you doubt. The answer will only reinforce what is already believed to be the truth.As for the question regarding which is better - one 300kb file to thirty 10kb files - one file is preferred for reasons that justsomeguy pointed out. Thnk of the broadband analogy like this: when you do laundry, it is easier to carry 25 lbs of clothes in your arms or in a basket? Which has a great risk of dropping things?Anyway, thats my perspective.

[reportingsjr]

Skemcin you were a teacher? What did you teach? Good analogy to! I looked at that site, it is hideous!

[ible-white]

So, the next time you are in class, do yourself and the teacher a favor - bring the topic back up and find out exactly what the teacher meant. Let the teacher know why you are questioning it - even if (even back then) you did not know the right answer but your gut was telling you that you were being fed BS - QUESTION IT.

beautifully said. this is not directed to you Agustine... its hurtful when students asks no questions in class even when u prompt them too. then when test/ exam time comes around- u start to hear snickerings here and there about how they never understood a,b,c, etc. i dont teach as a job anymore, but i do voluntary lecturing (not in computers) and i literally beg for questions and inputs. so when i'm done, u cant blame me if u did not understand- u had ur chance to seek clarification. :)Edit: i dont know why, but people who have a profession are normaly very sloppy in doing things in that same profession for themselves. car mechanics cars needs looking after. the hair dressers hair needs trimming. the carpenters cupboard door is broken off (for months), the shoe maker shoes are begging bread. so at times, its not so much that they dont know- but they have time for everyone else but themselves. shame though. hhhmmmm.....

[Agustine]

You're right Skemcin I'll have to try that. However, he did say that just make an image the size of the screen resolution and then turn it into an image map.

[justsomeguy]

Edit: i dont know why, but people who have a profession are normaly very sloppy in doing things in that same profession for themselves. car mechanics cars needs looking after. the hair dressers hair needs trimming. the carpenters cupboard door is broken off (for months), the shoe maker shoes are begging bread. so at times, its not so much that they dont know- but they have time for everyone else but themselves. shame though. hhhmmmm.....

Is that like how I've had my own web business for over 3 years and still don't have my own website?

[jesh]

Is that like how I've had my own web business for over 3 years and still don't have my own website?

Hah, you too?! I've been building web applications for people for 5 years and I don't have a website either.

[ible-white]

lol.shame on you!well....... shame on me toooo!!!

[justsomeguy]

My company website is a contact form that says "we are in the business of creating high-quality websites" etc etc. No, trust us, we are! Just not this one!

[Skemcin]

@reportingsjrMy teaching involved two totally different subjects. For 3 years I was the only certified Snowbaord and Tobaggon Handling Instructor on the east coast for the National Ski Patrol. As my career changed (for better and for worse) so did my topic of instruction. For about the same amount of time, I was a HTML and Graphic Design instructor for a private company in the Chicago area. And yes, the dude's site is hideous.@Ible-WhiteThanks for your supportive reply. I've encountered the same challenge in giving presentations. Sometimes its easy and sometimes its impossible to get any participation from an audience. I've figured out few ways to encourage participation. For one, if my presentation is on Internet Safety, I might ask who uses the internet for banking and then ask if they close the browser or use the log out button. Then that ends up tieing directly into my presentation and thus other can identify with it and then start "worrying". Anyway, thanks for your feedback.@AgustineIf your instructor mentioned that and you (as many of us may agree) feel that is a ridiculous idea - then ask him when that would be a good approach. Learning goes beyond just knowing the fact about something - its not just about this is how an image map is map. Learning goes beyond the example that attempts to reinforce the principle - it extends to application of that knowledge. For instance, does knowing HTML mean you've learned it? Or does the actual process of doing it constitute learning? In any case, I, for one, would be interested to hear what your professor was thinking. Not, necessarily to laugh or discredit him, but more to understand something I might not have seen before. Basically, what I am saying, you (that being everyone in general) need to have respect for what you don't know. So, I do not know why he was thinking a 1024x768 image map makes a good website, please enlighten me.BTW, it would take quite a bit of light to convince me its a good idea.@justsomeguylol - and I tell you what, when I started my own business years ago, my website was one of the first things I addressed. This is what I decided - keep it simple and design by SSI. I can change my entire site by just changing a couple include files. In fact, before I sold out, I had worked 9 themes into my site and had them dynamically changing every quarter - automatically. I never got bored (like I am now with my iribbit.net) with my site.

[justsomeguy]

Yeah, I've never gotten bored with my site either. In fact, it's been changed so many times that it's never actually been created! I have more designs and mockups sitting around then I know what to do with. But none of them felt right, I think it was too much. A couple pages is enough, an intro page, background about us, some examples, and a contact page is probably all that is required.

[pulpfiction]

Hah, you too?! I've been building web applications for people for 5 years and I don't have a website either.

I am in the same situation too, i build website templates [just for fun, a past-time], I give it to frnds but i dont have a personal website, damn.. hav to build one fo myself...

[Skemcin]

I don't think a develop without a site is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, before I had mine, I always tell my clients or prospects this:"I don't have a site right now because I understand the commitment. Right now, I a more committed to my clients than making a fancy website for myself. I'd rather exert the effort on my clients."I know, I know, sort of corny, but its true. However, I must disclaim, this is not a long term solution. It is very easy to be consumed in short term work that ends up postponing marketing efforts. And, since marketing takes time itself, one cannot afford to put that off to a time when business is slow - its simply too late.Anyway, there is a positive spin to almost any situation. Don't get infatuated with having your own site until the time is right/manageable.

[ible-white]

Don't get infatuated with having your own site until the time is right/manageable.

ha! i like that. tis true. right now, i have all the time in the world- yet i have no time! uuhhh.... sounds nuts? ha!

[boen_robot]

ha! i like that. tis true. right now, i have all the time in the world- yet i have no time! uuhhh.... sounds nuts? ha!

I realize we're starting to go a bit offtopic again, but what the heck...To me, that statement doesn't sounds nuts at all, mostly because I'm in the same boat. I don't have an actual job, nor I've currently taken a project. I should be having a lot of time on my hands. But there's school and there is also my father.... what about him you ask? I go to his PC shop to install OSes, fix computers and $hit. I don't really want to, because I would prefer spending time building XML editing forms (and their respective processors), building my own website following the best practices I've learned for the last year (complete flexibility and scalability, server configuration, various formats and versions in both English and Bulgarian). So why do I go there? Well, because my father is otherwise alone in that shop and can't manage the large flow of computers for himself. Not to mention the ~60 people to which we sell internet to. On the bright side, I get payed for this.

[Chocolate570]

I don't bother making a good site for myself because I know it'll never live up to the standards I have. When you're making something for other people, you're going with their instructions, what they want, and as long as they're happy, you don't care. But when you're making something for yourself, you want it well done, or you'll feel disappointed. So I just stick with other people's stuff.

[Caligo]

I don't bother making a good site for myself because I know it'll never live up to the standards I have. When you're making something for other people, you're going with their instructions, what they want, and as long as they're happy, you don't care. But when you're making something for yourself, you want it well done, or you'll feel disappointed. So I just stick with other people's stuff.

Wow if that isn't true for me too. I have a site, but two or three weeks later I'm ready to change it because I find something I don't like with it or I find something I like better etc. Right now though, I'm fairly happy with the design of the site, it's the content I have problems with.I completely agree though, making something for someone else you are going by what they want so it is easier so to speak.