part 5: the look of your site

The Look

Now is a good time to start considering the general look of your site. Here's where you get to flex a little creative muscle. Think about the impression you want your site to give. Do you want it to be whimsical? Businesslike? Weird?

Much of the effect of a web site is created through the use of color. A good color combination can make the difference between a good looking site and a great looking site.

The elements whose color you need to consider are the following:

	The Background
	The "normal" (non-hyperlinked) text
	The Hyperlinks

Furthermore, hyperlinks actually have three colors associated with them:

	The link as it first appears (The "link color")
	The color that the link changes to the moment it is being clicked on (The "active link" color)
	The color that the link becomes after the user has visited the page (The "visited link" color)

When deciding on a color scheme, remember that the text and hyperlinks must be in a color that contrasts with the background color. Use your own good judgment for what works for you.

(Just try not to do anything too disgusting - like, say, bright green text against a black background.)

The Full Monty

In Netscape Editor, you can choose colors by simply clicking on them and applying them. However, HTML traditionally uses a color system known as the RGB scheme. RGB colors are noted as three hexadecimal numbers in a row. The first number represents the amount of red, the second number represents the amount of green, and the third number represents the amount of blue. Some examples of RGB code are listed below:

FFFFFF=white	000000=black
0000FF=blue	808080=gray
00FF00=lime green	990099=purple
FF00FF=fuscia	666633=brown
FFFF00=yellow	003366=navy
FF0000=red	006400=dark green

Although it is not necessary to know how to use the RGB color scheme, it is helpful in order to custom make your own special color combination.

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