Help with web site

jonnybadd

I'm designing a simple web page for a college assignment, so just one or two quick questions if ye wouldn't mind answering.

What is the size of a web page, pixel wise? It'll make more sense from my following question

Is it advisable to make a background in photoshop? or just use a basic colour for the background? or even an image of some sort?

Thanks

Ph3n0m

short answer is :

a web page has varying pixel widths due to different monitor sizes and different resolutions

as for background - ouch to background images as they tend to increase the size of a page - thus resulting in a longer download time for the viewer. Personally i would recommend the use of simple colours as your background - or if you can manage it a single image, small enough that when used as a background does not increase the size dramatically

seamus

As Ph3nom says.

A good trick is to use a small picture with a simple pattern. If you're creative enough, you can make it look pretty funky.

Just off the top of my head, take a look at www.hosting365.ie, and notice the background there. It looks like one huge pattern. But it's actually just one tiny little picture:



The browser only needs to download this once, then tiles it across the background, creating that diagonal line effect you see.

It's a simple but effective trick.