Evaluating The Web

Chapter 6 in writing for digital media starts off with a description of the Gestalt theory. Basically, this theory states that the whole is different from the sum of its parts. When considering this theory in the context of working online, it's important to remember the complexity that goes into every aspect of a web page. Sometimes when working online it's difficult to make sure the various parts of a website add up to support the entire product. From my personally interpretation of this theory, I see it as even though the web page may appear presentable as a whole, different aspects like hyperlinks, photo credits, spelling and so on may not be up to par or make sense with the rest of the page.

When dealing with the parts of a web page there are a lot of editing and style desitions that need to be made. First off, if you design a website to fit a certain template it's typically best to keep that style consistent through the pages of your website. The reason you would want to do this is because it makes your website look more unified and easier for the viewer to remain invested in what you are trying to show them. When it comes to editing your site, there are a few things you must take into account. For instance, there are obvious things such as spelling and grammar and then there are other aspects tougher to keep consistent with like photo credits, hyperlinks, and page breaks.

Finally, something crucial to the validity of your web page are the correctness of your references, dates, names and professions along with other criteria that may go along with classifying someone or something. Your website can look as professional as possible but if you have incorrect information presented publicly it will immediately discredit the rest of your site. Faulty hyperlinks and misspelled words are problems but they are salvageable situations to have on a web page but it is difficult to recover from incorrect personal or factual information.

Ultimately,  the various parts of a website all need to be checked, maintained and presented properly to insure the overall quality of your website. Even though online sources change and are presented so rapidly it is important to do your best to edit and style your final product properly.


Daily Questions to Ponder:
1) How do you determine the proper words an phrases to hyperlink?

2) How can poor editing effect the credibility of your website?