the remains of a student's mind…

I find it a bit annoying that the Hypertext lecture comes after the essays are due, especially since i did my essay on the hypertext topic. Since i have already written an entire essay on this topic i don’t feel the need to rewrite another post about it after watching most of the lecture….

I’ve been having a look around at different layouts that are used around the web. The main ones were mentioned in one of the lectures and definitely should be considered when thinking about how we want to present out Hypertext essay. One of the main elements that must be considered and carefully thought about is navigation. News sites, twitter, etc use the scrolling navigation interface; it is one of the most commonly used layouts. We have to look at the website as if it is a physical space, and a place, an actual space of interaction. In light of this idea, of the website being a real physical space, we have to consider its dimensions. Most people have a monitor about 1024×768 pixels minimum so this helps us in grasping an idea on the sizing of our layout. Also another factor we want to keep in mind is the hierarchy of our page. What we want to be seen or viewed first, what we deem to be the most important piece of information on our site, or if we want no hierarchy at all.

There are pretty much three different types of measuring layouts. One is the fixed or static result, I find this one a bit too limiting and set. Second is a sort of relative measurement, the problem with this one is it sort of relies on everyone using their browser to 100% extent, which isn’t that convenient for people like me, who are always changing the shape of their browser to fit in other windows and do other stuff around it. The third, more appealing type in my opinion, is where the content is more fluid and it shrinks and grows to accomodate and fit the display window.

I like fluid sites much more as they appear to be much more accessible and accomodate to the browser size; the paragraphs will rewrap as the browser window is resized. The only real downside to fluid pages is that you pretty much lose control over the design and layout due to its nature. This contrasts greatly with the fixed pages, which retain the same width and float on the background regardless of the size of the monitor. Say if we design a page to be 74o pixels it will appear that wide across all different sized browsers, only thing is the background image will increase to take up the plain white space. Fixed pages are good for total control freaks, it allows you to have absolute control over your page design and layout. The con for this type of page is that for people who have a smaller browser it means they will have to scroll across all angles to access the entire page, not just simple up and down; this can be inconvenient and awkward. On the other extreme, people who have really large browsers might get an imbalance, their screen showing more background rather than the actual content.

This site is pretty nifty, if you really want to get a feel of what Hypertext is really about and how it changes the simple text. The site is interactive and really illustrates how hypertexts are not linear anymore, the boundaries, and even the beginning and conclusions of the text are not set and are constantly changing. There is no centrality to this text, it is a constantly changing and flowing thing, which pretty much resides in the eye of the beholder. The current text that is displayed on your browser is thought of as the ‘centrality’ but this can be changed with a simple click on a link; this click breaks the boundaries and limits of a set text and connects a network of never ending texts. The interactive component too can be quite engaging and fun. Have a play around on this site, learn some stuff, it will definitely help you develop a better understanding of the basics of hypertext and this course: Networked Media.