Design stage

Where to save the files
When producing the WWW site of the company, many different files will be generated. There will be the HTML files and image files which have to be stored in a logical way, in a main- and sub-directories. The sketch above can serve as a basis for the Directorystructure.
The most simple way is to place all files in one big directory, but it is not advisable to place all files in a heap, so store related elements in sub-directories. The main reason for this is the easiness of updating, it will be almost impossible to trace the files in a large site.
There is a main directory, with a logical name, in this case it can be "lovelymaps". In this main (or root) directory we place the HTML files on which the audience enters the site. Then we can have two sub-directories, one with all the images dealing with the interface and make-up, a second containing the maps. When the site gets more complicated, new directories can be added. The directory-structure finally could look like this ...

Why to pre-design the directory
Of course it is not possible to work out the directory in total, because Internet sites are subject to continuous changes. The base however has to be there, since we have to indicate where exactly the hyperlinks we are creating are leading to.
Moving an image at a later stage could mean that we get a "broken" link and instead of a nice image or a new page we get the message that the required image or page can not be found.

The new generation of WYSIWYG HTML editors have functionalities to locate and repair the broken links. There is however always the possibility that you get lost yourself.

Next exercise
With designing a "Map of the site", a "rough lay-out" and the "structure of the directory" we are ready to start with the HTML coding.