There are three layouts for NCBI web pages. All are 600 pixels wide; any wider and you have to scroll across on most monitors. The standard NCBI font is Arial/Helvetica, since it is easier most displays.

Why use a stylesheet?
A cascading stylesheet (we use ncbi.css) adds customized styles to text to give an entire website a professional "look and feel". Such consistency also provides users with clearer information and easier navigation.

Normal layout

The normal layout consists of a left gutter and a right content area. The left gutter usually contains a sitemap and useful hyperlinks. The left gutter width is 125 pixels with a 15 pixel spacer. The content area width is 460 pixels.

3-column layout

The 3-column layout is used for information dense pages, or for incorporating teasers. The left gutter width is 125 pixels with a 15 pixel spacer. The center content area is 310 pixels with a 10 pixel spacer. The right content area is 140 pixels wide.

Expanded layout

The expanded layout eliminates the left gutter and should be used only in extreme situations where extra information has to be included on the page, like the NCBI sitemap.

Web safe colors
There are 256 colors that appear the same on all versions of Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer. Use these web safe colors to ensure that your colors appear as you intended. Need a color's hexidecimal value? Ask Harold.

Some Dos and Don'ts of webpage development

Do use the NCBI stylesheet for a more professional "look and feel".
Do place local <FONT> tags around font styles that might not show up well when the stylesheet is not supported (i.e. for browser versions 3.0 and below).
Do use relative links so that when an entire directory is moved from one server to another, the links are preserved.
Do use the NCBI disclaimer - NIH requires that this be done for legal purposes.
Do use a revised date and update it when changes are made to the page.
Do use web safe colors (see highlight on this).
Do view your page on multiple platforms and browsers before releasing it to the public - not all html tags are universally supported.

Don't use extremely large gifs (>30 k) if you can help it. These can take a long time to download.
Don't use images without obtaining copyright permissions first.
Don't link to URLs that might disappear (e.g. a newspaper article).
Don't use frames unless really needed - they are not easily bookmarked or printed, and the scroll bar can get messed up.
Don't use animation unless it is critical to displaying your information - animation can take a long time to download and is not supported on all browser versions.

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Revised May 5, 2000