This page contains some personal notes on creating websites, assuming familiarity with lower level material like basic html; the goal is to give basic guidelines for website designers.

1. Have confidence! Dont be afraid to look foolish at first while you are learning - Just do it!
2. Set clear goals for the site and for each page, and keep the goals in mind while you are working. Your first priority is to carefully organize the information to meet relevant goals.
3. Every link should clearly indicate where it is going and why it is there.
4. Make good use of subdirectories and index pages; each subdirectory should have a clear purpose and an index page showing how it addresses that purpose.
5. Structuring devices (such as links, titles, \ul, \ol, size changes, fonts, colors) should be used carefully, sparing and consistently; avoid overusing such devices; avoid loud and distracting colors and layout (violations of this are the clearest sign of a newbie). Every use of a structuring device should have a clear purpose.
6. Layout, titles, backgrounds, etc. should be as consistent as possible across pages; any differences in conventions for using such devices should meaningful and consistent. If things get even a little complex, consider writing an explicit style sheet. Detailed guidelines are appropriate for really large projects.
7. Don't get too cute or too clever - this often irritates users.
8. Keep things as simple as possible.