Guidelines for HTML Writers of MIDI File Pages
Some Points to Consider When Putting Together Pages

Some of these are my ideas and some are from users of my Standard MIDI Files on the Net pages. You may not agree with them all, but you should at least take these guidelines into consideration when writing pages. Please send in any other "considerations" which are not listed.
Font Colors & Backgrounds

Java, Animated GIFs, Image Maps, etc.

Frames

Tables

Do include your e-mail address and the bottom of the page.

Don't use a lot of images or large images.
Sample Samll GIFs

Aichi Institute of
Technology
Only 1,136 bytes, 2 colors, 383 x 34 pixels

My Photo
Only 2,585 bytes, 32 colors, 76 x 76 pixels

Avoid Banner Exchanges
Only 2,884 bytes, 8 colors (different shades of red), 440 x 40 pixels

Don't Embed MIDI Files
  • MIDI plugins are great for playing files, but forcing the user to download a MIDI file which you choose seems inconsiderate. You are much less likely to get repeat visitors if you embed MIDI files.
  • If you feel you just must use an embedded file...
    • Choose a file with a small filesize. The length of the tune doesn't matter, but the filesize does. A slow moving melody with few instruments is likely to have a smaller filesize.
    • Use the same file for every sub-page. The user only has to actually download the file once from your server. From then on it comes from the cache.
    • Putting it at the bottom of the page is probably best.
  • Alternatives to the EMBED code
  • If your page is not primarily a page offering MIDI files and your page is not that type of page people will want to re-visit, then an embedded file is not so bad, if you keep the filesize small.

CGI & SSI
  • Be careful not to slow down your page.
  • SSI counters can really slow down your page.
  • Forcing people to use a CGI form to download MIDI files, slows down the process.

Don't Include Non-Paid-For Advertising
  • The following only slow down your page (especially if you include an image, too) and don't really serve any purpose. If your site has a sponser, then advertising is serving a purpose.
  • These are all forms of advertising.
    • "This page best viewed using ..."
    • "This site was chosen as site of the day by ..."
    • "This site was voted to be in the top 10% by ..."
    • "Member of ...."
    • Many think that "The Internet Link Exchange" and other banner exchanges are as bad as regular advertising. I doubt if very many people actually visit your site through this method. How many of those ads have you actually clicked? If your "MIDI File Site" ad gets put on a non-MIDI file page, it probably isn't generating any interest in your site. If you do decide to use their service or a similar service, put the ad at the bottom of your page. (Why should the ad be more important than what you are offering?)
    • Top 10 Sites, Top 20 Sites, Top 50 Sites, Top 100 Sites.
      There are a bunch of these online. I've seen some MIDI File pages so cluttered with these icons, that you almost miss the main purpose of the page.

      This one is interesting. I like the idea, though I personally wouldn't use it (except here). It doesn't really list the "top sites" but only those pages willing to "clutter" themselves with this image. However, you can use it to count your daily page accesses. One of its purposes is to sell advertising, of course, but at least you get something in return, unlike the "vote for my site" type of page.

      See my version of the rank 'em page if you want to see a creative adaptation of using the code used by the many of the "Top ## Sites".

If You Need to Include Advertising
  • Never put more than one advertisement per page. (This includes banner exchanges, etc.) This is very inconsiderate to your visitors.
  • Don't put the ad at the very top. Your page title should be there. Either put it at the bottom of the page, or put it between your page title and the "content" of your page.

Make Your MIDI Files Easy To Find
Don't make your visitors click from one page to another page to another page (to another page....) to find your files.

Include a zip package or packages of all .mid files if you have enough disk space.
  • This saves downloading time for those who want most of the files.
  • It is probably a good idea to not make your zip packs over 300 or 400 K.

Supply links to individual files, not ONLY to zipped collections.
Don't force the user to download large collections to extract one or two files of interest.

For individual files, use *.mid instead of *.zip if you have enough disk space.
If the files are available as *.mid format files, then the user can listen to them immediately while browsing.

Choose a Good Page Name
  • Don't choose a generic name such as "My MIDI Files" or "MIDI Files".
  • Avoid cliches such as: "ultimate", "super", "only the very best", "high-quality", etc.
  • Put the page name in the <title></title>, so that people have a descriptive bookmark to your page.

Spell "MIDI" Correctly with All Caps
The correct spelling MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is "MIDI" (all capital letters), not "Midi" or "midi" -- USA is not Usa, UN is not Un

Don't use the incorrect "MIDIs" to refer to MIDI Files.
MIDI Files are not MIDIs (Musical Instrument Digital Interfaces).

Don't Ever Change URLs Within Your Directory.
Avoid "File Not Found" error messages. Don't rename files within your own directory. For example, if you start out your site as an Irish music site and have your midi file page named "irish.html", but later decide to expand to include all Celtic music, don't rename the file "celtic.html". If you do people will get a "not found" error message. (If you have to change servers, then changing URLs is unavoidable.)

Don't Force Experimentation on your Visitors
  • Don't make your visitors downlaod files using a form, since clickable links not only require less coding (resulting in a smaller page filesize) but are faster than requiring a form.
  • Requiring interaction with CGI is slower than the "traditional" method, so is less considerate.
  • Experimenting with javascript is fun, but forcing your visitors to use a javascript page when it is often more efficient using regular HTML is inconsiderate.
  • Forcing visitors to use an image map to download MIDI files is inconsiderate since it requires those with slow connections to download an image and makes your page unusable by those using a browser that doesn't support images or image maps.

Make your page user-friendly for the frequent user
  • Don't put in long introductions and include a lot of information that only requires one-time reading.
    • You could put introductory information at the bottom of the page, with a link from the top of the page.
    • You could put the introductory material at the top of the page with a link to the MIDI files part of the page.
  • Instead of an image saying "NEW", include dates when adding new files so both the frequent visitor and the not-so-frequent visitor can easily see which files have been added since their last visit.
  • Slow-loading pages may keep visitors from returning.
    • Don't use lots of images or large images.
    • Don't embed files.
    • Don't use frames.

Samples of Things to Avoid

Here is a set of pages to help keep your page clutter-free.

A Frequently Asked Question Answered

Page Templates

How Does Your Page Rate?

What Do Other People Think?

Other Advice

Other HTML Guideline Pages, Not MIDI File Specific

I have purposely made some design mistakes, to help you understand the problems they cause.

DON'T OVERLY ENHANCE THE PAGE
Perhaps "encumber" or "bog down" would be better words.

Be tasteful! Just because it can be done, doesn't mean it should be done. Some enhancements are very irritating.


Remember what the purpose of your page is.
Many pages I see remind me of when Macintosh computers first came out and users would send me letters using about 25 different fonts.
Please use ALT, HEIGHT, & WIDTH code with images. Some users can't view images. The HEIGHT & WIDTH code speeds up layout. The code required for the enhancements increases your page's filesize.

Remember Not To Over Enhance

Don't make wide tables. 450 pixels or less is best.
This table width is 130%, just to show you how irritating it can be.


No junk mail, please.
To send corrections or comments, replace the $ with @.
ckelly$ge.aitech.ac.jp
I'm sorry about this, but it keeps the automatically generated junk mail to a minimum.

This page started in 1995. The last update was February 17, 1999.
Copyright (C) 1995-1999 by Charles Kelly