Graphics are important as well, as long as they are designed to be informative and functional, not just cute. Graphics can quickly direct a viewer's attention to specific parts of a page, and provide visual cues about where in the site a viewer happens to be. Graphical elements that are consistent from page to page serve to identify your site and give viewers a sense of familiarity as they move about within it. Graphics that are inserted just for entertainment, with no other function, get old quickly and have a good deal of overhead since they can take a long time to load, especially for viewers using a modem and phone line. The second two criteria recognize the fact that the Web site developer has a strong stake in the site's design as well.
Web sites grow continuously, and change dynamically over time.
The content and appearance of a Web site often change, dictated by feedback from viewers and the developer's new ideas. Smart initial designs allow these changes to be made easily. If you plan to spend any time working on Web site development, it is critical that you learn some of the techniques that facilitate site maintenance. A few of these techniques are described in the next section. Here's one scenario that comes up all the time.