Building A Web Page for Your LARP Troupe

Introduction
Amongst all the other ways I've learned to fritter away my time, I learned a bit of HTML. I'm not an expert - far from it - but I have had the great good luck to build web sites for five different LARP troupes over the past couple of years. My current project is the admittedly austere Chuckling Cthulhu site. I've built sites for half a dozen other larps, all now defunct and offline, alas, but take my word for it in that I've had some experience.

A lot of what I have to say might strike you as common sense. I hope it does. But I've seen far too many awful LARP sites to keep my peace any longer. Therefore, here are my two cents about what makes a good LARP page, and what doesn't.

Step One

Know HTML
I told you a lot of this would be common sense, didn't I? But it has to be said. If your skills are a little shaky, there are some great online tutorials that will give you confidence, as well as many fine books. I still swear by my HTML for Dummies, most days. Failing that,  you can use something like MS FrontPage (ugh), DreamWeaver (better, but can be intimdating for the newbie) or Allaire's Homesite. My favorite is Homesite but, if you don't know HTML, FrontPage or DreamWeaver is the way to go. Be warned! FrontPage optimizes code for Internet Explorer - and junky code at that - so pages built with it often look like hell on Netscape.

Have Some Grasp of Visual Design and Layout
Red text on a textured black background is not 'new' or 'quirky', but it is migraine-inducing. Ditto for blinking text, animated gifs and frames that are half-an-inch wide. I'll be getting into this a little more, later.

Step Two

Decide what you want before you start coding.
Write a list of the things you would like to put online. Do you want to include a player roster? How about character biographies? Or a picture gallery? Decide this before you start coding, as unexpected additions run the risk of transforming your site into a big, unorganized mess, as well as sucking up far more of your time than you originally budgeted.

Create a flowchart - boxes and arrows - showing each page and how you believe they will connect to each other. It doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to give you a tangible idea of how many pages your initial site will contain, and how a visitor will find their way around. This chart give you some idea as to what sort of navigation you'll want to include with the site, and how much time you're going to spend coding! 

Step Three

Cover the Basics, First
A LARP site should provide the following information.

Know The Difference Between Basics and Frills
Cool features take a lot of time to create and upload, and a long production time can make you feel frustrated and burned out. Get the basics up first, and then upload frills as your time allows.

That said, here are some suggestions for fun-frills: online BBS for in- and out-of-character communications, a character gallery with pix and bios of your PCs, an online record of previous games (which can be a great resource for new players), an online "newsletter" (featuring comments from the GMs, in-character "classified ads", news of interest to the players, fun links the GM found whilst goofing around online), a links page connecting to larp-handy resources (like this site, ahem). Frills can push your site from a static resource to an interactive experience for your players, but be sure you have the time and resources to maintain these extra features!

Step Four

Elementary Design - Keep It Simple, Stupid!

You see, above, that I mentioned having a grasp of visual design and layout. Here is a list of my own do's and don'ts - ignore or heed them as you wish.

Do Don't
Have a front page that gives clear links to the rest of the site - example.  Don't crowd your front page with advertising banners, or non-LARP related material. Why? The average visitor will wait 30 seconds for a page to load, before giving up and going somewhere else.
Keep your pages short. Visitors don't like to scroll through endless blocks of text. Break the pages up as needed. I'll say it again, don't crowd your front page. A website is a tool for recruiting new players, as well as informing old ones - but it's no good if a would-be player can't find the information they want quickly and easily.
Use colors - tastefully. For backgrounds, I suggest you stick with a Netscape-safe hex-pallette for colors. Be very, very careful about treading the anything-on-black route (mea culpa) as it can make a site hard to read if not done well. Don't use frames. Visually, they're an aggravation and almost always misused. Anything you need a frame for, you can handle with a table. Then you don't have to worry about browser issues either - a short cut to insanity is making a framed site look good in IE and Navigator.
Update your site regularly - there's no point to a game-calendar if it's six months out of date. Do not use blinking text or animated gifs. Your message can be put across just fine without them. Trust me.
Stick with game-specific content, but don't hobble yourself. Include a page of useful LARP links, or a list of game-company pages that you recommend. Don't try to take everything upon yourself. Ask for help for generating content and updating the site - and accept help when it's offered, providing that you're would-be assistant is competent.
Bearing the "Keep it simple!" philosophy, remember that the web is a visual medium. The occasional picture, or graphic buttons, rather than plain links, can greatly improve a site.
Break up single big pages into multiple smaller ones. It's easier to read and navigate through several short pages than one long one.   

Conclusion

As time passes, and your skills grow, you'll be willing and able to add some fun features - such as a character gallery, a bulletin board, or even a chat room to your site. Just always keep in mind what your group's needs are and have fun doing it!

Some Handy Resources

Web Design and Editing

Web Hosts - Mostly Free of Charge

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email: jo(at)skaro.com