How to Design a Dummy Web Page

By Louise Balle

Some web designers use dummy web pages as a way to set up templates for clients and personal projects. With a dummy template you can change your text, pictures and background colors easily and save the file as a new and different page. This is not a good solution if you want a custom, professional website --- it is best used for amateur or simple cookie-cutter pages that will be used to convey basic information to the public.

Step 1

Sign up for a web hosting service that includes pre-designed templates as a feature (see "Resources" for an example). Choose a basic template that goes along with your desired theme.

Step 2

Create the dummy web page using the template system provided by your web host. Most web templates have a header, main body area and footer for copyright information. Name the page "dummy.html" or something similar.

Step 3

Copy and paste lorem ipsum text into the page. Lorem ipsum is a series of latin words that are used on dummy pages as placeholders until you insert actual words. You can get paragraphs generated automatically and for free online.

Step 4

Play with the font face and font size of the text on your page to get an ideal look.

Step 5

Insert generic images where you will want actual images to be placed on your final version of the web page. Many template design wizards allow you to drag and drop the photos or use the web tools to add new images as needed. You can also just use the images that are already provided in your web template design as placeholders.

Step 6

Save all changes to your dummy web page and test it in various popular browsers (Mozilla, Explorer, Chrome, and Safari) to assure that it meets your requirements.

Step 7

Click "View > Page Source" to view your HTML code for the page and save it to your computer for future use and updates. You can also simply go to the web template tool whenever you wish to update the dummy page or insert actual information and publish the web page to the Internet.

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