My team is planning to mack a web site for the first time
Im open for sugetions
Take a look at other teams’ sites (click on teams on the top of this site and then click on the www buttons). Write out a list of ‘best practices’ for what’s on all the teams sites. Then come up with your content. You might also check out Open FIRST if you want a more complex website without all the work.
you should also talk to your team and see what they would like in it. You can make it purely informative, or use it as a centralized place for team organization with calendars and events and activities. Just mess around, get feed back, and improove. 
try to make your website an extension of your team. something that shows other people who your team is and what they are about. something that you would be proud to show professionals or your grandmother.
First and foremost, figure out what sections will be needed for the page, i.e. About, Team History, Team Members, Gallery etc, etc. Then, develop a basic design. There are a few ways to design websites effectively. One entails using frames. This is a good way to keep organized, but is often unsightly and can be the mark of a newbie website. You can make a picture of the website in photoshop, slice it into sections, and put it in a table, as is done by professionals. A method that I prefer is a combination of the two. I design a picture of the site in photoshop, put it in a table, and replace a large chunk of the picture with an iframe for content. Whatever you decide, keep it simple, organized, effective, and professional, but don’t be afraid to give it your team’s unique flair, as was mentioned by Sara. If you need any help with more technical aspects of web design, post a question here and most CD-ers would be obliged to answer it.
I don’t mean to pick, but I wouldn’t suggest using non-standard features like iframes. They aren’t supported by any browser except IE. Although I do like the look of most Photoshop designed sites, that images ARE a bit bandwidth intensive. If this isn’t a concern (you’re on a host without a bandwidth limit) then I say go for it.
My main suggestion would be to make it effective as opposed to simple. As commented above, figure out the sections and make a basic layout. One thing you may want to look into is CSS which will make your layout and implementation much much easier. You can learn more about HTML + CSS at www.w3schools.org .
*Originally posted by Jeremy_Mc *
**I don’t mean to pick, but I wouldn’t suggest using non-standard features like iframes. They aren’t supported by any browser except IE. **
The IFRAME tag is standardized by W3C and is supported by almost any recent browser, including Mozilla, Opera, and IE. In fact, probably the only browser that does not support IFRAME and is still (although rarely) being used is Netscape 4.
*Originally posted by Greg *
**The IFRAME tag is standardized by W3C and is supported by almost any recent browser, including Mozilla, Opera, and IE. **
Incidentally, the first two actually support it better. And nobody cares about Netscape 4 :).
Originally posted by Jeremy_Mc**
My main suggestion would be to make it effective as opposed to simple. As commented above, figure out the sections and make a basic layout. One thing you may want to look into is CSS which will make your layout and implementation much much easier. You can learn more about HTML + CSS at www.w3schools.org .**
That’s not to say you have to; if you’re new to this whole web design deal, you can start with HTML 4.01 and not use any CSS. It’s probably much easier to start off in this manner, and HTML is often more powerful.
*Originally posted by Greg *
**The IFRAME tag is standardized by W3C and is supported by almost any recent browser, including Mozilla, Opera, and IE. In fact, probably the only browser that does not support IFRAME and is still (although rarely) being used is Netscape 4. **
I should probably update my Moz build…I’m using the one with an older slackware build and it’s not even 1.0 
You don’t have to use CSS, but it would make changing colors and things easier. I’ve learned that it’s better if you plan to eventually learn it to learn it with HTML so you’re more familiar with working with both of them. Of course I’m just speaking from personal experience and it’s not the same for everyone of course
In any event, just have fun with the web page and make it creative!
Again, I don’t mean to pick, but how is HTML more powerful? I haven’t found many…OK really anything (but then again I don’t study every single formatting directive) that HTML can do that CSS can’t. If there is, I’d sure like to know for future reference!
We’re at 1.6 Alpha and you’re using a pre-1.0? What tripe :). You should try Firebird.
There are a whole lot of things you can do with HTML tables that CSS still can’t do in terms of general fluid layout. On the other hand, there are many things you can do with CSS that HTML can’t do (like positioning, rollovers, and block changing). It’s a tradeoff, but unless you’re new to the whole web design scene, CSS for layout is far better. If I were to go into details and examples, I’d make this post waaaay too long.
*Originally posted by jonathan lall *
**We’re at 1.6 Alpha and you’re using a pre-1.0? What tripe :). You should try Firebird.
**
Aye I probably should. It seems rather nice…
I would like to use Thunderbird for e-mail, but I’m cheap and use Yahoo! so that’s out of the question…
*Originally posted by jonathan lall *
There are a whole lot of things you can do with HTML tables that CSS still can’t do in terms of general fluid layout. On the other hand, there are many things you can do with CSS that HTML can’t do (like positioning, rollovers, and block changing). It’s a tradeoff, but unless you’re new to the whole web design scene, CSS for layout is far better. If I were to go into details and examples, I’d make this post waaaay too long.
True…I’m not sure I’ve run into many problems with layout using CSS, but then again I typically use HTML for layout and CSS for formatting.
Agreed…details of that would be…large.
I don’t like frames for many reasons. I am sure most of you can guess why. I hear too many bad things about them and it is so contraversial that I would rather not use them. It is just as easy, for me, to use other methods that do almost the same thing. I think that whether or not you use frames is up to you as a web designer. It is kind of like your style. If you can use frames and make them work, then that is perfect. I don’t use frames because I like to play a little on the safe side. I hide my javascript with <!-- and // -->. I don’t know if that is overkill or what. Well anyways, the thing that I always say is “remember your audience”, the most important thing in any type of design or marketing. Don’t make a website about the Florida Marlins and use the colors of the NY Yankees as the theme. I know someone who made a website for a retirement center and used a black background with red and gray text. The audience of that site would generally be older folks and maybe some people in the medical field or looking for a nice place for their family. I don’t think they will get a very good impression of the place from that website. Oh, by the way, he was fired.
I would suggest not going overboard. Don’t use crazy and unreadable fonts and colors. I would very strongly suggest using a plain background. If you want graphics, put them in smaller images. If you haven’t read the thread I made on my theory of IA, then that might be a good idea, whether you agree or not, you might find some helpful hints mentioned in there. Spell check the website. (that was a joke) I wouldn’t waste time getting it validated. Those are some of the things that I can suggest. Good luck!
edit:
I want to add something. I always use an external css file to make a theme. I would strongly suggest doing this. It works very well for me and it allows me to make a common theme and I can change the theme, like for holidays and stuff.