Safe "Rules" for Online Text

Of course, when it comes to design, there is only a small handful of things can be considered hard and fast rules. Every thing else can just be thought of as things to take into consideration -- strong consideration. If you get stuck on a word, you can hover over it with your mouse or reference the list of terms at the bottom.

The "Rules"

1. Serif fonts are for headers, Sans-serif fonts are for body copy: serif fonts are elegant and all that but when you have to read more than a couple of words together on the computer screen, it gets a little tough on the eyes.
2. Left Align Copy: Paragraphs should always be left aligned WITHOUT tabs for the first line. It just makes it easier to read. Go crazy with any of your small portions of text but let us read the content.
3. CONTRAST: This is a myspace epidemic. You've got the really cool background and the text in your favorite color and the world is at your fingertips, right? WRONG! Nobody can read your blog because its too close in color to your background.; Choose font colors that stand out from your background color.
4. Keep background for text very plain (Myspace ranting continued): (Another myspace problem); I know it sounds boring but its better have "boring" backgrounds than to sacrifice readability. Whenever possible, make sure there aren't any pictures behind your copy. Background texture is okay as long as there is strong contrast throughout all of the copy.

Important Terms

Serif: the little funny things sticking off of the letters
Sans-Serif: "Sans" simply means "without"; a SANS-SERIF font does not have serifs
Copy: the words (text) that are used in "printed" material; content
Body: when referring to a page that is laid out (not the code that builds it), it is the main text found in publications we read; it is not the headlines, subheads, captions, or pull-quotes