WordPress has made it so that just about anyone can build a website, even people who are terrible at math. In fact, math skills have become so divorced from the process of web design that most people don’t realize the two have any relationship to each other at all. You can credit front-end developers for this simplification – but when you look at a poorly designed or badly functioning site, you might be left wondering whether the division of math skills and web design is such a good thing.
Even if you plan to use templates as you build your website, you’ll still benefit from understanding these 3 basic math concepts. They’ll help you create a website that runs smoothly, looks great, and is a pleasure to use.
Variables
Ah, algebra class – were you asleep during this lesson? Though no template will explicitly ask you to “solve for x,” having a basic grasp of variables can really help you build a better website. After all, your web developer was juggling hundreds of variables while building the underlying code for your site; you can handle a few, right?
One way understanding variables can improve your site is by helping you determine whether you need to switch to a dedicated server. Having a dedicated server is an easy way to speed up your website – when you have shared hosting, there are lots of websites running off of a single server. This can slow your site down and lead to decreased site visits and variables can help you determine when to make the switch.
In essence, factors like load time become algebraic word problems. In order to keep your website within established performance parameters, you need to be able to solve those problems – and that means wrangling variables.
The Rule Of Thirds
If you know anything about photography, you’ve probably heard of the rule of thirds. That’s good – because you’re going to put it to work again on your website.
The rule of thirds breaks up a visual field into a grid of nine equal parts and can help you determine the best visual formatting for an image. In general, the focal point of a picture should be located at one of the four intersections on the grid rather than right in the center, as many assume. Viewers will respond much more strongly to images that follow the rule of thirds.
The Golden Ratio
Did you read “The DaVinci Code” back when it was a big hit? If you’re anything like the rest of the world, you probably took a look or at least watched the movie, so you might remember Dan Brown talking about this thing called the Fibonacci sequence. Ring a bell?
The Fibonacci sequence, also known as the Golden Ratio, is another rule of proportions that can help improve your website’s appeal. The differently sizes boxes arrayed around your website, for example, might adhere to the Golden Ratio and you can make sure they do by using a PHI calculator. Size the different sections correctly and they’ll be as pleasing as the Mona Lisa’s face.
Learning to appreciate these simple math concepts can benefit your site performance and may even encourage you to learn a little more about what’s going on behind your WordPress. Though a general grasp of the rule of thirds may not result in the desire to study API cheat sheets, it might at least lead you to learn enough HTML or CSS to make small upgrades to your site – without ruining the finely crafted balance of the pages.