Many of you will be currently hearing so much about Web 2.0. It's very hyped at the moment along with the things that make it up as being the future of the Internet! So imporant infact, that just a few months ago there was a $80 per hour conference devoted to it. So now, if we want to be web designers, we need to know about Web 2.0 - here we go:
What is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 is a compilation of many old technologies to make a new kind of interface and user experience. It combines XHTML, AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XHTML Request), API's (like the Google Maps and Flickr API's), RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and CSS (for innovative design).
Web 2.0 does not really have a full meaning yet as it constantly changes when something new and innovative comes along.
Probably the best examples of Web 2.0 are Google Suggest and Google Maps, Yahoo's Flickr, Technorati (tagging), Del.icio.us (Social bookmarking) and Digg (technology site with social networking.
Web 2.0 does not nessacarily have to use AJAX, but in general it does.
Why Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 is a pretty good expression really. It symbolises the evolution of the web to a new era, where "websites" are no longer very far away from the kind of applications we expect to be installing on our computers.
What CSS is expected in Web 2.0?
In Web 2.0 you are pretty much expected to use shadows and rounded corners. Why it has gone that way is a mystery to most people, but thats the way design is going now, possibly to do with how Windows and OS X are evolving.
What is Web 1.0?
Web 1.0 is how the web used to be, small static pages with hyperlinks and simple images, that were updated infrequently. I suppose forums and the like could be seen as Web 1.5 as they introduced a social aspect to the web besides email.
I would say that server side languages such as PHP and ASP were one of the main things that drove development to Web 2.0. Web 1.5 introduced dynamic things like CMS' (Content Management Systems) and light Social Networking (like Yahoo Groups).
What is social networking?
Social Networking is the general term of what Web 2.0 is about. Before the web was mainly a sole experience without any interaction between it's users, but with Web 2.0 the main part of the web is based upon interaction - like forums, RSS, blogging and API's.
What is considered Web 2.0?
All of the following are parts of Web 2.0:
CSS
Valid XHTML
Rich User Interfaces (acheived with Flash or AJAX, preferably AJAX)
XUL (the language used in Mozilla applications such as Mozilla Firefox)
SVG (a new image format - Scalable Vector Graphics)
Flash Remoting
Syndication (Like RSS and Atom)
Clean and meaningful URLs (www.tim-rogers.co.uk/page, not www.tim-rogers.co.uk/pages/page/page.htm)
Blogging
REST or XML Webservice APIs (such as the Google API's)
Some social networking aspects (like voting, commenting and rating)
How should Web 2.0 be for the publisher?
Any CMS' or similar things that use Web 2.0 aspects will probably be database driven as opposed to plain HTML.
How should Web 2.0 be for the end user?
The site should be less like a site and more like an application. It is generally thought now that it is much better to have a Windows-like interface that a clunky text one with hyperlinks and the like.
A good example of how it should be is at http://www.tim-rogers.co.uk/ajaxdesktop.
Useful Links
Backbase - An easier way to AJAX
Easy AJAX - My easy way of doing the normal AJAX trick of replacing text on a page
Web 2.0 for Designers
Google APIs
Flickr
Ajaxian
My AJAX Desktop
