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Jan. 4th, 2008 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pensnestI know exactly how I want my website to look. Plus, it's pretty damn simple.
So why can I not begin to fathom how to do the bloody thing?
*weeps*
So why can I not begin to fathom how to do the bloody thing?
*weeps*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2008-01-04 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 11:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 11:06 am (UTC)So bugger that. It's a very frustrating and glacially slow experience anyway, using that program, hence the presence of Dreamweaver in my life.
Oh well.
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Date: 2008-01-05 01:59 pm (UTC)I get all my HTML knowledge from http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ which I've always found really useful when trying to code anything - their primers are very clear indeed.
If you like, with the aid of my trusty web site (!) I could have a look and see if I can make it do what you want?
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Date: 2008-01-05 02:17 pm (UTC)To Pen: I remember it took me some time to change into "thinking" in CSS but when I finally got it it turned out to be much more simple than I had feared so I'm certain you'll get it too. Don't despair!
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Date: 2008-01-05 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 05:37 pm (UTC)Grumph.
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Date: 2008-01-05 05:45 pm (UTC)That shouldn't be too hard to do - in fact it looks like you're already doing it!
I just had a look at the source for your main Fanfic index, and there's already CSS in there. If you want to make that standard across the whole site, you just need to put that CSS into a separate file, and make sure there's a working link to that file on every page, instead of putting the CSS in every page.
(I have no idea if that makes sense to anyone but me.)
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Date: 2008-01-05 06:05 pm (UTC)But I don't think it's up to dealing with the number of pages I now have. (It never occurred to me that I'd have that many pages!) It is mind-bogglingly slow to open, and for about the first quarter hour of operation, even switching from one window to another takes a good 30". It's driving me mad.
However, when my head was utterly befuzzled by Dreamweaver, I had a go at changing the presentation of the site as is, using Freeway. Well, hah. Incredibly, my changes to master pages and styles *don't work*. So it's CSS-manqué, or something.
Which is why I thought I ought to have a go at it in a 'proper' way. Which I *WILL* do. One day...
OTOH, your advice interests me. When my Resident Expert has finished with Warcraft, I may prod him into helping me try that.
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Date: 2008-01-05 06:23 pm (UTC)Then you just have to copy paste the info and that's it! (that or save the file with different names)
Also you can add CSS style sheets to the HTML or to the layout you just created!
Dreamweaver is a very friendly program to all those who are not that good with codes, because it allows you to work with design (which is easier).
when I started programming web pages I knew zilch about codes, but I learned as I created mine, since you can see both design and codes while you work on the page.
you'll find out that HTML is a piece of cake and that you can do lots of things.
CSS I'm afraid is a bit complex, but it's not that hard to grasp how things work once you know HTML.
I don't think you'll need a CSS for a web site that mainly contains text (not necessarily), but if you want to do that, you can also set that with dream weaver.
You can create a style sheet from scratch (because after all you just need the basics of it, like "font size" "color" etc) or you can set the properties inside the dreamweaver. It's very easy.
the problem with all those programs is that they force the CSS in the web page but if the user wants to change anything, they can't, because they didn't know there was a CSS to begin with included in the code.
As randombling pointed out, your page has CSS.
Did you enable that or did the program set those properties as default?
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Date: 2008-01-05 09:59 pm (UTC)In terms of form, I know what I want it to look like - really not unlike the existing website, but plainer and with better header pics.
The program the website is currently in allows me to pick layout colours, create different boxes for text and images and position them on the page, and create type styles. It obviously does that by making a visually simple user interface and doing the CSS behind the scenes.
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Date: 2008-01-05 10:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 06:41 pm (UTC)To change the master and have the slaves change accordingly, you'll need to create an external CSS "style sheet" and have a link to it on each page. Then, when you change the style sheet, all your pages will change too.
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Date: 2008-01-05 10:02 pm (UTC)It'd be nice to cannibalise the existing pages and change them, but I have no confidence at all in my ability to do that flawlessly. I think I'll have to re-do the thing in Dreamweaver.
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Date: 2008-01-05 10:50 pm (UTC)It sounds like your master page isn't a proper master - instead, every time you add a new page, the CSS from the master gets added to it. That means you can't edit the CSS on your pages by editing the master. All that will do is add different code to any new pages you make.
Which sounds like a weird way of doing it to me, but hey.
I can email you a copy of your existing styles as a .css file if you want? Plus a copy of the code you need to use to get each page to use it?
Just an idea...
Date: 2008-01-05 06:30 pm (UTC)That way she'll only have to add that little tag in the head of the HTML. Because if the CSS was added by the default program, i don't think it will work with the rest of the HTMLs. It has to be an external sheet (or so I think...)
Maybe. uhm, it's just and idea. :)
Re: Just an idea...
Date: 2008-01-05 06:38 pm (UTC)If there's CSS in the page, it'll work for that page, and can be moved anywhere else - but much better to keep it all in one place and use the link.
Which I think means we're talking about the same thing?
Re: Just an idea...
Date: 2008-01-05 07:01 pm (UTC)It's like one mind then ;)
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Date: 2008-01-05 06:04 pm (UTC)I know how to create websites that look good, with a simple code (I mean, I can teach you and from there you can start experimenting with codes etc, it's quite easy).
If you have any doubts you can ask me. I know my way around the program :)
Also I know a little bit of flash and how to include flash movies inside an HTML.
It's very easy once you know where to click.
The first thing you need to do, is to create the layout in photoshop and think "oh, well, I want this to do that and this to change if a roll over the mouse here" and stuff.
Then we start programming. It's easier to find a way to create a webpage once the layout is done (that way you know how many images you'll need for the final design, etc).
As I said, if you need any help, just send me an email, or leave a comment in the journal *hugs*
I also have AIM and I'm on line most of the time (my user name is on my profile page)
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Date: 2008-01-05 10:09 pm (UTC)I know what I want: the story pages will be a simple layout with a single column, a centred header graphic, and links for return to index and feedback at the bottom of the page.
Non-story pages will have the same basic shape, but will basically be index pages.
What is the best way to make a master page/layout template/whatever it is I need?
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Date: 2008-01-05 10:38 pm (UTC)So first you need to create that.
If you want to create the Css to force every of your pages to use that settings, we need to do something else. But first you need to create the master layout (so to speak), so that you know in advance the size of the fonts, the colors etc, that all the other pages will have. (that way we can create the Css stylesheet and attach it to the layout through the dream weaver).
Also it'd be wise if you had the banner ready. All images you want to include should be ready before we start programming :)
ah yes, which version of Dreamweaver do you have? (that way I can build a tutorial for you so that you can know where to find the CSS tab, you'll find that adding Css through dream weaver is remarkably easy).
One tip: save your pages as
mywebpage.html
always write ".html" at the end. If you don't DW saves the pages as ".htm" and some browsers have a bit of trouble reading that extension.
a thing you should know about dream weaver (in case you are new to the program) is that sometimes the default settings get in the way, so you need to have the code window opened, so you know what the code looks like in case the DW does something weird to the design (plus that way you can know how things look like in simple code tags).
For example: I was changing the color and the size of my header fonts and for some reason even though I kept clicking the "bold" tool in the text editor, the font looked just the same, plain and boring.
after an hour or so, I looked into the code and for some weird reason my cursor was placed after the html tag. Obviously I could not change the properties of my text because I was not selecting "the" text. you will see that this problem happens quite often when you use tables and the layout setting. Even though DW has been programmed for people who are not acquainted with html tags, you will find yourself editing right from the code. But don't worry, it's very easy once you get the hang of it.
DW has weird bugs, believe me. but if you know how to dodge them, the program works just beautifully!
Once you've done the layout, try it out with your web browser so that you can check on how things really look on line. (there's no need to upload the web page, just open the html from your web browser).