[rozwado1]

Right now I have an HTML page and I hate it.

I'm on my school's server and they don't offer PHP or MySQL, and I don't have the money to buy space on a server. I'm new to anything outside oh HTML, so I have a few basic questions.

Can I run any cool Javascripts without installing apps on the server?
I know PHP and MySQL require some installations, even though I don't really understand.

Are there any neat ways to post pics in HTML? I've used iPhoto to do some of the pages, but I'm looking for a .Mac slideshow (without .Mac). Ideally, I'd like to have something like Gallery, but then I need PHP.

I just need to redo this page b/c it's boring and pointless. I want to implement my iTunes Library, but I think I'll need PHP to do anything cool with it. So, should I just scrap this project and wait til I can afford PHP?

[heresiarh]

If you can develop a nice clean design, go for it. that is the most you can do. using cool javascript applets or scripts just ruins the website according to my experience.

[thePurpleGiant]

Originally posted by rozwado1:
Are there any neat ways to post pics in HTML? I've used iPhoto to do some of the pages, but I'm looking for a .Mac slideshow (without .Mac). Ideally, I'd like to have something like Gallery, but then I need PHP.

I just need to redo this page b/c it's boring and pointless. I want to implement my iTunes Library, but I think I'll need PHP to do anything cool with it. So, should I just scrap this project and wait til I can afford PHP?

A Javascript slideshow is entirely possible, but would be a pain to continually update. A PHP image gallery, using one of the many PHP slideshow programs would be a much better option unfortuntely.

You could simply export your iTunes library as a text file, but I suspect you are after more features there also. Bugger.

[skalie]

Flash?

[rozwado1]

Originally posted by skalie:
Flash?

Not a bad idea, but I'm still teaching myself MX. Definitely a possibility...

[aranjis]

Originally posted by skalie:
Flash?

Yeah, everything is better with flash. Just loook at all those kewl sites with flash loaders and splash pages. Thank goodness for Macromedia.

[xylon]

Originally posted by aranjis:
Yeah, everything is better with flash. Just loook at all those kewl sites with flash loaders and splash pages. Thank goodness for Macromedia.

I'm not sure if you're joking... Going overboard with Flash can be just as bad as not having it.

I agree with heresiarh though. A good, clean design can do wonders, even if you haven't got much content. Hmm, how superficial of me.

[skalie]

Originally posted by aranjis:
Yeah, everything is better with flash. Just loook at all those kewl sites with flash loaders and splash pages. Thank goodness for Macromedia.

Maybe you should take a loook at the questions posed by the thread starter.

[MrBS]

Originally posted by aranjis:
Yeah, everything is better with flash. Just loook at all those kewl sites with flash loaders and splash pages. Thank goodness for Macromedia.

The key is, as I understand it, to pick the technology first. Then worry about layout or content.

~BS

[skalie]

Originally posted by rozwado1:
So, should I just scrap this project and wait til I can afford PHP?

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=207696

[aranjis]

Originally posted by skalie:
Maybe you should take a loook at the questions posed by the thread starter.

I think the site as it is currently could use a little bit of cleanup but for the most part it's decent. The navigation in the top right should be movable though. Like anchor it to the top right corner with some css.
For the resume page drop the size of the icons down and put them at the top of the page just before the resume in html format. As good as it is for me to have a record of your resume on my computer I probably won't be tempted to download the resume unless I get a sneak peak or the whole thing on the page itself.
Lastly make more of the text graphics into actual text with a style applied to it. Home, Links, and graphics of their ilk should not be graphics.

[Synotic]

I would think that both the technology you use and the layout which you use to present your site are both secondary to the content. I've seen some very nicely designed websites that boggled my mind... but I've never returned twice. While a good design can create a good initial impression, if you have no content to back it up, nobody's going to want to come back. I know lot's of site I frequent with not too great layouts (or none at all) that have content relevant to me. As for technology... choosing it before you decide your layout or content? Personally, that'd be the [i]last[/li] thing I'd worry about.

[rozwado1]

Originally posted by aranjis:
The navigation in the top right should be movable though.
I probably won't be tempted to download the resume unless I get a sneak peak or the whole thing on the page itself.
Lastly make more of the text graphics into actual text with a style applied to it.

All very good points, but I don't like this post as much as your first (kewl Flash). The reason for the text as pics is because I hated how Windows IE renders the text. CSS can fix this, but I still have to learn it. Once I get that down, I'll get a text version of my resume posted too. Great idea - didn't think of that. I hate the top bar so I'll redesign that in the next version.

thePurpleGiant contacted me about his server that runs PHP and MySQL. I'm thinking about running a MoveableType blog there until I learn more about PHP. I wish I would have gotten a Programming minor.

[aranjis]

Originally posted by rozwado1:
All very good points, but I don't like this post as much as your first (kewl Flash). The reason for the text as pics is because I hated how Windows IE renders the text. CSS can fix this, but I still have to learn it.

CSS can only fix so much. What generally is the problem is that windows doesn't have text smoothing turned on by default. I'm not sure that css can take over for that.

Once I get that down, I'll get a text version of my resume posted too. Great idea - didn't think of that. I hate the top bar so I'll redesign that in the next version.

I think you should leave that top navigation. It's clear and concise. If anything the icons could be a tad smaller.

~ciao

[NYCFarmboy]

Be careful on using flash.

As a matter of course if I happen upon a website that is overly reliant on flash I usually ignore it completely.

A lot of Web designers lost their minds a few years back doing those awful flash movie splashpages.

The quote below is a few years old, but still holds true I think....is from the link:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20001029.html


"Although multimedia has its role on the Web, current Flash technology tends to discourage usability for three reasons: it makes bad design more likely, it breaks with the Web's fundamental interaction style, and it consumes resources that would be better spent enhancing a site's core value.


About 99% of the time, the presence of Flash on a website constitutes a usability disease. Although there are rare occurrences of good Flash design (it even adds value on occasion), the use of Flash typically lowers usability. In most cases, we would be better off if these multimedia objects were removed.

Flash tends to degrade websites for three reasons: it encourages design abuse, it breaks with the Web's fundamental interaction principles, and it distracts attention from the site's core value."

[skalie]

That being said, actionscript is a very user friendly manner to learn programming.

My learning curve went something like this......

Html >> javascript >> php (beginners mode) >> actionscript+php >> actionscript >> php (developers mode)

As a matter of course if I happen upon a website that is overly reliant on flash I usually ignore it completely

Agreed, but then there is the likes of this type of functionality....

https://reservations.ihotelier.com/o...4&languageid=1

...... amfphp is also worth a gander (difficulty level - well high).

[skalie]

Originally posted by NYCFarmboy:
About 99% of the time, the presence of Flash on a website constitutes a usability disease.

Your words?

Very generous with the percentages imho, I think it was PG who found that 98% of the traffic on his server had at least a Flash 5 player in the cupboard.

The trend in Europe at least is very much heading the way of broadband as telephone ticks are well expensive over here, which may be an influencing factor as to which side of the Atlantic embraces Flash quicker.....

.......assuming free dial-up is still the norm in the good ol' US of A.

[NYCFarmboy]

Originally posted by skalie:
Your words?

Very generous with the percentages imho, I think it was PG who found that 98% of the traffic on his server had at least a Flash 5 player in the cupboard.

The trend in Europe at least is very much heading the way of broadband as telephone ticks are well expensive over here, which may be an influencing factor as to which side of the Atlantic embraces Flash quicker.....

.......assuming free dial-up is still the norm in the good ol' US of A.

No..not my words.

Design, as in art is subjective and not everyone will agree with everyone else.

I certainly didn't mean to personally cast aspersions on anyone.

-----a very small percentage of flash websites are wonderful/awesome/incredible/useful.
And I'm sure the people who know how to use it tastefully and in this wonderful way are frequent users of this forum.

[Oisín]

Okay, my 2 cents worth on your site...

First of all, simplify. It looks like you've tried to make your site bigger than it really is the way it is now. Decide what you really want on there, and what can be left out because it really doesn't have a function. Example, your iTunes playlist - why is it there? Does it have a function? I can't see one...

Personally, I'd make your site four pages: the start page would be the MT blog you said you wanted to use; then there'd be the image gallery; the resume page; and the links page. The links on the "Home" page would fit better on the links page, anyway.

Also, about the use of images for text, etc.: Don't. If you think anti-aliasing is bad for text on Windows, that's nothing compared to how it looks with text in images! The way it is now, it would look much smoother as text, even without the anti-aliasing set to standard (btw, it is turned on as standard in Windows, there are just two different kinds of anti-aliasing [Standard and Clear Type, Clear Type being the one that resembles Mac anti-aliasing the most]).

Basically, make a rough sketch on paper first: what exactly do you want the site to contain, and what should its function be. Then devise a layout from there.

(Also, this might just be me, but I'd ditch the Mac icons in the user menu - in my opinion, they make the site look far too amateurish)

[rozwado1]

Here's my newly designed site. I got a book on CSS, so I was playing around with that. It looks perfect in Safari, but doesn't work on IE mac or windows.

The index page is just filled with random text from here to fill it - I'm going to try to run MoveableType on that page for a blog. I'm still fresh on CSS, but I think I did well. Very simple and I like it better without all those images. I may put small images by the links in the table of contents to make it more like a nav bar, but I still have to figure out how to do that. Tell me what you think. Nick

[moonmonkey]

Originally posted by skalie:
That being said, actionscript is a very user friendly manner to learn programming.

My learning curve went something like this......

Html >> javascript >> php (beginners mode) >> actionscript+php >> actionscript >> php (developers mode)



Agreed, but then there is the likes of this type of functionality....

https://reservations.ihotelier.com/o...4&languageid=1

...... amfphp is also worth a gander (difficulty level - well high).

Broadmoor is a high security prison in England.

I would never stay there.

[Oisín]

Originally posted by rozwado1:
Here's my newly designed site. I got a book on CSS, so I was playing around with that. It looks perfect in Safari, but doesn't work on IE mac or windows.

The index page is just filled with random text from here to fill it - I'm going to try to run MoveableType on that page for a blog. I'm still fresh on CSS, but I think I did well. Very simple and I like it better without all those images. I may put small images by the links in the table of contents to make it more like a nav bar, but I still have to figure out how to do that. Tell me what you think.

Much better than before! A definite improvement, both in design and content.

Just a few details (didn't check the CSS, just top-of-my-head things that would make the overall design run smoother):

* it does work in IE on Windows, except that the text is serif instead of sans-serif; I'd change that
* the navigation menu is serif in both FireFox and IE on Windows - again, I'd change that. To make it distignuishable from the rest of the text, make it bold or something instead, that would work better
* the hover of links - please change it! I don't know if it's just me, but every time I see those links where the background colour changes when you hover over them, I cringe!
* finally, I'd include the MS Word and PDF icons as part of the links to downloading your resume; makes the link larger and more obviously a link.

Besides that:

[rozwado1]

Originally posted by Ois�n:
Much better than before! A definite improvement, both in design and content.

Thanks! It's still a work in progress, so changes will be made. I just started up a real Blog using MoveableType - Check it out.

* the hover of links - please change it! I don't know if it's just me, but every time I see those links where the background colour changes when you hover over them, I cringe!

Yeah, those were part of an exercise in the text I bought. I'll touch that up soon. Any ideas to make that navbar more obvious? I'll change the font, but it will still just look like a list at first glance.