Website-Building Advice

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FilmIs4Ever
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Website-Building Advice

Post by FilmIs4Ever »

Hi there everyone. I'm attempting to build a website chronicling the history and achievements of Kodachrome film. Unfortunately, although I am addicted to the internet, I have no knowledge of webpage construction. Does anyone know of either a book or a site that explains how to put together a decent site? Also, where are some places that I can put a site together for cheap?

~Regards.
Karl Borowski
FILM IS FOREVER
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MovieStuff
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Post by MovieStuff »

Well, I'm pretty much an internet dumbass and I managed to cobble together my website using only Netscape Composer, which I still use. I had never created a website of any kind but set down and learned how to use Composer in an afternoon. It's free and very user friendly. I'm certain there are more sophisticated programs out there that use Flash and have all kinds of animation functions but I like things to load fast and simple and get annoyed when I am asked to wait for a main page to load or have to go get special downloads just to find basic information about a product. Anyway, if you have Netscape, just look in toolbar at the bottom of the browser. That's where it's at.

Here are two websites I created with Netscape Composer:

http://www.moviestuff.tv
http://www.afterimagephoto.tv

Hope this helps!

Roger
FilmIs4Ever
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Post by FilmIs4Ever »

Thanks for your quick reply Roger! Does this software support Macintrash, er -tosh? Sadly it's all I really have access to at home, although I guess I might be able to "borrow" computer time at a friend's place if PC software is easier or better.

~Karl
FILM IS FOREVER
super8man
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Post by super8man »

The bigger question is where are you going to store the files that drive your website? If you have that part solved, then I would recommend you look into a product like dreamweaver. A very nice program.

Cheers,
m
My website - check it out...
http://super8man.filmshooting.com/
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Scotness
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Post by Scotness »

At the risk of sounding like a hippocrit - this is one where you really should look to google first - there are hundres of html tutorials on the net



Try this for example

Scot

(and yes I know I've probably spelt it wrong....)
Read my science fiction novel The Forest of Life at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D38AV4K
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DriveIn
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Post by DriveIn »

Book: Looking Good Online by Daniel Gray
Should be able to find it cheap-cheap plus
shipping online or localy in a used books store.

Like Scot said, lot's of online tutorials out there.
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sunrise
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Post by sunrise »

Karl,

I recently used an open source php framework to create a site: e107.

It is based on a lot of good people making codes. It's easy to use, customizable, has lots of extras and it's free. For instance you can make different pages available to different users. And you can make a forum much like this one. I used it on this site.

If you want to make pages from scratch, then Dreamweaver is very good.

michael
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Post by tim »

Keep it simple. That way you'll learn faster. For HTML download Dave Ragget's Guide to HTML (http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/). Use a straightforward (and free) HTML editor like ACEHTML (free download from http://software.visicommedia.com/en/pro ... lfreeware/) and a nice straightforward file transfer utility - FTP Explorer is also free and good. I use these for http://www.isoplethics.co.uk/walton/walton.htm It isn't the world's clverest site, but it does what I wanted.

Remember not everyone has a fast connection, so keep the graphics compact. Save the clever stuff, like Java, and concentrate on getting your stuff over.
FilmIs4Ever
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Post by FilmIs4Ever »

Lol. I'm still chugging away on a 56K myself, so I'll be sure to keep fellow dial-up users in mind. Thanks for your help everyone.

Regards.
~Karl Borowski
FILM IS FOREVER
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DriveIn
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Post by DriveIn »

One other issue to think about, is to design for the average website visitors monitor size and resolution. There are plenty of sites being laid out professionally on fairly large monitors that the web designers have set in high resolution. These sites are not fully viewable on the most common sizes still in use by those visiting the sites, and in some cases the browser scrollbar has been deactivated by javascript interaction gadgets or other design errors making matters worse. Viewing your site on a 15" or 17" monitor at 800 x 600 will still be most common, so lay it out accordingly or at least be sure it is viewable on such sizes. Make sure both the vertical and horizontal scroll bars work in your browser tests at the least if the site design does not quite fit the screen.
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onsuper8
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Pointers

Post by onsuper8 »

A few pointers cleaned from my experience with numerous sites and more recently http://www.onsuper8.org, my two penneth....

Simple is best
Start small then grow
56k dial up users still exist (I am on single channel ISDN as we can't have Broadband over fibre here in UK...), therefore
Design for lowest common users for intended use
Test for as many browsers as possible on both PC and Mac
Check your code from standards compatibility (works on more browsers as you intend it to)
Have fun otherwise it just gets too much!

Try http://www.webmonkey.com easy to use and covers every level of expertise...
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wahiba
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Post by wahiba »

Netscape Composer is a good starting point.

Learn how to embed movies into a page. QuickTime are the easiest but MS formats are not too difficult.

It is better to reduce the frame rate before quality. I have found 10 fps works fine for most movies.

Check my site for my DIY efforts.
New web site and this is cine page http://www.picsntech.co.uk/cine.html
ccortez
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Post by ccortez »

DriveIn wrote:One other issue to think about, is to design for the average website visitors monitor size and resolution. There are plenty of sites being laid out professionally on fairly large monitors that the web designers have set in high resolution. These sites are not fully viewable on the most common sizes still in use by those visiting the sites, and in some cases the browser scrollbar has been deactivated by javascript interaction gadgets or other design errors making matters worse. Viewing your site on a 15" or 17" monitor at 800 x 600 will still be most common, so lay it out accordingly or at least be sure it is viewable on such sizes. Make sure both the vertical and horizontal scroll bars work in your browser tests at the least if the site design does not quite fit the screen.
Actually... website traffic analysis suggests that most people actually have at least 1024 x 768 as their monitor resolution. Web designers working toward least-common-denominator viewing typically size their pages 800 x 600. Designing modern sites smaller than that can feel quite limiting.
Leviathan
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Website design etc.

Post by Leviathan »

Hi there,

I'll try to give you a quick and dirty list of the best website design advice I can think of off the top of my head. Keep in mind that for almost every point I bring up here there will be someone, somewhere who will vehemently disagree. But that seems to be the way the web design business is....so with that disclaimer here is my advice:

1. Learn HTML and CSS, it will allow you the most control overall. WYSIWYG editing is fine and all, but if you don't know HTML then you're usually very limited when it comes to shooting down website bugs. There is nothing more annoying (for me anyway) then knowing my website has a glitch and not being able to fix it. As far as actually learning HTML and CSS goes, it's not that hard. Go to your local library and get a couple HTML books. Basic HTML only takes a day or two to learn...the advanced stuff takes much longer, but by and large you can make decent websites with basic HTML, and CSS simply expands your options. As for editing/coding HTML and CSS, check out AceHTML...there is a free version of that, which is much nicer to work with then Wordpad. Or if you don't mind spending a little money for something more pro then look into the pro version of AceHTML or Topstyle Pro (http://www.bradsoft.com). They both have their strengths and weaknesses, but overall both great programs....oh...one problem though, they’re both Windows only programs....Do a search for “HTML editors for Mac” and you should find something, BBEdit, and Taco to name a couple. Unfortunately I don’t use Apple computers myself, so I can’t vouch for either of those.

2. Keep it simple! That goes for everything related to your website. HTML and CSS provide plenty of options for the average website, don't feel like you have to have flashy graphics, animations, and Javascript all through your site, and please don't feel like you need to have a flash intro, apparently most people hate them anyway.

3. Kind of a continuation of #2, but specifically regarding your website's home page. Really keep it simple! 3 images tops...on average people will only wait between 9 and 30 seconds for a page to load before they move on. You don't want them to miss your great site because it loaded to slow. There also shouldn't be tons of text on your home page, 3 well written concise paragraphs that make the visitor feel welcome and describe what your website has to offer is plenty.

4. Make sure your navigation is logical and easily accessible.

5. Limit your topics to 1 per page, this is better for logic navigation, and better for search engine rankings.

6. On design, think classic....almost minimalistic, defiantly uncluttered....draw different website design ideas on a blank sheet of paper before you bother coding the pages, try to think of at least 5 different designs, or at the very least variants of one or two designs, it'll save you time and frustration later.

7. Dark on light, not light on dark....this applies to almost everything, but specifically your text and the text background color. Light text on a dark background simply creates unnecessary eyestrain. Try to keep the design/color scheme of your entire site nice and easy to look at.

Well those are the most important things I can think of off the top of my head. Web design is very much a blend of science and art, there are many things that can (and perhaps should) figure into how you put together a website. The underlying rule is: “Know who your target audience is, and tailor your website to meet their needs”. Anyone can make a great website, all it takes is time and research.

Now I’m assuming that you probably want to build this website yourself and don’t want to spend any money on a web designer, but if you should happen to be considering that route then please don’t hesitate to PM me and I’ll get you an email address. I always try to work within a client’s specified budget, so you let me know what you have to work with and I’ll tell you what I can do. If do go ahead and build your site yourself then best of luck to you and I hope that the information in this post was helpful!

Cheers!

Leviathan

P.s. Just a recommendation for a low cost good quality web hosting company, try http://www.aplus.net their SoloXR plan is pretty hard to beat.
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