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#1
February 17th, 2004, 03:12 AM
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First Timer & desperately needing help
http://insulinquestions.netfirms.com/
This is my first attempt at a website and I desperately want it to look as professional and be as clear in content, as possible. My son just gave me some simple tag lines to do the site. He tells me that I've done a "fudged bastarsized job" of it and it isn't really even close to proper html code, but time is of the essence and I just need to polish it up and get it out. I am now trying to figure out how to put a floating window in the beginning as a "quick reference guide" as I feel there is so much information it may be confusing to the reader. Any ideas or suggestions? Please be brutal as the website is so important and a possible life saver that I need to get it out to as many people as possible. That's another question . . . what is the best way to get it out to as many people as possible? Thanks for any help Rebecca J  http://insulinquestions.netfirms.com/ insulinquestions@hotmail.com
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#2
February 17th, 2004, 09:27 AM
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Hi, welcome to Devshed.
To be honest, as you already are aware, there are so many inconsistancies, and bad coding in your site, I don't really have time to go through them all, but as a first effort - WELL DONE  I suggest you take the time to run your pages through the xhtml validator at: http://validator.w3.org/ Its very useful for pointing out whats wrong with each page you submit, and has suggestions on how to fix the bugs, and further reading. I would also suggest you spend a little time working through some of the tutorials at: http://www.w3schools.com/ With regards to your quick referance quide, try putting this somewhere between the <head></head> tags: Code:
<style type="text/css">
#quick_ref {
position: absolute;
top: 200px;
left: 10px;
width: 150px;
height: 300px;
border: 1px solid #ffffff;
padding: 10px 0px 10px 0px;
}
.ul {
display: inline;
}
.li {
display: inline;
float: left;
clear: both;
text-align: center;
}
</style>
and the following just after the <body> tag: Code:
<div id="quick_ref"> <ul> <li><a href="#">Quick ref1</a></li> <li><a href="#">Quick ref2</a></li> <li><a href="#">Quick ref3</a></li> <li><a href="#">Quick ref4</a></li> </ul> </div> I hope thats helped you some... I'd be happy to answer any other/specific questions you have, so post away... Good luck 
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#3
February 20th, 2004, 12:54 AM
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Thanks for the reply, Dusk!
Yes, the code you gave me is what I need, now I'll go through the tutorial website you posted and see what I can put together for background, etc. Does bad coding affect the site if everything shows up the way it's susposed to? (I'm not exactly looking for top grades - all I care about is that the site works and the message gets out . . . of course I'd like it to also look "smashing" with as little effort as possible.) Thanks for your time and good advice Rebecca J Quote:
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#4
February 24th, 2004, 05:44 AM
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Hi there.
Yes, bad coding can affect the way different browsers display your site, and affect the time it takes to view each page. Also, messy coding can vastly increase the time it takes to edit/update your site in the future, whether itsa just the content you're changing, or re-designing the site. However, no-ones going to complain as long as they can read the content. In your quick referance bit, or somewhere on your site, it might be a good idea to include your email address, so that people can inform you of any problems they are having with viewing your site, otherwise you'll never be aware of potential problems. There's no reason (if you have the time) to not just get your site the way you want it to look (as you've done), then after you've read more tutorials, re-dseign it from scratch, a little at a time, making sure it all validates, and that you've used style sheets, and correct xhtml markup. Its a great way to learn webdesign, and when you've completed your 'second' version of your site, you'll be well on the way to becoming a great webmaster 
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#5
February 24th, 2004, 05:27 PM
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Thanks, Dusk.
Looks like it's back to the drawing board . . . Until I get some heavy reading done and try to process "the big picture," do you think the content is clear and understandable? Is it too much? I feel the content is so important so I don't want to loose the severity of the point while I'm playing around with cosmetics. Any ideas on how to get this message out to as many people as possible? Also, when I do a search for my website, I can't find it. What have I done wrong? How can I fix it?Rebecca J (Running out of time and frustrated)
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#6
February 24th, 2004, 06:09 PM
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I just wanted to say coding aside the thing about the site to me is that it read like a power point presentation. I have no control over what I get to read. I suggest the use of menu so I can skip to issues on the site that interest me instead of forcing me through the entire site if I come back and need to find a specific page.
You may want to cut up some of the pages (ie have the questions pages just have the questions and they can hyperlink to the answers on individual pages). It can takes weeks and even months to be properly spidered by search sites. A good idea is to check out www.sitesubmit.com it will give you some good direction on setting up your meta tags and even help you submit your site to a lot of search engines. It's much better than my first website though and its definitly better than a LOT of those first starting out. You'll get the hang of things soon enough.
__________________
I'm moving to Theory, everything works there. Last edited by jinexile : February 24th, 2004 at 06:11 PM.
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#7
February 26th, 2004, 02:10 AM
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Thanks jinexile!
You've brought out some really valid points. I thought my index link to the table of contents would suffice but I see your point and working on that now. I'm wondering if Dreamweaver would be the way to go as it must be faster than putting everything into BBEdit. Maybe a valid point in avoiding mistakes. I don't understand the meaning of spiders and how to get onto search engines so I'll research that too and check out the link you suggested. Don't know what to say about the PowerPoint look but I think that was a result of not understanding what I was trying to do and having such limited knowledge. I'll give that another kick, too. The menu thing: I'm working on that with the code that Dusk gave me . . . it all takes time. But I think I have a greater understanding on why the coding should be correct as I viewed the site using Opera and found that some pages actually had missing text!  A lesson learned the hard way.  I guess I didn't really realize how deep I got in when I started this project. Thanks very much for your imput . . . you really made some valid points. Rebecca J
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