Not sure that I want to post this.. LOL!

[britt]

Ok.. here it is..

Posh & Pregnant (http://members.shaw.ca/pregnancyplus/)

I do realize that some of the buttons take forever to load I am working on that.. and I am thinking of changing my links on the side to a tree menu format.. so I'll probably have to go into Frames..

Any advice would be nice.. but be gentle.. I am pretty proud of this one.. LOL

;)

[sharkey]

Well to start dont go with frames use SSI(server side includes) if your host supports it frames are bad for search engines.

There is no DOC type on your page which means your code is probably invalid.

Design is ok maybe a slight bit cluttered maybe not.

[britt]

No frames huh? Ok.. won't do that then.. thanks for the tip!:) What is SSI? Never heard of it.. Obviously, I am a newbie to all of this.

And no Doc type? Hmmm.... Not sure what that is? :confused:


Ok, that was being Gentle. Thanks for that ;)

[britt]

Question? Where can I find info on SSI(server side includes)?

[philaweb]

britt,

I must say the next page after the one you've linked to looks pretty nice. I like the colors, the layout looks pretty much like a portal look-a-like.

When it comes to the more technical stuff there are some things that needs improvement.

First of all, Try to avoid having a "Click here to enter" welcome page. You will get more visitors by "pulling" people into your website by showing short previews of text, images than "pushing" (edit) people in by forcing them to "enter the unknown" (not much of a teaser). ;)

Secondly, all the webring links etc. on the first page is far too way down on the page to be seen on a 17 inch screen with a 1024x768 pixel screen resolution. I almost missed those. Find somewhere else to place them.

When having a look at your second page (the one with the portal look), your code looks like a typical FrontPage job, i.e. lots of double coding (for example two font attributes for the same text and stuff like that).

The page has a mix of "old school" HTML and stand alone style attributes. Try to place all of the styling in an external CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file, it'll make the page lighter (it has almost 60 Kb of text). The CSS file can then be reused for the next pages you create.

Also, try to avoid using tables for positioning of text, images when it can be done nicely with CSS attributes. The only thing you shouldn't use CSS for is tabular content (like timetables, schedules).

As sharkey mentioned a good replacement for frames is SSI (Server Side Includes), which is available on Unix servers. But, since you're on a freebee host you need to check out if they offer SSI.

[philaweb]

Originally posted by britt
Question? Where can I find info on SSI(server side includes)?

I'm also fairly new to SSI, so I Googled this article from BigNoseBird (http://bignosebird.com/ssi.shtml). It's a basic tutorial on what SSI does - but, you still need to check out whether the host you use supports SSI. :)

[britt]

First of all, Try to avoid having a "Click here to enter" welcome page. You will get more visitors by "pulling" people into your website by showing short previews of text, images than "pulling" people in by forcing them to "enter the unknown" (not much of a teaser). So you think I should remove the "Click here to enter" and just have the logo and the picture of the woman linked?

Secondly, all the webring links etc. on the first page is far too way down on the page to be seen on a 17 inch screen with a 1024x768 pixel screen resolution. I almost missed those. Find somewhere else to place them. I put them that low so they wouldn't be seen LOL.. But I can move them up.. ;)

When having a look at your second page (the one with the portal look), your code looks like a typical FrontPage job, i.e. lots of double coding (for example two font attributes for the same text and stuff like that). Yup, it's a FrontPage job.. LOL.. I guess I need to clean that up a bit.. :)

The page has a mix of "old school" HTML and stand alone style attributes. Try to place all of the styling in an external CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file, it'll make the page lighter (it has almost 60 Kb of text). The CSS file can then be reused for the next pages you create. I would.. but I have no idea what a CSS is.. :o Guess I'm just used to the "old school" lol...

Guess I need to get some updates on webdesign... ;)

Thanks for your advice... :D

[philaweb]

Originally posted by britt
So you think I should remove the "Click here to enter" and just have the logo and the picture of the woman linked?
I think you should combine those two pages - make one out of two pages. :)

Originally posted by britt
I put them that low so they wouldn't be seen LOL.. But I can move them up..
If you combine those two pages you could incorporate those webring thingies to the portal design. ;)

Originally posted by britt
Yup, it's a FrontPage job.. LOL.. I guess I need to clean that up a bit..
Yes... ;)

Originally posted by britt
I would.. but I have no idea what a CSS is.. :o Guess I'm just used to the "old school" lol...
Well, that's not true. You have a lot of stand alone style attributes in the code, even an emerging CSS bit at the top of the page. I'll got a link to a nice CSS tutorial (http://css.maxdesign.com.au/index.htm) for you.

Originally posted by britt
Guess I need to get some updates on webdesign... ;)

Thanks for your advice... :D
I guess you do and you're welcome! ;D

[britt]

Thanks for the advice and the link! :) I appreciate it.. any other advice would be awesome.. You can be a little less Gentle now.. I can take it!! LOL!

Question? So what's the scoop on Frames? Why is it NOT a good thing to use?? :confused:

[screaming_banjo]

Here's an article that will tell you why you should avoid Frames like the plague!!!

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9612.html

HTH

[britt]

Originally posted by screaming_banjo
Here's an article that will tell you why you should avoid Frames like the plague!!!

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9612.html

HTH Thanks... :)

Well I found CSS in Frontpage.. yup, that is what I am using.. I guess it's not a good thing.. but that's all I have right now.. and it seems to work fine for me! ;)

So I'll play with that and see what I come up with..

Thanks for everyone's help.. I totally appreciate it! :D

[Neczy]

Also, I would check out http://www.w3schools.com for great CSS tutorials.

[philaweb]

Originally posted by screaming_banjo
Here's an article that will tell you why you should avoid Frames like the plague!!!

Ehem... That article is 7 years old. :)

Has nothing changed since then? Well, I'm just curious!

[philaweb]

Originally posted by britt
Well I found CSS in Frontpage.. yup, that is what I am using.. I guess it's not a good thing.. but that's all I have right now.. and it seems to work fine for me! ;)

Just TYI... It's not absolutely necessary to utilize a HTML editor to create HTML pages. When you know HTML code you can always hardcode pages with either Microsoft Notepad (comes with most of Microsoft's products) or you can download freeware HTML editors from the internet, where you don't have to learn how to use a program, but you just code on by hand (hardcode).

[MstrBob]

Originally posted by philaweb
Ehem... That article is 7 years old. :)

Has nothing changed since then? Well, I'm just curious!


Users with Frames-Challenged Browsers
The November 1996 browser statistics from Interse show the following distribution of browser usage:

* Netscape 2: 13% of users
* Netscape 3: 47% of users
* Internet Explorer 3: 28% of users
* Other browsers or earlier versions: 13% of users



Many things have....

[britt]

Originally posted by philaweb
Just TYI... It's not absolutely necessary to utilize a HTML editor to create HTML pages. When you know HTML code you can always hardcode pages with either Microsoft Notepad (comes with most of Microsoft's products) or you can download freeware HTML editors from the internet, where you don't have to learn how to use a program, but you just code on by hand (hardcode). Thanks.. but I am not too great with the "code" that's why I use FP.. ;)

[MstrBob]

Originally posted by britt
Thanks.. but I am not too great with the "code" that's why I use FP.. ;)

Which is why you'll have issues with your site having Invalid HTML (http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A//members.shaw.ca/pregnancyplus/home.htm) and being Inaccessible (http://www.contentquality.com/mynewtester/cynthia.exe?rptmode=-1&url1=http%3A//members.shaw.ca/pregnancyplus/home.htm) . The sad reality, is that WYSIWYG editors spit out invalid, inaccessible code. This type of things can hinder or totally stop disabled visitors (such as the blind) from accessing your site.

[philaweb]

Britt,

Link to Quality Tips for Webmasters (http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/) :)

[britt]

Originally posted by MstrBob
Which is why you'll have issues with your site having Invalid HTML (http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A//members.shaw.ca/pregnancyplus/home.htm) and being Inaccessible (http://www.contentquality.com/mynewtester/cynthia.exe?rptmode=-1&url1=http%3A//members.shaw.ca/pregnancyplus/home.htm) . The sad reality, is that WYSIWYG editors spit out invalid, inaccessible code. This type of things can hinder or totally stop disabled visitors (such as the blind) from accessing your site. Thanks for the information. :)

But.. some of the errors are from affiliate code that the companies gave me and I was asked to NOT alter the code.. so there is nothing much I can do with those. ;)

As for the Doc Type? Someone mentioned that to me.. I have no idea what to do with that.. is there a certain code I have to use or does it depend certain things?

[britt]

Originally posted by philaweb
Britt,

Link to Quality Tips for Webmasters (http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/) :) Thankyou.. on my way to look ;)

[philaweb]

Originally posted by britt
Thanks for the information.
You're welcome! :)

Originally posted by britt
But.. some of the errors are from affiliate code that the companies gave me and I was asked to NOT alter the code.. so there is nothing much I can do with those.
Another good reason for learning HTML code. ;)
One thing is what they ask of you... Another thing is to correct bad code.

Originally posted by britt
As for the Doc Type? Someone mentioned that to me.. I have no idea what to do with that.. is there a certain code I have to use or does it depend certain things?

Well, follow the latest link I've posted and you'll find some quality advice on how and why to use Doctypes. :)

[britt]

Thanks.. :)

[Daniel Klann]

Hi,

Don't think anyone's mentioned it but the size of your page is MASSIVE! Take a look at WebSiteOptimization.com (http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/) and take heed of its advice. Amongst other problems, there is an animated GIF down near the bottom right of your page which is 143KB - way too big for a web page I think.

Regards,
Daniel

[britt]

That is a cool site Thanks Daniel! :)Oh, I changed the button.. ;)