How bad is it?

[cobalt]

I started making this site to start polishing my HTML skills and break into some CSS. I became attached to it and decided to build up on it.

So, anyway, here it is:

edited the link
http://cobaltsq.freeprohost.com/

All positive and negative criticism is welcome...

[Jona]

Hello Cobalt,

It looks pretty descent, though I'm not too fond of the small graphics beneath the navigation, which do not match at all; perhaps that's due to the host you are located on, though? Aside from that, you're still using tables, and almost worse, iframes! :eek: Those are scary. Going through your HTML must be very difficult. Have you learned to create layouts with CSS yet? The concept is nice, but you need to use CSS for the layout, not just coloring things and changing fonts. ;) It's nice and calm, though. I like it. :)

[cobalt]

Hmm... I've heard you can do layouts with CSS, but I'm not sure how yet. I agree about the iframe. I wanted to use something that would keep the logo and menu in place without it jumping when you scroll through the page, so I stumbled on the iframe and used it.

I would love to hear any suggestions on how to move away from tables and the cursed iframe. It would be much appreciated if you could point me to any references, links, or examples.

Thanks!

[Jona]

I would start in the CSS Directory (http://www.roderickhoward.com/cssdirectory/).

[cobalt]

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[Jona]

Happy to help; thank the one who created the CSS directory. ;)

[spufi]

Well, it's REALLY blue. :) I would check out the Color Match Remix site in my sig and type in your values for blue and see what other colors yould could add in there to break up your blue on blue color scheme.

[zingmatter]

I wouldn't put a visible hit counter in the site. Unless you get squillions of hits it just shows how few hits you getting.

[cobalt]

I'm a bit on the color blind side and didn't trust myself to come up with any other color scheme. :D I'll see what I can do to add a bit of variety to my color palette. I'll see what I can do about the hit counter as well.

I just finished reading sections 1 & 2 of "Cascading Style Sheets: Separating Content from Presentation" and will be starting to redesign without using tables... What a scary thought.

What can I use besides the iframe to display my content in? In other words, what would be the most efficient way to display the different pages without having to place all of the menu and heading information on all of the pages? I apologize if this question belongs in a different forum.

Thanks for all of the feedback!

[Jona]

Originally posted by cobalt
What can I use besides the iframe to display my content in? In other words, what would be the most efficient way to display the different pages without having to place all of the menu and heading information on all of the pages? I apologize if this question belongs in a different forum.

Most often, the content is contained in a seperation element, such as a <div> tag; each document's content changes, yet its headers, navigation, and footers remain the same. This is accomplished with server-side includes (programming that is processed on the end of the web server before it arrives at the client's computer for interpretation by a browser). Specific files hold the HTML code for headers, others hold information for footers, and sometimes there is one for navigation as well (though sometimes that can be included in either the header or the footer file). The server outputs these header files every time any of the pages are visited, and the only difference between each of your actual pages is the content. However, this only will work on, obviously, a server which allows such server-side programming to take place. You'll have to check with your host for information on what programming languages, or if none SSIs, are available.

[chrismartz]

if your hosting allows asp or php scripting, you should use SSI(Server Side Includes) instead of iframes!....other than that...everything looks good

[Chrisy]

Originally posted by cobalt
I started making this site to start polishing my HTML skills and break into some CSS. I became attached to it and decided to build up on it.

So, anyway, here it is:
http://www.aloofhosting.com/cobalt/

All positive and negative criticism is welcome...


I think your website is nice, it is easy to get around and i like the colour . I don't like 2 things about your website


1. never put light with dark colours
2. Get a skin for you phpbb forum (www.phpbb.com)



all in all a good web site

[dera]

Originally posted by Jona
I would start in the CSS Directory (http://www.roderickhoward.com/cssdirectory/). i just booked mark that for future ref. good work jona for brigin that up:)

[Jona]

Originally posted by dera
i just booked mark that for future ref. good work jona for brigin that up:)

Yes, it's extremely useful to have.

[cobalt]

My host doesn't support SSI. Is there an alternative to server-side scripting?

[Jona]

Originally posted by cobalt
My host doesn't support SSI. Is there an alternative to server-side scripting?

Not really... frames and iframes are just nasty, and if you don't have server-side access, you're probably not on a host worthy of holding any real web sites anyway. Are you going and updating each page manually, to update your blog? That's kind of tedious -- why not just get a blog at www.blogger.com or something? You can customize the design as much as you want, I believe, and you don't have to even write any server-side scripts. I don't if it allows you to add other pages, or how many, though. I'd give it a shot.

[dera]

Originally posted by cobalt
My host doesn't support SSI. Is there an alternative to server-side scripting? i suggest u get one that does, u could use
<?php include('pagename.php'); ?>

[cobalt]

Well, I've started the redesign. Keep in mind that this is my first real shot at using CSS. I'm keeping the iframe, for now, until I find a free host that supports SSI. I do like the host I'm with now, just wish they supported server-side scripting.

Anyway, here is the link:

Edit:: Updated the link since the redesign was pushed to production
edited the link
http://cobaltsq.freeprohost.com/

[dera]

bold roll over links r yuk

[cobalt]

Well, I got rid of the bold link hovers and mostly stripped the site down to the layout. I still have no idea what colors to use. I can barely dress myself in colors that match.

As always, here is the redesign link:

Edit:: Updated the link since the redesign was pushed to production
edited the link
http://cobaltsq.freeprohost.com/

[Jona]

Maybe a color palette (http://www.morecrayons.com/palettes/webSmart/) will help?

[cobalt]

My current host is closing up shop and I found a host that supports SSI. How do I use SSI? If this is more appropriate for another forum, I'll post it there instead.

[chrismartz]

like dera said, <?php include('pagename.php'); ?> and just make pagename.php to be called

[Jona]

SSIs are not necessarily PHP, Dera and Chris. We don't know if his host supports PHP.

Cobalt, give your file a ".shtml" extension, then wherever you want to include your HTML file, use the following:


<!--#include virtual="file.html"-->

[cobalt]

Thanks for all of the great information. I'm finally ready to start putting some of it to use. I want to try putting my header and menu in files to be called using SSI's or PHP.

Wish me luck, and thanks again.

[Jona]

Good luck.

[LiLcRaZyFuZzY]

..i was going to post something about ur former free host, now they have a link to some other host with PHP and SSI.

but i realised i hadnt read the second page, of this thread...hmm..:o

and i cant delete this post...hmm...good luck anyway