WYSIFA Forum

[potteryshop]

I would like to thank you all for the information that I have gleaned over the past year. It has taken a long time for me to understand some of the concepts of web design - and I have just barely scratched the surface.
I tried CSS on this version, but don't think I have it quite right yet. I seem to have to change too many things one page at a time.
Each time I update the site it seems that I understand another tutorial a little better. You guys still don't explain everything quite simple enough for this novice. (I did get brave enough to go into the "source" and delete some space that wouldn't go away any other way - woopee. Made sure I saved it first. It worked!)

Thanks again, and Fire away!

http://redoakpottery.com/

[al_m473]

one of the first things I notice is that you do not have the navigation links on the pages I go and check out, so have no
way to get back to the home page other than by hitting back on the browser.

keep plugging away, I don't know anything about pottery so it would a learning curve for me in that area.

Al

[al_m473]

other comments after looking at the source code of your pages

after looking at the html code, you need to consolidate your CSS code into one CSS file entry. I notice you link to
"trial.css" in your html and then have all knds of inlne CSS code in your html page code. the inline code should be
eliminated. the pages you link to have their own CSS code in the header, again the idea behind CSS is to use one
file entry for the CSS code which you link to for all of your web pages.

using tables for design layout is no longer the way to go, use tables for tabular data, yes, but not for page layout.

this makes your page code much simpler and easier to read and change. all pages use the same CSS code for page
layout and manipulation.

good start,

Al

[potteryshop]

-you do not have the navigation links-

Oh, no. I have a big problem - only checked in Firefox. Works there. Not in IE. I'll skip over and ask for help in the appropriate place - unless someone has a suggestion here.

About the CSS. It is my terrible problem. I only halfway understand. Need to ask questions, but hated to bother. Guess I'd better start asking.
I thought tables was a better idea for the boxes I wanted to stay the same size with text next to them. Guess I'd better ask about that too!
Drat! and I was so proud of it.
Thanks. I'll keep working.

[al_m473]

hey, we all start at square one and learn. and there seems to be lots to learn, any problems,
just ask questions, that's what this forum is for.

Im no expert but I guess I started by doing some of the online tutorials, at htmldog.com and w3schools.com, for example.
after that, I decided to use XHTML/CSS coding rather than HTML 4, so doing that you do not use inline code, etc from
the start.

I don't use Kompozer much as I prefer to hand code my CSS and XHTML code using notepad. Then I test it in IE6, IE7 and
FF. lots of fun,

Al

[potteryshop]

The idea of hand coding is so far beyond me - - - -

[potteryshop]

OK. I think I got the CSS problem fixed so there is not as much inline. I still don't know why IE won't place the navigation bar on the other pages. Searching here for the answer.

[al_m473]

IE may not handle position: fixed; the same as FF does, that's what I would check out. As well, you are not doing any kind of CSS reset, FF and IE differ in margins, paddins, etc they put on elements by default.

Al

[dr-john]

Here are the most basic tips for using css.

Normally we start by setting margin to zero and padding to zero, to get rid of minor differences between browsers that can cause problems. Some people reset a huge number of things to zero, but this isn't important, just the first two.

So your css file starts with
margin, padding {0}

Next you set the font or font-family to what you will be using all the time.
A font-family is a set of related very similar fonts, to allow for different people and different operating systems having a different set of fonts.

so after the line above, it is normal to find
body {
font: something;
color: somecolor;
font-size:some percentage;
}
this is then your standard font and its color and size set for everywhere, except where you wish to change it.

These basics will save all the inline code you have added to continually set font-family, and it would get rid of all those <big> tags you are using - set the default size to be what you want in the css, just the once.

Next, you are using body text everywhere. You should be using paragraphs - this is partly due to the way kompozer wrongly offers you body text as the first sort of text to use. Almost no-one uses body text except beginners.

Try reading these tutorials
http://www.cssbasics.com
http://www.htmldog.com
if you wish to learn a bit more.

hope this helps.

[potteryshop]

Thank you again and again. I think I have cleaned up most of the mess. Will attack it again after a break. It is amazing how I can read something - read it again 6 months later and understand more - read it again after having problems and understand even more about what is being said. It sure is difficult to figure it all out just be reading tutorials. But I want to thank this forum for the information. When I figure out how to ask the questions, the answers are here.