Looking for help in fixing website

Junior WebHelper Joined: 18 May 2003 Posts: 27

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some help in fixing my website. I've already created it (in Word), but it's not displaying properly on some machines/browsers. I tried transferring the files into Dreamweaver, but I'm not sure if this has fixed the problem, because I don't know how to test it on various machines and browsers. It comes up fine on my machine. Would greatly appreciate any help or advice. The site address is: www.4sqt.com. Thanks in advance!

Scott

Posted: Sat May 31, 2003 7:27 pm (20 years, 10 months ago)

hi scott,

the left hand side frame comes up fine for me [internet explorer 6, 800x600 res, win 98] Smile

however the positioning for the main part is quite messed up which means some of the text can't be seen etc - i'll e-mail you a few screenshots i took so you'll see just how it looks

did you try using the "clean up word html" feature in dreamweaver when you imported it?

i made my first web pages in word and it is notorious for producing horrendous code so it's best to keep things as simple as possible if using it...

so if (worst case scenario) you have to remake the page - give dreamweaver a go Smile

Junior WebHelper Joined: 18 May 2003 Posts: 27

Hi Fizzy,

Thanks for your reply. I did try the "clean up word HTML" feature in Dreamweaver. I believe I re-uploaded the "About Scott's Quality Translations" page to my server. Did you notice that this page looked OK, or if you don't remember maybe you could check again when you have a chance. That's what I was unsure of-- if the "clean up word HTML" would just fix everything, or if I would have to start over from scratch (ugh!). I've heard a lot of negative comments about creating web pages in Word also. But that way I didn't have to write any HTML code. Please let me know if you get the chance to check that page. Thanks.

Scott

Posted: Sat May 31, 2003 9:05 pm (20 years, 10 months ago)

Yes, imho all M$ products produce horrendous html Smile

It (the index page) seems to appear ok in mozilla on wind0ze (1152*764 res), however is there supposed to be a background image to your nav frame, similar to the main frame???, cos it doesn't show in mozilla

4WebHelp Addict Joined: 07 Jan 2002 Posts: 1060

Scrolling in1024x768 in Mozilla
positioning totally screwed in IE6 and things overlapping

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2003 3:16 am (20 years, 10 months ago)

This site and it's code is a HUGE mess. As Justin noted, there're many things stuck on top of each other, text that's hidden either behind something else or just trailing off into nowhere, etc. Also the visual design is pretty busy and overformatted.

My advice is to learn just enough HTML to do it yourself or to start over FROM SCRATCH in DW. I took a quick peek in the code and it's full to the brim with JUNK that does nothing except to confuse and screw up your page display in many browsers.

P.S., Don't let any of your customers see this site yet, esp. the part that says:

Quote:

Thanks for stopping by. I have done my best to make this a [rest of text not visible]

They're liable to get the wrong idea about your business. Wink

BTW, extra junk in the HTML can also be created by DW, even after cleaning up the mess from MS Word. It's a good reason for learning to write your own code, which wouldn't have to be very advanced to create an attractive and functional site with same content and capability you have now.

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2003 11:03 am (20 years, 10 months ago)

hi again scott,

i looked at the about page - the positioning is still wonky in IE6.
the brown line goes through the title and the last line that appears (only the top half can be seen though) is

Quote:

lightning and the lightning bug.” Trust Scott's Quality

while i agree which much of what verto said, don't think your only option is to learn html and hand code the site. i'm all for that way of life myself but it doesn't suit everybody. right now, presumably your priority is getting your site online and if learning html would be a big obstacle for you, don't worry about it for now. in my experience, dreamweaver produces excellent code and you would not have any of the problems you are having now. if it looks ok in the dreamweaver preview, it should look good on the web. furthermore, once you get the hang of it, it is very easy to use and you should be able to quickly create a simple yet striking site with lovely clean code behind it.

give us a shout if you need a hand Smile

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2003 2:06 am (20 years, 10 months ago)

fizzy wrote:

while i agree which much of what verto said, don't think your only option is to learn html and hand code the site....

You probably just misread what I said, fizzy, but I also mentioned the same option you did:

verto wrote:

...My advice is to learn just enough HTML to do it yourself or to start over FROM SCRATCH in DW....

And looks like I should try to explain what I meant about how junk gets created in DW.

fizzy wrote:

...in my experience, dreamweaver produces excellent code and you would not have any of the problems you are having now....

My comment wasn't made to criticize DW's code; DW is a fairly powerful tool, and most of its potential for creating junk is in the head and hands of the person using it. The type of design scott did is exactly the kind that creates potential landmines for a beginner in DW, e.g., lots of independently or absolutely positioned elements, many different margin settings, lots of extra fonts and styles, extra layers for dropshadows, underlined text made with independent lines, background sound files, etc. Having lots of stuff like that can not only cause headaches for a beginner, but can also be painful and tedious for more experienced coders to try to debug and fix. Direct HTML coding, on the other hand, might give scott some perspective on easy ways to prune things down, at least partly by simplifying what's he's able to do right away by himself.

It's really not much harder to make a hopeless web design with DW than with MS Word. If scott tried to create a very similar design in DW, IMO, he could very easily end up with just as big a mess as he has now. Hopefully, though, he'll decide instead to drastically simplify the design, no matter which tools he chooses.

.02 Neutral

Junior WebHelper Joined: 18 May 2003 Posts: 27

Hi all,

Well, alas, my free trial to Dreamweaver has expired. Can anyone recommend an easy reference to learn basic HTML quickly and easily? If it's going to be very long and involved to go that route, could anyone recommend someone who would be willing to work on this for a reasonable price? Please let me know if anyone has any ideas/advice. Thanks.

Scott

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:17 pm (20 years, 10 months ago)

first up, apologies to verto - i had misunderstood you - please forgive me? Embarassed

i used word to make my first ever web page and only used dreamweaver when i had hand coded for ages and knew what i was at so i guess, i just find it hard to understand how you can make as big a mess with it!

scott, there are lots of helpful websites out there to help you learn html. you can learn the basics in a few hours. the code behind the site you made is very complex but if you keep it a lot simpler, it won't take you long to get going. and i'm not just recommending a simple design to cut down on the homework for you - simpler designs often look best and work best.

a couple of excellent sites are:
http://www.yourhtmlsource.com - the my first site section is ideal, wish this site was around when i started!!
http://www.lissaexplains.com/intro.shtml - not just for kids!
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/authoring/ - tutorials with personality...

as for letting someone else do the dirty work, if you are *really* desperate (and not in a mad rush), you could always give http://www.designsonyoursite.com a try (shameless plug alert!) Wink

Junior WebHelper Joined: 18 May 2003 Posts: 27

Fizzy,

I can't comment on the code, but I think my overall site design is pretty simple. I haven't messed up the code myself, because I've barely touched it, so apparently it was already "messed up" when word produced it (or Dreamweaver). Thanks for the references-- I sent a message to the website you suggested; is this a friend? Just wondering. Smile

Scott

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:53 pm (20 years, 10 months ago)

oh no scott, i stooped far lower than that! i'm afraid i'm the guilty party! Razz

i've sent you an e-mail so if you're interested give me a shout and if not, that's absolutely fine!

i've *never* gone round looking for business on message boards and i didn't want to start now. it's just a hobby of mine, with the prices i charge i should have failed my maths & business degree Wink

i should probably just stick to waffling at places like this Smile

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2003 2:48 am (20 years, 10 months ago)

fizzy wrote:

first up, apologies to verto - i had misunderstood you - please forgive me? Embarassed

i used word to make my first ever web page and only used dreamweaver when i had hand coded for ages and knew what i was at so i guess, i just find it hard to understand how you can make as big a mess with it!

np, fizzy, I can see where you're coming from. Wink

my own experience has included a bit of software training and also occasionally cleaning up messes made by corporate 'designers' using pro tools like DW, Photoshop, and Quark, so I've seen some of those problems firsthand and in all too intimate detail. Surprised

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2003 1:33 pm (20 years, 10 months ago)

I myself wouldn't find it too hard to clean up the site code even though I am not cheap and typically charge £500.00 per hour for solution providing.

Although I have hacker ethics that prevent me from charging money for website recoding, maintainace, or design, etc. Around five pages is not too a steep task and if I have time I'd clear the M$ code lint if you really wanted though it would only be a partial answer.

Since the best solution is actually to learn basic HTML and CSS if you intend to keep your site maintained on a fairly regular basis, even if you don't choose to create the design yourself.