janice williams wrote:
>
> Barry, Kathy, Peter and Susan:
>
> Thanks for your responses to my FP questions. I will look into your
> suggestions for better editors, html books, etc.. I feel I must defend
> myself and say I do have a good knowledge of html. This was my first
> experience with an editor. The web site I'm working on is for a
> non-profit agency I volunteer with and could lead to paying work! I
> thought using an editor would help with organization and save time. Why
> did I start with FP? I already had the program.
One of the things to learn about HTML is that it is based on a set of
standards that makes the pages readable by all machines and all
browsers.
This "openness" is contrary to MSFT's normal operating stance.
In addition, WYSI[N]WYG editors (FP, Pagemill, Dreamweaver, NC, etc) try
to insulate you from having to "learn HTML" but they all produce
nonstandard code.
You can write HTML using "free" editors like BBEdit Light (Mac) and
HomeSite (wintel -- i'm going to post the freeware version up on my
"class" site -- it's version 1.5).
Either of these text editors will make you learn a bit of HTML - but
it's not like true scratch programming in Notepad or SimpleText -- and
frankly, I think that's quicker than trying to learn how a WYSI[N]WYG
program works. Particularly one like FP which makes it so damn hard to
actually get 'at' the code in the first place and then changes it back
in the second.
> Kathy, the page is on my
> hard drive (FP) and viewed on a web site with Netscape.
OK -- that's the first problem then.
FP creates a lot of "special" (read proprietary) code that only it knows
-- so, it looks at your hard drive, sees its files, and renders a page.
Netscape, on the other hand, doesn't "know" these tags. Thus, it can't
make the page look the same.
Make Sense?
To truly test your pages, you need to post them to a web server and then
look at the pages with MSIE, Netscape, Opera, etc.
However, if your ISP is set up with FrontPage extensions, the web site
might look fine in Netscape -- which doesn't necessarily mean the code
is good!
once you've posted it to the web, take a look at it thru
http://www.cast.org/bobby/
> You guys are somewhat intimidating to a novice! :-) I'll stick around,
> I think you guys are good and I can learn a lot.....Janice
There are a lot of experienced folks on this list -- from a wide variety
of disciplines. I think you'll learn a lot about *anything* that has to
do with the web by being active on this list.
We're also pretty darn opinionated, if you haven't figured that out yet!
I encourage you to consider joining the HTML Writers Guild and your
local chapter of WebGrrls.
Building a web site for a non-profit is a good way to build a portfolio
and /learn/ .... one of my students has built a site for the Seattle
chapter of MADD -- and she took things from class and constantly
improved the site. It hardly looks like the same one she started with 11
weeks ago!
Also -- critique time (but I really can't change much) for the class
project:
http://www.dotparagon.com/test/class/
There are some typos and at least one picture is missing -- but I think
for a "first time" web site and for a team effort -- they did pretty
darn good! I'll be doing the finishing touches on it (proofing, finding
the missing jpeg, etc) and will shout then for final set of eyes -- then
it will go up on the College server for a "portfolio" piece for the
class.
Kathy
--
========================
Kathy E. Gill
http://www.dotparagon.com/aboutgill.html
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Ghandi
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