Newbie Web Designer
- Thread starter Rusty K
- Start date
Yes I too wondered about the <style><style/> after linking to the css file...didn't seem necessary.
The truth is I already had and understanding of the absolute/relative path linking but the editor tutorial confused me on this.
My pages are displaying perfectly in the editor view but not in the browser. Obviously I still have problems somewhere but I don't understand why. Maybe I'll check my code with Notepad to see if that makes a difference.
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
What browser are you using? What's different between what you see in the browser compared to what you see in the designer?
The default is IE. I haven't checked it in FireFox and Opera since last night but??? I'll check...
IE...jumps, not all the style is there...text is missing and one graphic on the pages subsequent to the index.
Opera...no jump but there is just part of the border in style and one graphic is missing as well as text on the index page.
FireFox...jumps but has a little bit more of the style, not all. The same graphic is missing as well as the text on the index page.
Hey I've got a gig tonight so until later...Have a great Thanksgiving!
Notepad Experiment
I copied the index.html markup from my editor to Notepad saved it and opened it with Firefox. The only thing that came up correctly was the background color and the menu without any "style". No graphics or text visible...I'm assuming there was no pathway assigned to those missing items?
I copied the index.html markup from my editor to Notepad saved it and opened it with Firefox. The only thing that came up correctly was the background color and the menu without any "style". No graphics or text visible...I'm assuming there was no pathway assigned to those missing items?
Ok...so this is turning into an epic and I don't want to bore anyone with every pitfall of my experience.
I now believe that my pages are displaying correctly in the browser view...that is except for one graphic in subsequent pages to my index page layout. The problem with display before was that I was clicking on links rather than tabs to bounce from one page to another in the browser. This seems to cause the problem with the view.
mjr...just wanted to avoid bothering you with that one. I'll try to muddle through and if I run into a big problem I'll IM you.
Thanks again.
I now believe that my pages are displaying correctly in the browser view...that is except for one graphic in subsequent pages to my index page layout. The problem with display before was that I was clicking on links rather than tabs to bounce from one page to another in the browser. This seems to cause the problem with the view.
mjr...just wanted to avoid bothering you with that one. I'll try to muddle through and if I run into a big problem I'll IM you.
Thanks again.
Sorry, never got back to this thread after the other day. Just finishing an 8000 word physics assignment so I'm gonna be busy for another few hours
When I have a spare 20 minutes I'll take a look over the HTML you posted and see if I can point out any improvements.
Appreciate it...I'm still having problems with the display in a browser and I can't figure out why...but I'll wait until you have a look. Maybe you'll find the problem.
As far as the tableless webpage design, I've looked over some of the links to tutorials and my first impression is that they are a little confusing and assume that one has a basic understanding of html...I'm a newbie.
My small simple website is up. For some reason CSS is not functioning. The text is all there but it's black on a black background...supposed to be white. The site displays in my editor and when I check in my default browser although for some reason some menu links open as visited instead of new. I've checked it in three browsers and there is no CSS at all and one graphic is missing in two out of three (except for the index page). As I've stated before, the layout jumps down the page a space or so when the graphic is missing. I have no idea what's causing the problem. 
Perhaps I'm screwing up the FTP transfer somehow. I first tried transfering the images and css file in there folders. I wound up with empty folders on the server. Then I tried making the directories on the server first and then transferring the files...but nothing has worked so far.
Does all the "meta and title" section have to appear in the head on each successive page? Obviously the linked css does, but what about the rest?
I hope someone will take a look and find the problem...
http://www.thefabs.net
Thanks
Perhaps I'm screwing up the FTP transfer somehow. I first tried transfering the images and css file in there folders. I wound up with empty folders on the server. Then I tried making the directories on the server first and then transferring the files...but nothing has worked so far.
Does all the "meta and title" section have to appear in the head on each successive page? Obviously the linked css does, but what about the rest?
I hope someone will take a look and find the problem...
http://www.thefabs.net
Thanks
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
This seems to be your problem. I tried locating the CSS file, based on the path information you have in the HTML, and got a 404 (not found). Are the CSS files on the server? If not, that's your problem. What FTP program are you using? And out of curiosity, why are you using Frames?
It's not necessary, but it's a good practice. Especially the title. It's good for the crawlers and bots that index pages, but also make sure to use the keywords you have in your meta data in your pages as well.
I'm using WS FTP...I'm not sure how the transferred files are supposed to look on the server...I mean, should I have the images and css in separate directories as they are in separate folders in my root file on my computer? The css link also points to /include/ which is the folder I keep them in. As I stated the images in my "images" directory are showing just fine...except for one "background" on pages subsequent to the index.
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
It would help to mirror the directory structure on your local machine.
Have you tried doing an FTP through the Windows Explorer, instead of using WS FTP?
Here's instructions on how to do that if you want to give it a try:
http://www.ncsu.edu/resnet/file_transfer/ftp-windows-explorer.php
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
Cool. Let me know how it goes.
I'm going cross-eyed on this BS. The account for our web host is owned by another member of the band so I can't make up new login and password info. I open IE and the home page comes up. I type in the ftp host name and a diag box pops up saying WS FTP is my default...I click to opt out of that and login diag box comes up. I type in info and it goes back to the default diag. WS FTP...I'm in a loop. I guess I'll double check the login info but I'm not getting a login error notice. I don't get it?
PS Double checked the login info and I was correct.
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
I'm going cross-eyed on this BS. The account for our web host is owned by another member of the band so I can't make up new login and password info. I open IE and the home page comes up. I type in the ftp host name and a diag box pops up saying WS FTP is my default...I click to opt out of that and login diag box comes up. I type in info and it goes back to the default diag. WS FTP...I'm in a loop. I guess I'll double check the login info but I'm not getting a login error notice. I don't get it?
PS Double checked the login info and I was correct.
Instead of trying it with IE, try it with Windows Explorer (like when you click on My Computer).
Try the username this way (in Windows Explorer):
ftp://username@www.whatever.com
And see what happens.
Otherwise, when you log in through WS FTP, do you see the CSS files anywhere, at all? If you don't see t hem, that's your problem with your styles.
Ok that worked but....there is still no style. All the files are showing to be there...they were also there with WS_FTP. Let me ask this...I had my buddy check with his server whether or not they support PHP...they do not. You don't suppose that is the case with the css extension as well? Dumb question? WS FTP says under options/extensions that all files are transferred as binary except text which is ASCll. Would that have anything to do with it? I tried adding the css extension and it didn't seem to make a difference. If it's not a transfer problem it's got to be in the code somewhere. Also there is still that missing gif. on some of the pages.
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
The host not supporting PHP should not be a problem.
The .css is a pretty standard extension for CSS files. They're simply text files.
It does sound like it might be a path problem somewhere. Did you mirror the site on your local machine and on the server? If the styles are working locally, and you mirror it exactly on the server, everything should work.
Yes I was grasping at straws with the extension thing.
If by "mirror" you mean four html pages and two folders, one for images and the other for the css file, which is what I have on my computer then yes.
Opened my editor again and previewed in the default browser which is IE. The style is there except that four menu links show as "visited", that's not right. Also the same graphic is missing on the last three pages. It has to be a coding thing. Remember...I took out the "generated by" lines. Do you think this freebie editor requires those lines to be there?
Tell me this...If I build the site using notepad, do I set it up with a root folder and subfolders just like I do with the editor?
Sorry for this BS...I'm pulling my hair out at this point.
More...I opened this as an xhtml page originally. I had an option for that or HTML. I'm so green that I don't know what the difference actually is...would that make a difference.
mjr
ADD -- blessing and curse
They show as visited because you didn't clear your cache in your browser.
They shouldn't have to be there at all.
Yes, absolutely. This will make maintaining your site much easier.
In a nutshell, XHTML is a stricter version of HTML. Essentially, in XHTML, everything (tags and elements) is closed.
For instance, in HTML, to do a line break, you do <br>, whereas in XHTML it's <br />
And you can still use the .html extension. With the newer browsers, you shouldn't notice a difference when it gets rendered.