| homeparentsADM: | Hi Tricia! Glad you could make it!! We are waiting for a few more to stop in before starting |
|
HostessJulie: | the first half of the chat is for html Questions and Answers... feel free to jump in if you have any |
| Janet: | OK, I'll start... |
| Janet: | I have a general question - how do you 'see' what you are going to create, if you just have a blank note tab in front of you? do you sketch on paper? |
| HostessJulie: | good question.... |
| HostessJulie: | I see my pages in my head.. but having a layout on paper is a good idea, especially if you are creating a page for someone else.. they can sketch what they want |
| HostessJulie: | sometimes the layout of the page just evolves as you are working on it |
| homeparentsADM: | how do you view what you are making using just Notepad? I use Homesite, and it have a view option. |
| Janet: | that is a big hurdle for me - seeing the layout then going to code. I need to see things all of the time :) |
| Janet: | I do visualize how I want things, but I usually need to stay in visual mode |
| HostessJulie: | you type the url in your browser.. for example if it were a file named barb.html on your c drive, the address would be c:\barb.html |
| homeparentsADM: | ahh...I have used Netscape Navigator Gold to make a page...a what you see is what you get, but I didn't like how it changed a lot of the HTML coding |
| Barb: | what determines the *ending* .. like html, or some are htm or some are .com? |
| HostessJulie: | the only problem for me with "visual mode" is that you are viewing how that one program displays your page. When you hand code it, you can be pretty sure you are coding for most broswers |
| HostessJulie: | html pages are htm or html... The default is html |
| HostessJulie: | .com signifies an executable program |
| Barb: | so every page that you *hand code* would end with .html? |
| HostessJulie: | or a domain name |
| HostessJulie: | Barb: you can use either. |
| Barb: | ok, thanks - that's always baffled me. |
| HostessJulie: | but if you had two files named index.html and index.htm the one with the html extension would display |
| HostessJulie: | if you did not specify the file, but just typed in the domain name |
| homeparentsADM: | Isn't it hard to type in all the coding manually? I just hit "quick anchor" with Homesite and the coding comes up when I'm making a link |
| HostessJulie: | the reason for the difference is a long story that deals with dos and the way filenames were used prior to Windows 95 |
| Janet: | oh...I had wondered on that |
| HostessJulie: | Barb: I don't find it difficult... but with Homsite, you are technically using html, you just have hotkeys.. so it's not like using a graphic editor |
| Tricia: | I have homesite...Do you have to register it to get a manual or is it just learn by trial and error? |
| Tricia: | And are there any worthwhile books on the market on building web pages? |
| homeparentsADM: | It should have a fairly decent help section, Tricia..I did register my homesite..liked it so much |
| HostessJulie: | Tricia: the best first book in my opinion is HTML for dummies... great book! |
| Barb: | i have mspublisher which "publishes to the web" but at that point, i'm lost! |
| homeparentsADM: | Homesite does some neat forms I found out.. |
| Janet: | does the Publisher have an FTP tool, Barb? (asking for your server password and user name to send files to the server) |
| Barb: | yes |
| Tricia: | A friend told me to try homesite but all those buttons make me lost |
| Janet: | where did you get lost at? |
| Barb: | ftp'ing it from "the page" to "the web" |
| homeparentsADM: | I tried mspublisher with my personal homepage...wouldn't publish to the web because my ISP has to have a special web publishing tool..it doesn't support FTP |
| Barb: | oh really? |
| Janet: | oh really? I thought just Front Page had those extensions |
| Barb: | maybe that's part of my problem |
| Tricia: | Just I don't know what to do... Maybe I just need to be willing to experiment. |
| homeparentsADM: | could be, Barb. Who is your ISP? |
| Barb: | premier1.net |
| homeparentsADM: | if they have a webpage, it might tell how to upload to the web.. |
| Barb: | the last time i tried to do a page i had to spend an entire afternoon with them to get it published to the web! very frustrating ... at that point i decided it was easier to pay someone else!! |
| homeparentsADM: | tricia..I actually use very few of the buttons on HOmesite..mainly the quick anchor for links, quick picture for graphics, and the font buttons |
| Janet: | can you take files created in mspub and ftp them up with another tool, like FTP Explorer? Or is it something in the code (back to html for hostessJulie :) |
| HostessJulie: | no, it is with the way the isp handles their uploads... |
| Barb: | janet, you KNOW i don't know what any of that means ... i'm definitely html challenged!! |
| HostessJulie: | each one has different rules.. FTP is a security issue |
| homeparentsADM: | it took me weeks of messing around before I could upload my personal homepage! But, it's not business related, or I would have paid, too! |
| Tricia: | For my family page, I just used the editor that my ISP offers... but on that one I would like to put a picture and that just baffled me. |
| HostessJulie: | that's why places like geocities have the online publishing tool |
| Janet: | oh, I meant 'you' as a general question, Barb :) |
| Barb: | oh, OK, thanks - i was taking it p ersonally! haha |
| HostessJulie: | well does anyone feel like making a webpage? |
| Janet: | haha - no, I don't know the answer either. |
| Barb: | i'd love to. |
| HostessJulie: | ok, are we all using windows? |
| homeparentsADM: | sure, I'm game! |
| Barb: | i am |
| homeparentsADM: | yup- |
| Janet: | yes |
| Tricia: | I am. |
| HostessJulie: | ok great.. fire up notepad |
| Barb: | i'm fired up and ready! |
| homeparentsADM: | ok...done..it's under /accessories, by the way |
| HostessJulie: | if you haven't already done this, hit the float button on this chat window to open it up and remove that banner |
| Tricia: | Okay I am there :) |
| Barb: | me too |
| homeparentsADM: | me too. |
| HostessJulie: | http://www.mommy-mall.com/hna102198.htm |
| HostessJulie: | ok cool... |
| HostessJulie: | that address will take you to an example page we can create.. it also has some useful links |
| Janet: | for those new to the chat room, you can hit the 'surf' button to take you to that page |
| HostessJulie: | if you hit the surf button it should take you there |
| Janet: | |
| HostessJulie: | :) |
| homeparentsADM: | my surf button didn't work..strange.:( |
| HostessJulie: | if you right click anywhere on that page, you can select "view source" to see the code, if you want a cheat sheet |
| Barb: | ok, i have that page now too. |
| Tricia: | Do you need to highlight the address? |
| HostessJulie: | no |
| HostessJulie: | if surf did not work for you, then you can type that address into your browser |
| Tricia: | Okay |
| HostessJulie: | let me know when you all have that loaded |
| homeparentsADM: | hmm...I just copied/pasted the url since the surf isn't working for me.. |
| homeparentsADM: | I'm there now |
| Janet: | loaded |
| HostessJulie: | ok you should have a blank page in notepad... |
| Tricia: | Going there (Im a little behind but I will catch up! |
| HostessJulie: | The first line is <html> |
| HostessJulie: | that tells the browser it is a web page |
| HostessJulie: | on the second line you type in |
| HostessJulie: | <head> |
| Barb: | i have a blank notepad and the url opened - wow, lots of *screens* all at once .. should be an adventure! |
| HostessJulie: | every web page should have a head |
| Barb: | oh, i thought that was "my name" hahah |
| HostessJulie: | type ok if you are with me |
| Barb: | ok |
| Janet: | LOL Barb! ok |
| Tricia: | Okay |
| HostessJulie: | third line is your title |
| HostessJulie: | type it in like this: |
| HostessJulie: | <title> My Links Page </title> |
| HostessJulie: | we are going to skip keywords right now, so we can get to the meat |
| Barb: | ok |
| homeparentsADM: | ok! this is neat |
| HostessJulie: | the next line closes the head like this |
| HostessJulie: | </head> |
| HostessJulie: | Then we open the body of the page |
| HostessJulie: | the next line defines your background color and the colors of your links on the page. |
| HostessJulie: | like this: |
| HostessJulie: | <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#FF0033" vlink="#330066" alink="#000000"> |
| HostessJulie: | just type that in and I'll explain it if you need me to |
| homeparentsADM: | just wondering how you can find the codes for those colors? |
| HostessJulie: | the example page has a link to a color chart |
| homeparentsADM: | ah...ok, thanks Julie! |
| Tricia: | okay... This seems so easy now ... or at least you make it seem easy. |
| Barb: | what example page? |
| HostessJulie: | http://www.mommy-mall.com/hna102198.htm |
| homeparentsADM: | I need to link to that page Julie..it's excellent! |
| HostessJulie: | ok lets go to the next line and I'll explain the body tag later if needed |
| HostessJulie: | ok the next line is the heading of your page |
| HostessJulie: | <h2> My Links Page </h2> |
| homeparentsADM: | ok |
| HostessJulie: | h2 gives you a large, but not obnoxious heading |
| homeparentsADM: | h2 is the standard..right? I hate sites that use bigger headings.. |
| HostessJulie: | yes Barb, h2 is a good choice |
| Barb: | yes, i can only stay for about ten more minutes, but i'd definitely like to do it again. |
| HostessJulie: | ok lets add one link then and save this page, so you can see it |
| HostessJulie: | the next line is a simple paragraph break |
| HostessJulie: | <p> |
| HostessJulie: | and the next line is will be a link |
| HostessJulie: | <b> <a href="http://www.mommy-mall.com/hna">Home Not Alone</a></b> |
| HostessJulie: | add that line |
| homeparentsADM: | ok |
| HostessJulie: | the next line will close our body |
| HostessJulie: | </body> |
| HostessJulie: | and the last line will close the page |
| HostessJulie: | </html> |
| homeparentsADM: | ok..done! |
| HostessJulie: | once you have done that, you can save this file to your hard drive |
| HostessJulie: | name it hnachat.htm |
| Janet: | why htm and not html? |
| HostessJulie: | either or |
| HostessJulie: | it makes no difference here |
| Janet: | what about for 'real' web pages? I always use html |
| HostessJulie: | Janet, this is a real page, and the two names are interchangeable... you can use either extension |
| homeparentsADM: | on my miningco site, they are all .htm except for the mainpage... |
| Janet: | ok |
| Janet: | I like consistency! :) |
| Barb: | ok, i'm saved to the hard drive |
| HostessJulie: | once you have saved the file, type the path into your browser and you can see it |
| HostessJulie: | if it is on your c drive, you type |
| Barb: | really? |
| HostessJulie: | c:\hnachat.htm |
| HostessJulie: | or if it's in a directory, type the whole directory |
| Janet: | or you should be able to click on the file in Explorer and it will bring up your default browser to view it. |
| HostessJulie: | Janet, that will work, too.. |
| HostessJulie: | you should have a plain white page with a heading and one link |
| Barb: | on the browser line? c:\hnachat.htm???? |
| HostessJulie: | yes on the browserline |
| HostessJulie: | just like you would type in an url |
| Barb: | WOW .. it's there!!! |
| HostessJulie: | hahaha cool! |
| HostessJulie: | once you have done this basic page, you can use this to create other pages in the future, by adding links, changing the colors and the formatting, as you learn the commands |
| HostessJulie: | we definitely have to do this again... so we can try other things... and do more |
| HostessJulie: | definitely keep that example page though, it has some good resources |
| homeparentsADM: | yeah, we do...I'll get in touch Julie, and we can add some more topics..this was surprisingly easy to create! |
| HostessJulie: | it really is easy when you know the tags... |
| HostessJulie: | then you are not limited by anything |
| homeparentsADM: | ok, well, is that about it? |
| HostessJulie: | Yea, the hour went fast |
| HostessJulie: | I had more planned, but ran out of time |
| homeparentsADM: | an hour goes by fast in chats |
| HostessJulie: | it really does... |
