RE: [DL] Building a Deadlands site

["Heivilin, Jim" <banzai@missouri.edu>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas Mayfield [mailto:dragonboyblue@mindspring.com] 
> Subject: Re: [DL] Building a Deadlands site
<snip request for web help>
> Well, there's two approaches you can use here.  One, you can 
> learn HTML and code your page yourself with a text editor.  
>
This allows you to have (once you know enough) absolute, positive (at least
as much as you can get) control on how your page looks.  I also recommend
you have several different people look at it with several different
"configurations".  

What I mean by this is I do my web coding at work (mainly) and I have a 21"
monitor set for 1280x1024 resolution connected to the internet through a LAN
going to a T1 pipe.  Which means that what's way cool for me may be
blindingly slow and hugely ugly for someone with a 15" monitor and a modem
connection.  

> Two, you can shell out for a WYSIWYG editor and use the 
> program to make it.  If you do so, I recommend
> you get Dreamweaver; all of the other one's I've worked with 
> are clunky and hard to get exactly what you want.  
> 
This will get you directly into making web pages up.  However you surrender
a certain amount of control to the program since it puts the code into
place.  The better web editor programs will allow you to switch to an html
mode where you can directly edit the code once you learn what it does.  And
whatever you do stay away from NetObject Fusion.  Even if someone gives you
it for free.  It's code is ugly and anyone I've heard of using it regrets it
eventually.  

And I have heard good things about Dreamweaver.  

> If you want to learn HTML, it isn't that hard to do.  A good 
> source for beginners' tutorials is at Webmonkey 
> (http://www.webmonkey.com ).  Followtheir examples, and 
> you'll be creating in no time.  Never pay money for a
> book on HTML... it is not worth it for such a simple 
> language.   You can find everything you need online.  
> 
While it *is* true that you can eventually find everything you need on html
online, if you want to get into some of the more advanced topics (cascading
style sheets, JavaScript, etc) you might consider a book.  Although the
speed with which things change on the web often makes a straight html book
obsolete relatively quickly.  

I would also recommend 

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerAll.html

This is from the NCSA at the University of Illinois (the people who invented
html).  

Jim 

Jim Heivilin, System Administrator
IAT Services, Open Systems Team 
University of Missouri at Columbia
mailto:banzai@missouri.edu, 573-884-3898