Question for HTML Wizzards..

[Shredder565]

I'm planning to relaunch my turtles site, and I have a question for the HTML writers for Toonzone, and anyone with the skill for it in general..

1 - http://www.shreddersdojo.com/webposts/SiteMainPage.jpg
Any reviews on that lay out are appreciated...

2- I need the layout too be easy to edit. I don't want to have 100 different HTML pages laying around since I work at various computers during the course of a year. The Message Board Format makes this do-able, but the layout is horrible and is not as smooth looking as HTML. I've tried Joomla, but I can't figure out how to set it up. If anyone knows of a way to organise lots of information, make it easy to edit and look as good as a normal HTML page, most appreciated..

3 - Is a drop down menu easy too create and customize?

And 4 - What type of news setup is used for Toonzone? I need something that can be easy too update, has the ability too display headlines and can archive automatically..

Thanks :)
Neil

[Captain Zechs]

By no means am I a wizard...maybe by next year when I complete all of my programming courses...but...

1. Erm...I'm not the best at reviews, but I dislike the Orange and the Green, they scream tacky. The red is...okay? I think you could pick a better color scheme, I'll throw you a link or 2 that Harley gave me awhile back in regards to color when I find where I put them...

2. I can't think of any specifics at the moment...but GOOGLE it. I have one in mind, but I can't remember the name of it...damn.

3. It is easy to create, not to hard to customize...

4. *Does the Harley Call*

[RogueFanKC]

1.) Looks all right, but your "News Headlines" and "News Full Articles" sections should be the same width for consistency's sake. If having these different sections are a bit painful, just create them as seperate tables inside a BIG table that spans the whole page. In other words (from what I can deduce from your picture but no need to follow it if you don't want to), for example:

<table1 for whole page>
<tr colspan="2">
<td>
<table2 for Logo>
<tr><td> ... </td></tr>
</table2 for Logo>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<table3 for side menu></table3 for side menu>
</td>
<td>
<table4 for News Headlines and Articles></table4>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><table5 for copyright></table5></td></tr>
</table1>

Any HTML reference page on Google will explain more in depth than I ever could. :) But if all else fails, draw it out first to determine where you put a <td> and where you put a <tr> (it's easy to screw up that one - trust me :D ).

2.) Have you considered CSS? That way, you can reuse the color code and style over and over for multiple pages without needing to recode it over and over. It's fast to learn and it'll save time and sanity on your fingers. Just create the CSS file and then include it in each HTML file you wish to derive the style for.

3.) Drop-down menus are easy to customize. Use to HTML to fill in the values and you can use CSS to style the width, length and color of it. You can additionally use Javascript to code and give it a certain behavior if a user selects an option, puts his mouse over it, etc.

In short, practice! Google! And experiment! And you'll get it after a couple of tries, and IMO, practicals are much better than just reading it. Hope this helps.

[Meson]

1. I suggest combinging the news panels. I also suggest you use <div> and CSS. They will make you job a lot easier when you have to edit things



<div id="for_logo"></div>
<div id="side_menu"></div>
<div id="news">
<ul id="headlines">
<li>headline</li>
</ul>
<div id="articles"></div>
</div>
<div id="copyright"></div>



You then use CSS to put each <div> in there correct position

2. As you see above, the html will be simple. Formating should be entirely in CSS.
Notice that I made the headlines list an actual list. The <ul> means bulleted or un-numbered list. If you need them ordered, you can supstitute <ul> with <ol>. This will make them easier to read.

3. Before you get into drop-down lists, get used to CSS first. I suggest using <ul> lists for this with CSS or javascript doing the hard work. Using lists here will make them easier to customize.

4. I have no idea what ToonZone uses, but I use a message board as teh back end for mine. I then use server-side scripting to read the posts for my news blog.