RE: Quick How to question --- -- WEB400

Hi Jeff, welcome to the wonderful world of web design!

If I might make a couple of humble suggestions:

1.  Don't cheat yourself.  Learn 'real' HTML, don't rely on FrontPage, or
Composer, or Dreamweaver.  Learn how to code HTML in notepad (or something
similar) first, you'll thank yourself later.  In fact, if you are just
starting, I would recommend you start with XHTML1.0 since it is the newest
standard for HTML embraced by the W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium).  This
is the group responsible for developing web standards.
http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/default.asp

2.  While you're at it, learn CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).  CSS is one of
the coolest things going.  You get a great amount of control over the final
presentation of your pages, and when done properly they should work on any
browser (ancient versioning aside).  Again, consult the W3C and prepare to
thank yourself in the near future.
http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp

3.  In general, you want to keep pages as small as possible.  By small I
mean in download size.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to limit the
use of graphics, images, pictures, etc.  The real question to ask is why use
a graphic for a button when a button will do?  I'm not saying there aren't
good reasons, just make sure the good reason isn't "cause I can!"  :-)

4.  The same theory holds true for JavaScript.  JavaScript is a powerful
tool and greatly enhance your webpages... When used properly.  The first
question I would ask is why open a new window?  Is it going to be a regular
window, complete with it's own address bar, resizing, title bar, tool
buttons, and such?  If so, I would recommend just using "target='_newpage'"
in the anchor tag.  On the other hand, if you are looking to control any of
the attributes above then JavaScript is the way to go.


Good Luck,

Joel R. Cochran
Director of Internet Services
VamaNet.com
(800) 480-8810
webmaster@vamanet.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Silberberg [mailto:jsilberberg@mindspring.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 9:34 AM
> To: web400@midrange.com
> Subject: [WEB400] Quick How to question ---
>
>
> Morning,
>
>         Being a newbie to HTML and graphically challenged I
> have to ask what I hope is a simple question..  Using
> Frontpage as my design tool, I added a button GIF to a page,
> Then using the tool bar I inserted text onto the button,
> finally, I made this a hotspot, and placed a simple Java
> Script behind the button that does a Window.Open.
>
>         Now besides the issue with the window,open statement
> not being word wrapped in the HTML Panel.  I also have a
> OS400 issue.  The host is a 170, V4R5 with the original HTTP
> engine.  However, while the button works great, if I leave
> the text on it, I get a FrontPage Component Failure message
> on the served page, instead of the visual button and text.
> Looks like a Webbot is not working, which I suspect is a
> "FrontPage Extension".  Am I correct ????  Should this be working ???
>
>         My option seems to be build multiple versions of the
> Gif with the text in the object, any other options someone
> can suggest ??
>
>         TIA,
>         JMS..
> ========================
> Jeffrey Silberberg
> CompuDesigns, Inc.
> Atlanta, Georgia  30350-5640
> (770) 399-9464
>
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