Topic: HTML assistance?

[Quemaqua]

Trying to start up a site design for some of my writing and music and junk, but uh... it's been a long, long time since I've done any HTML and I basically forgot everything I ever knew.  I've looked at some tutorials here and there but I was never that advanced to begin with and I'm not having luck figuring out exactly what I want to do.

I want to have a framed or tabled thing with a menu on one side and a main window on the other, and maybe a banner thing at the top.  Really super amazingly simple.  But if somebody links to an individual page, I want the menu frame to continue to show.  I've only ever used frames for this sort of thing, so I don't know how to accomplish this.

No pressure to help if you feel I'm too worthless to assist, but even just a link would be cool.

What I've got so far is now up at www.theflyingmonkeyapparatus.com.

[scottws]

As far as formatting, frames are perfect for this but frames are unpopular and on their way out.  XHTML + CSS is the way to go and I can do some rudimentary stuff.  I haven't quite gotten columns down in CSS though.

XHTML + CSS is easy as far as syntax, but as far as formatting I can sometimes have some trouble.  I'll look into it and let you know what I can come up with.

[Quemaqua]

Seriously, the last time I paid any attention to any of this stuff was probably 6 years ago at least.  Actually probably more.  I maintained a small site for a while that was roughly akin to what I want to do with this one, just smaller and more stupid.

Like I don't even know what XHTML or CSS actually *are*.  I just don't care.  I fucking hate this stuff... but I feel as though now I need to get back into it.  I need to find some avenues for advertising and getting my stuff out to people, and given the material of a lot of my writing (and potentially some comic projects), the web is going to be a prime target given that a lot of my audience will naturally be spending time there.  So I need to get it done and I don't want to pay anybody (paying for hosting is enough, thanks).  So that means learning how to do all this boring crap I hate.

And I can see why frames would be going.  I always hated them.  Heh.

[scottws]

XHTML is just strict HTML.  Tags must be in lower case.  All tags must be closed (no opening <p> tag with no closing </p> anymore), and the ones that aren't really closed because they define some sort of object like <hr> get a hybrid open/closing tag (<hr /> in this case).

If you know HTML, you pretty much know XHTML but you just can't be lazy anymore with your tags.  And there are a couple extra opening statements.

CSS seems like a lot to take in at first, but it's actually really powerful.  You can change the look of a whole website by just changing a single CSS file.

Basically the XHTML documents are the actual content.  You do the formatting (bold, margins, line thicknesses, fonts, colors, paragraph spacing, etc.) in CSS.

If you can, get Macromedia Dreamweaver.  Or at least Homesite.  It makes this stuff a lot quicker.

[Quemaqua]

Interesting.  Thanks for the info.  I've never been lazy with my tags so that's not an issue.  I'm sort of OCD when it comes to this kind of thing.  Gotta' have the ducks in a row and all that.

[NatchDan]

I know it might be seen as cheating, but my site uses WordPress. I'm completely code-retarded, and so the simplicity of WP makes me happy. There are also a lot of templates out there that people with more knowledge than I have put together, which I had just enough know-how to edit to make my own colourscheme and images and the like. As for customising the site itself, WP has these things called "widgets" - basically bits of code that come to you as files that you unload into the right directory on your host and then they have a front end within the WP admin panel that makes them easy as piss to use.

[scottws]

Que, check your e-mail.

[Quemaqua]

Appreciate the comments Dan.  Was kind of wondering how you got your site off the ground.

And Scott, thanks so much man.  That's absolutely perfect.  I'm beat as all get out today, but soon as I get a little more free time I'm completely giving that a shot.  Seriously, thanks!

[scottws]

So, how's the project going?  If you need more info about CSS or XHTML, let me know and I'll see if I can't dig something else up.

[Quemaqua]

Unfortunately I haven't had any chance at all to even look at it yet.  Got way too much on my plate, as usual, plus some extra crap at work.  What you sent me was awesome... as soon as I get the chance to do something with it I'm going to.