Hello All,

I finally bit the bullet and went out to find a web host. It is a personal site that is to be a tutorial of sorts on moving from a static HTML site to one that is created with PHP functions dynamically. I unrealistically started trying to build with PHP at the start but realized it would be much better to start with a very simple, repeating design in HTML and then make the swap to PHP. I am more or less happy with the overall layout now. I am currently going through the CSS file to finish defining the individual classes.

The general design consists of floating DIVs with a 95% wide header, 3 columns that can be of any length, and a footer that will stay at the bottom no matter which column is the longest. It will stay stable until you get < 780 pixels wide.

The content is displayed based on a the CSS class in a <P>...</p> block. Keeping everything very divided like this should make it easier to seperate things later. Each paragraph should be able to be replaced with a PHP function that takes the content as an arguement.

Some things I would like to improve upon.

• How to make the short colums "appear" to be as long as the longest without using a back ground image. I would just like the right or left border to extend to the footer.
• How to properly use the mcol space. I have it hardwired as a percentage but is there a way to just use what lcol and rcol don't use?

Well, any replies are fine. Just remember, it is a teaching mechanism. Right now I would just like to clean up the code that exists. The next stage will start to use some PHP classes devoted to creating the actual code. The content will be marked up with a system similar to the post editor here at GID.

Since the content will be changing format it is currently sparse. In many places it is merely a placeholder.

Well, this is my first attempt with HTML in many (many) years and my first ever using Style Sheets. I would be greatful for verbose feedback.

RothCode.com

Thanks,
Mark

Congratulations M! How did you come up with ROTHCODE?

I like what I see already but I think you're using a background that's still a little too dark. You're not showcasing images; much of your material will be text, so your background should be a lot lighter if that is still possible without messing your masterpiece.

Logo... hmmmm...

Pages load super-fast, but that's probably because it's plain html.

Thank you for the links to GIDForums™, I really appreciate it.

I see you're still in TEST mode with your AdSense ads...

very clean, the site has a calm and easy feel to it

Personally, I think the logo doesn't match the site, but that's probably because the logo text is so different from the standard fonts. The layout looks fine and the Google ads blend in well.

Hey, thanks for the responses people, I do appreciate them.

RE: Logo
Yes I know. I tried a bunch and was not happy with any of them so I left the one there as a place holder. I honestly don't know which way to go with that just yet. Add the fact that it is a ways down on my todo list and the masses may have to suffer with it a while more. Hopefully I will fire up LightWave one of these days and put it to rest once and for all (or until I get a new great idea).

RE: BG color
I'm torn. I kind of like the color I am using but will try something a bit lighter. Who knows, I might even like it better. When I started trying out color schemes I went to a group that was very similar. From that limited palette I chose colors that fell on the SAFE or every 3 (in hex) after reading about color shifting that may be done by a browser. Looking at the CSS file I recently posted you can see that they all fall on 0, 3, 6, 9, C, F values for the pairs.

Question 1:
Is that even really much of a concern with todays browsers?

RE: Navigation vs. Page Generation
I have been working on a PHP class that allows me to generate the HTML on the wing. As I hope to finish up the meta tag stuff tonight and finish testing it on my local server I will be interested in feedback on page display speeds. I'll update this thread when I have the new PHP in place. Then I will be on to the markup classes for handling content which is the fun part of it all.

Question 2:
My intent for my first steps is to have a data directory with the marked up content. Those files (active ones for page display) will be read only. Will this be problematic if multiple people are trying to 'see' the page at the same time?

The reason I ask is that I really (really, really) don't want to have to dabble with a SQL database until I have all the markup working correctly. It will be reasonably easy to use simple text files to start with. My thought is to use a simple marker system based on filename and content marker to find a paragraph to be displayed.

Well, enough for now. Thanks again to those that checked out my initial attempt. It is still slow going since I do everyting the same way I program in C++, with a simple editor. It does allow for nice formatting of my code though. Looking though DreamWeaver generated code seems to be an exercise in scrolling on the horizontal plane. Someone needs to tell them to keep it around 80 characters a line.

Mark

Answer 1: not as long as people use current browsers. The web safe palette was created nearly 10 years ago. If you're truly concerned that a viewer may have an older browser then go web-safe, otherwise use what you want. Take a look at your vistor log to see what people are using.

Answer 2: I don't think so in the short turn. I'm not good in this area but as long as there's fewer than several hundered page views at a time, the server should be able to handle it.

Of course my knowledge may be outdated, since this is the first time I've made web sites in 4-5 years. Hopefully someon else can help.

The colour scheme looks a little funky on a laptop.

hehe, looks a little funky on my desktop too.

I was going for the chalkboard kind of look (well, our chalk wasn't black but I can overlook that fact) since the intent is to house code and my discourse on that content. Add to the fact that light colors seem to make my eyes go buggy after a while and I like the black text on a darker background. My console colors are REALLY dark on dark but at least I can look at it for hours on end without going blind. I am going to lighten it up a bit (the background) once I finish up the PHP I'm currently working on and see how that goes.

Did you mean that it renders badly on the laptop so it is hard to read or just commenting on the drab green color scheme?

Thanks for the comment Div, I do appreciate it.

Mark

I have been adding a forum to the site that seems to be taking over. It is about 40 to 50 percent complete but mostly functional.

It is located at RothCode Forums.

Some things I would like to hear feedback on.

1. Font Size - For the most part it is pretty large, do you think it needs to be smaller?
2. Logo - Because I got bashed so much for the first try I have come up with something a bit different. I like it quite a bit personally. Comments?
3. Nav Speed/Ease - Jump around the site, does it seem quick enough? There is a Lounge that allows for guest posting (at least until I have problems with it) so feel free to put your comments there or here.
4. Overall Feel - Even though not everyone seems to like my color choices I am sticking with my limited palette for now. The reason being, I am trying to follow light on dark, dark on light readability concerns as I work on it. PunBB has facilities to change the skin so when I reach a more stable point different styles will become available again.

Thanks for your time,
Mark

I like the new logo. Good job!

Font size does seem a little on the large size. I understand it from an accessiblity aspect though, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I don't really care for the minty-green color scheme though. It reminds me too much of that psychiatric green they use to calm down inmates. If you want some color schemes to work with, try http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html. I'm using it with a site right now and it's working great.

The site seems peppy enough. Haven't noticed any serious lag issues.