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Sausage Sizzler - Makeover Madness |
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G'day Sizzlers!
Life here is like a makeover currently. My house is currently
being painted by my sister-in-law, I am looking at my computer
set-up, trying to find a spam solution and finally Bram is making
over the Designed for Browsing section!
It doesn't entirely fit into the topic of this newsletter, except
for the fact without one you wouldn't be reading this, but I am
going to build a new computer. Well I should say that I will be
getting a lot of help from Brian Stevens. Brian is the guy that
you have probably heard on Gnomeradio.com or seen at GenXTek.com.
Brian and I went around to the local computer parts stores to
see if we could build a decent computer cheaper than we could buy
it. Luckily for me I believe we can! We won't be doing it for a
couple of weeks but when we do I will tell you all how it goes.
If it works out well we may even build another for a prize in a
design competition I am thinking of running soon.
I am up to my forth or fifth anti-spam program now. Spam Weasel
is the one. I gave up on MailWasher for two reasons, the first
being that it was slow, and the second was because the bounces
can cause problems I was told. Let me explain. A Lockergnome
reader, whose name eludes me, told me that they tested it on
their ISP and found that most of the bounces ended up at their
postmaster@ address. This potentially could peeve whoever looks
after that address. Richard Goldstien also believes it includes
spyware however I could not substantiate this claim, even using
ad-aware.
Bram is really working on the process and points for reviewing
sites in the Designed For Browsing. This will be your last chance
to have your input heard via the forums, and you know that is
what we like here!
Bram also makes some interesting points that he would like to
discuss further in Gear Grinders. Just how stable, professional,
and needed is the position of Web Designer?
Keep on sizzling!
Nathan Allan
Sausage Sizzler Editor
editor@sausage.com
New Release - HotDog Professional 6.6
Our latest release of HotDog Profesisonal 6.6 is a free upgrade for registered version 6 owners.
Download it here:
ftp://ftp.sausage.com/pub/hotdog/hotdog6/hotdog66install.exe
Here is the fixed bug list for those of you who are interested:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=460
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Forms
We have covered how forms can be processed. Now lets look at a
basic form.
First you have FORM tag including the METHOD and ACTION for
processing the form.
Next you need to have an INPUT tag so you can capture input.
Finally you need a SUBMIT button and possible a CLEAR button too.
This is what the code will look like:
<form method="post" action="location of your CGI script">
<input type="text" name="first_name" size="25" maxlength="50">
<input type="reset">
<input type="submit">
</form>
This would be a very basic form that would allow someone to enter
their first name. The entry field for this would appear 25
characters long and have a maximum of 50 characters entered into
it. It would then be processed using a CGI script on your web
server.
Next issue we will look at all the different types of INPUT
fields you can use.
Tip by Nathan Allan
SpamWeasel 1.0.18 95/98/NT/2000/XP FREEWARE
http://www.mailgate.com/products/spamweas/sw_feat.asp
http://www.mailgate.com/download/freedown.asp
My search for the perfect anti-spam product goes on! I am so sick
of spam. Anyway the latest program I have tried is SpamWeasel,
and I have to say so far it is going quite well.
Set-up was a bit tricky as SpamWeasel basically filters your
email before your email client gets it. It then looks at the
subject and adds SPAM before any mail that it believes is spam.
This allows you to quickly see what is spam and delete it. This
could be seen as an upside or downside to the program. The up is
that if friendly email is labelled spam you can catch it, while
at the same time you still have to go and delete the spam
yourself, albeit somewhat quicker than normal.
The other good thing is that SpamWeasel comes with filters already
set-up. All you do is plug in your address and any other friendly
addresses you do not want checked.
You can also add to other lists such as friendly subject matter
and blacklisted addresses. Basically this program is very
configurable, and will take some time to get exactly as you want
it. However it appears to work well.
If you want learn about other suggestions, go to:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=438
Review by Nathan Allan
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Is CSS worth learning?
A long time ago, back in March 2002, some one posed this
question. I can bet that any moderately experienced user is
shaking their head saying "OF COURSE!"
If you read the brief thread, you will see a few reasons
regarding the value of CSS or Cascading Style Sheets. I remember
when I was first learning CSS. My head felt as thought it was
ready to explode. Then I realized not only is it easy, it is
beyond useful and helpful. I created a style sheet for one of my
companies that I use over and over again. While it has mutated a
bit over the years (2.5) it is still largely the same.
The uses for CSS are many. For the most part, I use CSS for font
styling. Having seen the issues various browsers can have with
the same font styling, I have shied away from using CSS
Positioning in page layout. By that, I mean if I need to use a
table, I use a table. There is also the time factor. I have so
much to do to move forward that I find it hard to justify
learning something new in place of learning how to optimize what
I know and make it work better.
For those of you unfamiliar with this, did you know that one of
the two core components of DHTML is CSS? DHTML is the marriage
of CSS and JavaScript. There are two parts to me. There is the
designer and the executive. Because I do both (and enjoy it) I
do not have time to learn as much as I would enjoy.
One of the ways I learned HTML was in fact by using HotDog Pro.
Creating pages with Code Completion turned on in combination with
its highly informative and instructional HTML Property sheet
(Complete with examples) I learned by doing.
The same can be said for CSS. One of the best, if not THE best
CSS tool on the market is TopStyle. It is an extremely
powerful and educational tool. You can create CSS files using
drop downs and clicks are you can create them by typing and you
can preview them. What is also incredible is the built in help.
One of the other beneficial factors of using CSS is its ability
to help lighten the HTML load. Rather than typing A LOT of HTML
font formatting tags, using a few styles in page can reduce load
times (assuming you chop out a lot of HTML).
I do not know as much about CSS as I would like but I know enough
to do what I need to do. I suppose I could learn more and do
more but I need to sleep sometime too.
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=237
Review by Bram Leland Scolnick
How much does ‘Web Design’ and the Internet REALLY matter?
Now that I have your attention, before any of you ask me if I am
nuts, let me expand on this question. Obviously, design matters.
How can visitors view a site, for example, if the navigation is
hard to use? How do you get users to come back if the design is
ugly or hard to read? If the site has a low "stickiness factor"
visitors will not return.
Likewise you would not be viewing the forums or receiving this
newsletter if there was no Internet. My father in law could not
operate his business here in the USA if he did not have the
ability to trade messages with his factories in China.
However, these ideas are not what I am thinking about. I own a
company (a few), one of which services creative needs including
web design. While many people understand and appreciate e-
commerce and free flowing information, these same many people do
not feel the urgency to have a web site. Many companies do and
they call us. We propose our services based on their needs and
sometimes we close the deal immediately while other times we wait
for them to be ready. Of course, while we wait we are getting
other projects in but all of this waiting makes me wonder about
the value of the service.
In my heart, I believe that the second coming of the Internet, or
Internet v2.0 as I like to call it, will be a huge success. The
fallout of the ‘Internet Bust’ is reversing. The concern I have
is the volume of business in web design. Sure, "everybody needs
a web site," but what is the perceived value? Perceived value is
really, what closes the sale. "What can this web site do for me?
How can it benefit me?" Those are the questions I would think of
if I were considering the purchase of services. Again, this is
for an everyday business, not a "dot-com."
I suppose like any business, part of the business is sales,
selling just about anyone on why a web site is a "must have". To
the same extent, if we cannot sell a web site we sell or try to
sell another service, but my focus is web here.
Therefore, after this ramble, I will try to formulate a question
and hope more than a handful of you offer your insight. Hmmm, it
might be a few questions.
- After reading my ramble, how much do ‘Web Design’ and the Internet REALLY matter?
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What are your feelings on the future of the web? Specifically, is web design a solid profession to stay with?
- For those of you that are developers, how much more developing can you do? How do you convince your potential client that they NEED your programming services? I know from my experience that programming takes time. As a business owner, I know that time is money. 1 + 1 = a moderate to high cost for your client.
I can think of a list of questions but I that might aide my
intentions. What is your take on all of this?
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=489
Discuss your experiences with Bram Leland Scolnick
Criteria for reviewing a web site
We are getting closer to a point where a real list will exist.
There have been some great postings and great e-mails as well.
It is a very good list, but I feel something(s) is/are missing.
Lets review and see what other suggestions might come up. By the
way, the ordering of this list is not by priority or value of an
item. For all intents and purposes, every item in this list has
equal value.
- Load time
- Browser Compatibility (W3C)
- Color usage
- Page layout
- Navigation
- Overall Design
- Use of images and text, and the balance
- Accessibility
- Use of frames
- iFrames
- CSS, JavaScript, and DHTML
- Site Interactivity
- Copyright Infringement
- Grammar and Spelling
- A well-defined objective of this site
Please keep in mind that these may not be the final set of
criteria.
The sole purpose of this list is not to be a critique of how we
design or whose site looks prettiest. The focus IS the end user.
The focus is reviewing sites, finding errors and flaws; finding
great things that work; and pointing them out. Why?
So that in the end we all deliver a better experience for the end
user.
I honestly did not realize that I needed to specify this. I do
not design web sites or print ads or logos so that I can pat
myself on the back and say "good job Brammy boy." I would rather
play with my kids and spend time with my wife if my only point is
to tell myself and any of you that you made pretty designs.
Let's all be clear that the goal here is to learn as a group and
develop as a group, what makes the best end-user experience.
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=456#newpost
Discuss with Bram Leland Scolnick
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