Goodies to Go ™
January 27, 2003–Newsletter #217
This newsletter is part of the internet.com network.
http://www.internet.com
Featured
this week:
* Goodies Thoughts –
Web Site Content.
* Q & A Goodies
* News Goodies
* Feedback Goodies
* And Remember This…
Goodies Announcement
Just in case you missed
it before, the new Beyond HTML Goodies book is now available!
Go beyond the basics
and learn how the pros add and use dynamic HTML features and advanced
JavaScript techniques. Beyond HTML Goodies demonstrates dozens of new and
different features readers can add to their existing Web pages using HTML and
JavaScript. The book starts with simple text and image tips, such as adding a
clock to a Web page or causing text to appear when the mouse moves over an
image. It gradually builds to more complex tricks, including manipulating forms
or working with cookies behind the scenes. Throughout the book, readers enjoy
Joe’s snappy style and “to the point” discussion of each “goody” in the book.
http://books.internet.com/books/0789727803
| Goodies Thoughts – |
Web Site Content. |
Over the past couple of weeks I have
discussed the importance of the Design stage in a
website’s life and considered layout, color and
sound. This week, I continue this exploration of the
development of a site with a look at content.
I wrote a newsletter piece in September last year
about content (see
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/letters/196.html) and
I refer you to that for a description of what to
include by way of content. Today I’d like to discuss
a little about the style of included content.
Before anything else, I have to mention rule number
one of content. Regardless of the type of website
you are building, the first rule of content is to
keep it fresh. Getting new visitors to your site is
always a challenge (and a topic for another
discussion!) If you want to keep your site lively,
then it is imperative that you keep your visitors
coming back. A couple of visits with the same old
stuff there will slow them right down. A couple more
visits and they’ll be gone, perhaps for ever. Not a
good thing! Fresh produce in the store, fresh news
in the newspaper, fresh content on the website — it
stands to reason!
There is no such thing as a "web style" of content.
The use of a particular style is to enhance the
effectiveness of the type of content, and not to
enhance the web. What this means is that you should
not think first about the fact that you are
providing content for a website, and how that should
be styled. Instead you should be thinking, for
example, "This site is for children. I need to make
this easy to read, and to use a friendly, personal
and uncomplicated manner of speech." This way the
content style adapts to the subject matter and
happens to be on the web, rather than adapting to
the web and happening to be for children.
What style to apply depends on the type of website
you are building. If you are building a personal
website, be personal. Talk to your reader as if they
were there with you. This holds especially true for
photo album sites. The big mistake people make with
their web albums, is to forget that normally, when
the show their pictures to their friends, they are
there themselves to explain them. Be there in the
site. For example, "Aunt Peggy, Chicago, February
2000" is a hopeless caption in comparison to "This
is Aunt Peggy (Pat’s twin) at her birthday party in
Chicago in 2000. She and Steve obviously had a good
time – I don’t think she’ll be using those shoes any
more!" Even without seeing the picture, it’s more
interesting, don’t you think?
A business web site should get down to business, but
shouldn’t be dry. A little humor and a little color
are the spices that can change a product description
into an enticing overview of a product’s
capabilities. Some subjects are strictly factual.
Law, for example. While intriguing, perhaps, to
lawyers, it bores the pants off most sane people!
Even science and mathematics, which have a
reputation for being less than thrilling to the
majority of folk, can be exciting when well
presented. Scour the web for discussions of Fermat’s
Last Theorem. Look and some of the mathematical
sites and compare them to Simon Singh’s work. You’ll
see what I mean.
Above all, remember that you are talking to people.
As you write the content, imagine that your audience
is there with you and that you are providing it
directly to them. Talk to them as you would
normally, business-like to business people, politely
to casual acquaintances and personally to friends
and family. There is no special trick to the web. It
is merely a medium to carry your message to your
audience; nothing more.
Of course, the real beauty of writing is that you
get to say something, then change it before it is
heard! It’s amazing how frequently we have a great
idea, blurt it out and then realize just how
not-so-great it actually was! When designing your
site, blurt all you want — then go back and fix
it!!
Next week, I will continue this journey through a
site’s early life with a few thought about
functionality.
Thanks for Reading!
– Vince Barnes
Q
& A Goodies
Questions are taken
from submissions to our Community Mentors. You can ask a Mentor a question by
going to https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors/.
Q. Is there was a way to position a
background image in the center of a page
regardless of screen resolution?
A. This code will position the image in
the center:
body {
background-image : url(image.jpg);
background-position : center center;
background-repeat : no-repeat;
}
To position in the center of a table, try using
this (be sure to replace __ with the height and
width of the image):
<.body>
<.table height="100%" width="100%">
<.tr><.td valign="center" align="center">
<.table height="__" width="__" background="image.jpg">
Any text on the background
<./table>
<./td><./tr>
<./table>
<./body>
Q. I would like to place a
membership/password for entry into my site. How
doI that in html?
A. It can’t be done just with HTML. You
need to do some server side scripting and
perhaps hook up to a database. The HTMLGoodies
tutorials on ASP, CGI, and databases will get
you started.
Q. I’ve been working on a site for the
band that I play in for a while. I’ve
encountered a problem that is making me go
crazy. On differnt browsers, because of the text
size preset (smaller, small, medium, large,
larger) the text looks either really small or
huge. When I change the preset on my own
computer, the alignment of all the text goes
crazy. How can I fix this?
A. Stylesheets are intended to solve just
this problem. You can specify
text sizes. These tutorials will explain them:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/design/css-html-text-color/
You can see how I did this on real life sites by
looking at the code at
http://umbrigade.tripod.com
and
http://www.wwlt.org.
Q. In your last HTML Goodies newsletter,
there was a question that a user asked about
protecting his pictures. I know it’s not a fool
proof way but there is a script that Dreamweaver
uses called NO RIGHT CLICK. Couldn’t the user
put in that JavaScript, even if he doesn’t have
Dreamweaver, to prevent users in IE and Netscape
7 from right clicking and "stealing" his
pictures?
A. There are lots of free javascripts to
do the no right click, but most users know easy
ways to defeat it plus there are lots of screen
capture programs, so if it can be seen, it can
be captured. Check out this site in the
Discussion Area to give you a idea:
http://www.allmyfaqs.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Hide_source
Q. I have visited websites that display
thumbnail images of free backgrounds. When you
click on a thumbnail a larger version of the
thumbnail comes up in a separate frame. This
seems to be a good way to allow someone to view
a thumbnail before downloading the background. I
like the frame because I can just close it out
then go on to view the next thumbnail. How can I
do the same thing If I want to offer some free
backgrounds for someone to download from my
website?
A. Are you sure the link is opening a
frame and not a window? It seems like an awkward
arrangement which is why I ask. Apparently the
page the links point to is a frameset page.
These tutorials will help you build frames:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutors/fram.html
If it turns out you do mean windows, this will
help with that:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/openwin.html
Q. Is it possible to have your contact
information appear on all your web pages from
the same source so that if your information
changes you only have to change it one time.
A. Here is a tutorial for exactly that:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/asp.html
About half way down the page, there is a section
titled "A Useful ASP Example: SSI"
Q. I wish this following to open in a new
window of 300×300. How do I do the sizing and
how do I make the window scrollable??
A. There are a couple ways to open a new
window of a specific size. One is to have the
javascript in the link, and the other is to call
a function which opens the window. This primer
explains how to open the window:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/jsp/hgjsp_11.html
and this explains using a function:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/jsp/hgjsp_12.html
Q. I want some code that would randomly
display one of a few images I have in a
directory. Can you help me?
A. There is tutorial that explains how to
do that:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/jsp/hgjsp_23.html
And this just in…. DatabaseJournal (http://www.DatabaseJournal.com)
has a Forums section in which you can ask, and
receive answers to, database related questions.
Check it out! Here’s a sample (this is a q&a
from the ASP-DB section – edited for clarity):
Q. I’m Just New To ASP & DATAbase (Over
the Internet), but I know Html & Access. What is
the shortest way to learn the tools to make a
Database over my Website? I finally could find a
webhost which is powered by win2000 server &
supports ASP; now I want an ASP tutorial link,
with a step-by-step "how to" for an Access
database over the internet.
A. Check out
http://www.aspdb.com – You can either buy a
book or take a class or you can use this tool to
get up to speed right away.
News Goodies
NextWave Wins Back Wireless Licenses
[January 27, 2003] Bankrupt wireless carrier
NextWave wins back its wireless spectrum licenses
with the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Click
here to read the article
Internet Recovering From Slammer Attack
(see also next item)
[January 27, 2003] The Internet is recovering Monday
from the attack of the Slammer worm, after it slowed
or halted Web traffic around the world this weekend.
Click
here to read the article
Computer Worm Slows Worldwide Traffic
[January 26, 2003] A worm that attacks the Microsoft
SQL Server 2000-based web servers virtually halt
traffic in some parts of the world. But security
experts have known about it since July.
Click here to read the article
Microsoft Releases New Anti-Piracy Software Toolkit
[January 20, 2003] Software giant aims to
protect disc-based music, video copyrights
Click here to read the article
AMD Clamps Down on Wireless Security
[January 20, 2003] New wireless Flash Memory Device
with 64-bit password protection claims to deter
signal thieves from mobile phone billing fraud or
pirating television.
Click here to read the article
Is Linux Ready for Financial Services?
[January 25, 2003] In an industry pummeled by losses
in a down market, free software has a nice ring. But
others say Linux is not advanced enough for Wall
Street’s ‘big iron’ needs.
Click here to read the article
Could Attack on DALnet Spell End for IRC?
[January 24, 2003] DALnet administrators are
struggling to keep the Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
network afloat after a DDoS attack. And the case may
cause some hosting providers to reconsider hosting
IRC servers at all.
Click here to read the article
Newspaper Publishers See Online Growth
[January 24, 2003] Once a drain on their parent
companies, newspaper sites are now enjoying sharp
rises in advertising revenues.
Click here to read the article
Q&A: Sun Microsystems Software CTO John Fowler
[January 24, 2003] As the company readies Java for
its inclusion in Windows XP, Fowler’s group also has
the arduous task of preparing for Solaris 10.
Click here to read the article
Microsoft Promises a More Secure 2003
[January 24, 2003] After a year of working on its
security issues, the company’s Trustworthy Computing
initiative is taking more of a ‘push’ approach
starting with Windows Server 2003.
Click here to read the article
Microsoft’s First Flaws for the New Year
[January 23, 2003] Microsoft this week warned of a
critical buffer overrun flaw in its Windows NT 4.0,
Windows 2000, or Windows XP server that could allow
an attacker to run his or her code of choice on a
person’s personal computer.
Click here to read the article
Did you ever wish your newsletter was an easy two way communications medium?
Ploof! It now is!
If you would like to comment on the newsletter or expand/improve on something
you have seen in here, you can now send your input to:
mailto:nlfeedback@htmlgoodies.com
We already receive a lot of email every day. This address will help us sort out
those relating specifically to this newsletter from all the rest. When you send
email to this address it may wind up being included in this section of the
newsletter, to be shared with your fellow readers.
Please don’t send your questions to this address.
They should be sent to our mentors: see
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors/
We have received a flurry of offers from readers to
become mentors. We are going to be updating our
mentor lists in the very near future. If you feel
you have an expertise you would like to share with
our readership, let me know. Our mentors provide a
valuable service to HTML Goodies readers, answering
questions and providing guidance in their respective
fields of expertise. Our Mentor community can be
found at
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors
Once again, Goodies To Go readers have shown that
not only do they read the newsletter, but they keep
the sharp eyes and sharp minds on it as they do so!
There was a Mentors (see
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors) Q&A included
in last weeks newsletter, where the inquirer has
asked for a page that provides a reference list of
the special characters and codes that can be used in
HTML. The Mentor (Eric Ferguson – thanks, Eric)
referenced the Character Map program that is
included with windows, and explained how to use it.
Character map is a great tool, especially because it
is comprehensive. Dozens of you wrote in, however,
with suggestions of sites that provide the
information. Many thanks to all of you for your
thoughtful attention.
Of all the suggestions, there are three that I will
mention here. The first is the most obvious:
https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutors/ascii.html
There is also a good list of the special names as
well as the numeric codes here:
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/reference/special_characters/
and of course:
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html#h-24.4
with an explanation of encoding type choices at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/charset.html
Top
And
Remember This . . .
On this day in…
1967: Apollo 1 Astronauts Die in Launch Pad
Fire
Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger
B. Chafee died during a simulation of the launch of
Apollo 1, which was scheduled a month later. A wire
fault in the command module caused the fire. They
were the first Americans to die in a spacecraft.
NASA started the Apollo program when President John
Kennedy mandated in 1961 that the USA would land men
on the moon and bring them safely home before the
end of the decade. Apollo 8 went to the moon in 1968
and in 1969, on July 20th, Neil A. Armstrong and
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. walked on the surface of the
moon. Stepping off the lander onto the moon,
Armstrong declared "One small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind." It has been reported that
he left out the word "this" in "one small step for
this man, one giant leap for mankind" which would
have made more sense. Perhaps he was a little
excited! The Apollo program included 17 missions and
6 landings. You can see an Apollo rocket at Cape
Canaveral in Florida – you would be amazed how huge
it is!
Today celebrates the birthdays of:
Wolgang Amadeus Mozart in 1756
Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, the
mathematician and "Alice" author, in 1832
William Randolph Hearst Jr., in 1908
Mikhail Baryshnikov, the ballet dancer who defected
to the US, born in 1948
Thanks for reading
Goodies to Go!
