my website problems

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 10:53

ok i have just managed to host this site for free which will only be for the moment until it is finished.

this is the location of the site: http://ride.0taxi.com/addy010/home.html

bar in mind this is my first site and im only 18 what do you think? the parts that i copied are the JS for the home page writting, though i have tried to understand it i will try again soon, and the CSS for the photos, which i fully understand now as i had many problems with it and the only way to sort it was to bascailly start again with it, though the idea of the original still is there.

at the moment im trying to finish the photos page and it is coming well but having a few problems. The first is that i want either an image to already be loaded onto the space when you first go there, but for that to happen i also need to make it so that the images when hovererd over will stay after the mouse has gone. Anyone with any clue how to? i have tried and tried and this really isn't something i can do.

Also how can i make a h3 text only be a certain width and then if there is more it just wraps the text? this is simple i just cant remeber so when someone posta a reply i may have already found the solution, posting just incase i can't

from what i can rememeber i have tried floating the h3, tried a realative posistion, absolute posotion, and aligning it, neither make it to the right of the thumbnails.

i also will want a button at the bottom that when clicked will load another set of thumbnails replacing the current ones without if possible loading another page. this though i think can wait until the other 2 problems are sorted

thanks guys

SiD the Turtle · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:10

Can't help much but:

I imagine you have a javascript that says something like onmouseover() load the image, and onmouseout() (cant remember the exact command) restore the image. Remove the onmouse out and it'll stick. Also, change the thumbnails to be thumbnails, rather than shrinked versions of the big picture- the page takes ages to load otherwise.

Apart from that, looking okay to me!

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:17

SiD the Turtle said:
Can't help much but:

I imagine you have a javascript that says something like onmouseover() load the image, and onmouseout() (cant remember the exact command) restore the image. Remove the onmouse out and it'll stick. Also, change the thumbnails to be thumbnails, rather than shrinked versions of the big picture- the page takes ages to load otherwise.

Apart from that, looking okay to me!

there is no Javascript for the photos, pure CSS which is why im stuck. also the thumbnails are thumbnails of the images rather then just a part of the full image if thats what you meant. i didn't realise it took ages to load, how would i make it take less? i know i am giong to adjust the images to look better in PS like get rid of the marks made with the scanner so at this time i will reduce the size of the thumbnails aswell. i tihnk the loading time may be that the image loaded when you hover over the thumbnail is the full big image, i plan to make images just to fit that spot that will be much smaller

D4VE · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:22

To preload the images, use Javascript in your body tag like this:

Code:

<body onload="MM_preloadImages('images/image1.jpg','images/image2.jpg')">

For the gallery, Id personally use Javascript and use the onclick event so you click an image to view it rather than hover. I prefer that to hovering and then it'll stay as you want it to.

blade007 · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:22

the menu "shakes" as you hover over a menu item, FF 1.5

Mekrel · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:29

The site is looking nice mate

However, your site looks different in IE to how it looks in Firefox

.

Abit of a tip for now:

Don't worry about content just yet, from what I can gather - you are trying to do both at once. Which in my opinion, doesn't really work. Try to design your layout with keeping your content in mind.

When I first started web design, I believed that people who made sites to standards were just big headed people on high horses. I couldn't have been more wrong. To get a site to display correctly 99% of the time in all broswers (Opera, IE and Firefox) you have to produce valid code to the HTML specification you have declared in your header.

As I said above, your site does not display correctly in IE as it does in Firefox because for one your code is not valid. It really does help having valid code.

Secondly, from the design ideas thread you posted in which I helped. I take it Amber is a model?

The main purpose of people visiting her site, is to view her work. Yet the Welcome to Ambers Site text which changes colour left to right, is eye stealing and will take focus away from her pictures.

If you have MSN, feel free to add me for help.

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:30

blade007 said:
the menu "shakes" as you hover over a menu item, FF 1.5

i use FF aswell and i don't think i get that. unless do you mean like the ones to the left move when you hover over them. for instance if you hover over home none will shake, but then over say bio, bion photo and home will shake slightly? this is because the size increases by 1px though i was thinking of getting rid of as i don't like that affect. kept it as was unsure

is this what you mean?

Mekrel · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:32

addy_010 said:
i use FF aswell and i don't think i get that. unless do you mean like the ones to the left move when you hover over them. for instance if you hover over home none will shake, but then over say bio, bion photo and home will shake slightly? this is because the size increases by 1px though i was thinking of getting rid of as i don't like that affect. kept it as was unsure

is this what you mean?

That is what he means, and I agree that it looks broken, rather than a desired effect.

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:35

no she is a actress. i decided on the site for a first simple project for me and some sites she has signed up to have the ability to put your wesite on so ithought just make is seem better if she got a site.

unfortunately i don't have msn, only talked to the gf (amber) and as we see each other a lot now no point of it.

isn't the coloured writting only in the first home page and not the photos page? well it is just rerhe as i found it on a search for ideas and thought it was cool so just plonked it there. No page has anything they that will be there at the end except the photos page.

i updated the css and photos page which changed the text on the photos page to be to the right, but its not showing for me on the site, can anyone confirm for me where the text saying, hover over the image to see it.... is?

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:36

Mekrel said:
That is what he means, and I agree that it looks broken, rather than a desired effect.

ok its gone then, like i said i wasn't sure on it either.

dang didn't realise how wrnog it looked in IE. this is gonig to take some time to sort out

and i thought it was going so well

Mekrel · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:39

addy_010 said:
no she is a actress. i decided on the site for a first simple project for me and some sites she has signed up to have the ability to put your wesite on so ithought just make is seem better if she got a site.

unfortunately i don't have msn, only talked to the gf (amber) and as we see each other a lot now no point of it.

isn't the coloured writting only in the first home page and not the photos page? well it is just rerhe as i found it on a search for ideas and thought it was cool so just plonked it there. No page has anything they that will be there at the end except the photos page.

i updated the css and photos page which changed the text on the photos page to be to the right, but its not showing for me on the site, can anyone confirm for me where the text saying, hover over the image to see it.... is?

I can see it, but in Internet explorer the text also stays ontop of the image that is loaded from the hover.

Yeah, it is on that page. It's personal preference really. I just prefer non-moving content on a page really.

Edit: You are doing well!!! Like I said, the problem is (according to the validator) that you have not declared a document type.

So the browser will render your code to its own default specification. This could, and most likely will be different between each browser.

Edit2: I recomend XHTML. Stick this at the top of your document:

Code:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC
"-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

SiD the Turtle · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:41

addy_010 said:
there is no Javascript for the photos, pure CSS which is why im stuck. also the thumbnails are thumbnails of the images rather then just a part of the full image if thats what you meant. i didn't realise it took ages to load, how would i make it take less? i know i am giong to adjust the images to look better in PS like get rid of the marks made with the scanner so at this time i will reduce the size of the thumbnails aswell. i tihnk the loading time may be that the image loaded when you hover over the thumbnail is the full big image, i plan to make images just to fit that spot that will be much smaller

Hmm pure CSS, very interesting. Never attempted the pain of doing that

Your thumbnails are the same file as the big versions but squeezed down. When the browser loads it has to load all of those big images and them sqash them to thumbnail size. It would be much better to take the images into Photoshop or any image editing program and resize them down to thumbnail size and save them as photo1_thumb or whatever. So the thumbnails are one image which is very small and quick to load, but when you roll over the thumbs it loads the big image up.

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:42

well the chaning text may go as that page i haven't even started yet

i just discovered that aswell. is this not a simple fix though? maybe just add a z-index:-1 or something? i did try i tinhk it FF didn't like it and the text just compltelty disappeared. anyone know the solution?

[EDIT]
oh yeah the validation lol, what do i need, the strict one? seems more like what i want right? and this is for every page?

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:43

sorry must have said it wrong, that is what i did

Mekrel · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:45

Read my edits and also if you are using Firefox, install this extension:

http://ietab.mozdev.org/

This will install a small firefox icon at the bottom right of your browser, click it and it will inject Internet explorer into firefox and show the site as IE would, but in firefox.

Genious extension, a must for me.

SiD the Turtle · 16 Oct 2006 at 11:47

Also maybe the front page needs to have a summary of the content, like a CV for the model. Front pages and the like means that the user has to 'enter' the site as such, and increases the time it takes to use the site. First impressions count in websites, and if the user cannot find the information when they need it, they will look elsewhere.

Finally don't be disheartened as for a first timer your website is very well presented. Just look at any geocities address or the like for examples of how badly things can be done!

unwashed potato! · 16 Oct 2006 at 12:01

well im off to make some changes, will post back later tonight on the improvments

blade007 · 16 Oct 2006 at 12:03

don't take my criticism too harshly, it's only to make it look better ... that's what it's all about it isn't it?

stop the menu shaking, it's sometimes the small details that take the edge of an otherwise nice website

put equal spacing between menu items

I don't like the hover-over system, but that's only my opinion .... what I would say is that the image that appears on the right needs more space around. It's too close ... giving a cluttered look.

The thumbnails, which you are leaving the browser to render, you need to do yourself. Because one of them gets rendered and it has one of her eyes missing and it looks a bit careless.

keep going - these are just items that I noticed quickly, that if it was my site, I would have changed

xirokx · 16 Oct 2006 at 12:35

beautiful eyes, gorgeous/infectious smile, looks sooo cute in that dress and any others she wears, a bit shorter than me - thats perfect,

overall very attractive

Im available on thursday after 4pm

back to site:

i like it, good stucture and layout forgetting the current probs...

how about using a more colourful bg colour? grey, white and black are used to much, like the blue of her eyes on a gradient or something? hmmmm

instead of using the 4 pics on firstpage why not reveal them on photos page etc etc and use a diff pic of her just 1 in the home page and in the title....for example her arms folded standing backwards on the Amber Horton bit...

Re: background piccie, you see how the second piccie with the light blue bg brings her out even more, its like "look at me" kinda thing, subtle but very effective....

also lower it all a bit so its in the centre of the page?

Is the title bar meant to move as you go to other pages?

just my ideas

unwashed potato! · 17 Oct 2006 at 22:49

well im stil having problems with this site and i need your help now with what i should do. My main problem at the moment is what validation i should put at the top. At the moment there is 2 different ones depending on what page and both have there problems.

Choosing the strict makes the website center in both IE and FF, and im pretty sure Opera, but then in FF it makes the navigatin bar not be on the header like it should be in FF. It also means that the white writing on photos page be on top of the image

choosing transitional means that it works perfectly in FF, but in IE the page hangs to the left and not centered in the broswer, it also however makes the white writting in IE go behind an image like it should do

once that problem is sorted i have tried going checking if my site is valid on w3schools (http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_validate.asp) and i get a lot of problems appear, in fact i think it says that every thing inside a <> is wrong. Also checking the html and CSS using FF web developer extension and similiar problems.

anyone help with this?

once these are sorted out i will then try post the next problem that i just can't get sorted out and i don't know why it is dooing