[p.o.e.m]

Hi, I'm fairly new to website design... it's up and stuff, but it only works in Internet Explorer... I have a tech guy who's helping me, but he's just the guy to get everything on the internet. Soo.... how do I make the coding work for IE, Firefox, and Netscape? (and maybe Opera, too, just to be on the safe side.) I've been using DreamWeaver 8... i've also scoured the internet for information, but am only finding sites on general html coding... nothing that'll help me with my issue...

if there's info i've missed.. XD just post a reply, and i'll give you whatever info you need... just please help.... @_@ I'm doing this job for a company... and I'm kinda stressed because this is the first professional site i'm making!!! (if seeing the site would help, this is the url... http://www.summitdistributors.net ) ... thanks.

[cwwozniak]

FYI, Just tried your link in IE6 (with security settings set to "Paranoid" ) and got a solid white page with a line of text near the bottom bouncing left to right across the page.

At least I got a niece looking background and a big picture of a window in Firefox. Clicking on the picture of the window didn't do anything in Firefox.

Your page source code has this bit of HTML markup:

    <td width="350">&nbsp;</td>
    <a href=indexpage1.html> <td width="432">&nbsp;</td></a>
    <td width="137">&nbsp;</td>

I make no claims to being a web design guru or even an expert but that sure looks like the page is using a single blank space as a hyperlink to the indexpage1.html page.

[p.o.e.m]

haha... yes... the text is bouncing... i did that because it wouldn't center properly.... ^^; ... that's weird that its one blank space.... i linked the doors to take you into the site... if you clicked on them.... had trouble with it, cuz it wasn't quite working properly....

well.... do you have any recommendations? I'm seriously quite new to this... even newer to using dreamweaver.... all of my previous websites have been built by pure html coding and such, so...... i'm not so good with dreamweaver...

[p.o.e.m]

Right! I just remembered... the reason it looks like that is because i set up a table over top of the doors... so there's an entire invisible table cell laid over the doors... its a table cell that you're clicking on... not just one blank space... you'll notice the <td > tags... there's just one blank space in the cell for some reason, i supposed...

[cwwozniak]

Originally Posted by p.o.e.m

its a table cell that you're clicking on... not just one blank space... you'll notice the <td > tags...

I don't believe you are permitted to put an <a> tag around any kind of block level (table or table element) tags.

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=ht...Inline&group=0

EDIT: I have not tried using Dreamweaver for ages. MS FrontPage has been good enough for the limited amount of web design and maintenance that I do.

[p.o.e.m]

lol... for some reason, dreamweaver let me do it, and i've been able to access the indexpage1 from clicking on the doors... but it is probably part of the problem with the accessability from other programs.... .... dammit... i'm probably gonna hafta end up scrapping most of my site and re starting.... *sighs* my boss needs some stuff fixed up anyways... and that... basically requires me to scrap my pictures and start again...

the reason the images are slow to show up is just cuz they're too high quality and i shall be reducing the size.... so they'll show up faster..

do you have any suggestions for how to link the index page to the "window" as you called it.. (it's SUPPOSED to be a door... drawn by my graphics designer...) its one full picture.... i can't break it down.... sooooo.... any recommendations?

[cwwozniak]

Easiest thing would have been for your design guy to make the door (where are the knobs if it is a door?) a separate PNG or GIF graphic file with a transparent background. It could have been then used as a link.

Not sure if imagemaps are still supported in the latest HTML specs.
http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/imag...msupp_220.html.

You could also try slicing up the picture into 5 separate picture files so that the door area and nearby background are a separate clickable picture. Then use a table to put them back together so they look like one big picture. I believe that Photoshop has (or at least had) the capability to slice up a picture and create the HTML table code to display it correctly

[ehymel]

poem,

I do a lot of site design and looked at your page. Please take this as constructive criticism, as I commend you for trying to this this on your own!

Having said that, I'm surprised that your site works at all in any browser. Your code is simply wrong. I have not used Dreamweaver in several versions, but I'm not sure why it would be generating code that is this invalid. I could point out the mistakes, but I believe that the best advice for you, if this is indeed "professional" site, is for you to hire a professional to get the job done! The site in general violates many "rules" of site design and the result is a website that will turn off your prospective clients. If the site is just a practice site, then experiment away and learn from your mistakes, because that's how we all learn. If the site is meant to sell a product or a company, then you will only convey the amateur attempt at a website. That's probably not the message you want to send.

By the way, if you have experience with "pure" html, that's all you really have in your site anyway with just a few css tags that don't really add much, so ditch dreamweaver and hand code your page and it will probably work better anyway. Leave Dreamweaver for more complicated sites.

Best wishes.

[p.o.e.m]

thanks... my boss is my dad... that's why i'm stuck doing the site... i'll see about hand coding it... it might make it easier... otherwise.... well... my dad refuses to let me give up and hire a professional cuz he's paying me... and i've spent... oh god, probably about 20 hours on this damn thing.... i gotta say though... i'm so frustrated with this site... probably the only reason it actually works is cuz i've put so much damn work into it....

no offence taken at all... i'm well aware that i'm an amateur.... and yes... this is definitely a company i'm making this for... summit distributors is a semi-large company that makes and distributes doors in alberta at least, and probably some neighboring provinces...

if you think that hand coding it would be best, then i can work on that. css, i really don't know yet... (although i've been trying my best to figure it out as i go...)

thanks for your opinion about it...

and thanks cwwozniak for your advice about cutting up the picture... hadn't thought of that and will definitely try it... as i rewrite the whole damn site into code i can actually understand... .... le sigh....

thanks for your advice... ^_^ :P not quite what i wanted to hear, but i've been aware of the site's shortcomings for a while... :P

[ehymel]

Like I said, I admire your effort. Some advice that will make what you have work.

Change this:

<table width="933" height="540" border="0" align="center">
  <tr>
    <td width="350">&nbsp;</td>
    <a href=indexpage1.html> <td width="432">&nbsp;</td></a>
    <td width="137">&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
</table>

to this:

<table width="933" height="540" border="0" align="center">
  <tr>
    <td width="350">&nbsp;</td>
    <td width="432"><a href=indexpage1.html><img src="home%20page.jpg"></a></td>
    <td width="137">&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
</table>

and you'll at least have a working site. The key here is keeping everything within the <td> tags. ccwozniak is right that you can't have it the way you wrote it, having the <a> tag surrounding the table element <td> is the reason the site is not working in most browsers.

I would also recommend designing your site for lower resolution monitors, at most 800 or 900 pixels wide at most. I'm sure it looks great on your (and my) higher resolution monitor, but designing for that assures that a lot of your target audience won't see what you want them to see.

Happy to help with any other specifics as they come up...