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MacRankin

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Everything posted by MacRankin

  1. Blimey, all that gobble-de-gook learning of different disciplines is enough to turn anyone off. It's a good job though, that you did at least get to grips with css along the way (and cake decorating too. Hmmm). Trouble is, css, apart from jQuery, is the only code that you can instantly make things happen with. Doing the same thing with php isn't going to happen, unless you take the time to learn how to do stuff, which is something I'm not very good at. I wouldn't mind having a go at Blender meself, as a little while ago I was playing around with something called Kinemac, but from the looks of Blender it's like way too much work just wrapping my head around its interface. If you do get around to having another go at php -- as I am now doing, check these titles out... PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy by David Powers PHP and MySQL Web Development, Fourth Edition by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson Head First PHP & MySQL Head First PHP & MySQL by Lynn Beighley and Michael Morrison Learning PHP 5 Learning PHP 5 by David Sklar Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL by Kevin Yank The PHP Anthology (101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks) by Davey Shafik, Matthew Weier O'Phinney, Ligaya Turmelle, Harry Fuecks, and Ben Balbo
  2. Well, you've got my vote, but err... I'm not at all convinced that I would want to include one or two, or in fact, the current front-runner -- Web DynamiX. In my honest opinion the best web designer's website is... ...drum-roll... http:// www. sohtanaka.com/ (please remove spaces
  3. I was doing a little googling around for you, but am not sure if you want something a little bit more specialized. If not, then how about googling for 'raised ink' business card printers? Of course, it would be nice to have a more braille-like, raised text option for those who have not learned how to cope with braille.
  4. You're not being a pest, right. I'm only glad I can help with answering these questions. Looks like you've got id="menu-4" down twice. Maybe that's why it's not validating as expected? Btw, I like the colors you have employed on the site. I'm never good with things like that.
  5. It might be a better idea to show us a link, or provide us with more mark-up and code, as I can't really tell what's already have been defined... Erm, the border attribute has been deprecated, so you will need to add a bit of css for that... img { border: 0px none; } You should start getting into the habit of not relying on certain html attributes. Try googling for a list of deprecated attributes. You should also get into the habit of only using lower-case letters for everything but the actual doctype.
  6. Well, to be honest, I'm in two minds, especially when it comes to learning other things like flash, php, or jquery. For some reason those folks will always start you off with an xhtml doctype, whereas I would normally only go html strict. Erm, anyway, here are a few of the doctypes with there utf-8 meta tags... HTML 4.01 Strict /p> "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> XHTML 1.0 Transitional /p> "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> XHTML 1.0 Strict /p> "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> It's always best to include that charset utf-8 thingy. I think without it, people might end up seeing unusual looking characters. LSW, including Thelma and myself will always advocate the use of HTML 4.01 Strict. Using XHTML doesn't really do anything extra to your code. Well, I don't think so anyway. I mean, you can still incorporate flash, wordpress, jquery, and all the rest of it -- can't you?
  7. These are from separate documents, yes? Well, anyway, this is what your doctype should look like, or one of them anyhow... /p> "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> A little while ago I was even manually typing in the doctype, but because of one error that I kept making I thought it best to let BBEdit generate that part of the document itself. Are you hand-coding in this as well?
  8. I'm a BBEdit user meself, mostly because the free version -- Text Wrangler, at the time, didn't have color coding. Erm, I'm still out on DW. I really did want to get into that app, but it somehow was screwing with most of my other BBEdit files by changing them from BBEdit files into DW files. It was driving me nuts having to change 'em back every time I wanted to look at something without opening DW. I would like to try something else though. Something that allows me to present my mark-up and code the way I like to view it. I'm not sure if DW will let me change some preference to do that. And I would also want it not to fug around with my freeping files. There was something recently about a new open source HTML / CSS / PHP/ etc, editor from Mozilla or Google or whoever, but I just can't remember what it was. It looked really cool, but at the same time it's probably a bit over-the-top for my needs. Still, it would encourage me to get more serious about website building -- maybe?
  9. Oh, silly me. I should have directed you to the link that is (for now) sitting right above this one... http://www.killersites.com/forums/topic/36/alternative-editors-for-web-development-dec-2008/ Anyway, I have read that NVu isn't being maintained, so you might want to go for 'KompoZer 0.7.7'. Not sure I would, but I did find something that looks as if it is a bit more serious... Quanta Plus http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/
  10. I've never heard of it, to be honest. Comparing it to 'a complete web authoring system' to rival that of Frontpage and Dreamweaver is probably the reason why. I'm pretty sure there is an open source editor, though, that does rival that of Dreamweaver, but I don't know what it's called? Still, if you really want your friend to be able to manage his website confidently, then how about something like Rapidweaver? Or, if you really don't want to go down that route how about googling for an online version of what you're looking. I've never used one myself, but they do look promising.
  11. Cool. I look forwards to more of your work. :cool:
  12. Eric, you've done a great job on this. :cool: I didn't mention it before, mostly because I thought I could do something similar with those dodgy dl lists of mine. Erm, I did come up with something, though, but it would need some major flash trickery to even get close to anything you've done. So, i'm giving it the big elbow for now.
  13. Are you a poet, LSW? There was something about your words that took me back a bit. I think I know how you feel, or rather, I probably only know how I feel, in that I'm already regretting knowing that I won't be around to enjoy all that lovely human advancement and technology when I'm gone.
  14. I've put together a little web page, so that you, and anyone else can play around with it. Funnily enough, this background image trickery thingy seems to work in every browser I've got, though I am having a few probs with it in IE6, though that's probably down to the suckerfish nav I'm using. Then again, I guess as long as you're not trying to create solutions for everything you can't do, as I do from time to time, then I guess there's bound to be some quirks appearing every now and then. Anyway, about that page... http://www.macrankin.co.uk/web_filez/background_prep.html Btw, The background graphic(s) -- originally one, though bought by me, are not mine to give away, so you'll have to use your own.
  15. Yes, of course you can, and anyone else, for that matter. I really don't see the point in some peeps expecting the web community to seek their permission to use their tips and tricks, and only for use with personal or on non-commercially built sites. I mean, they should either share what they've found with others, charge a little something, or ask for a donation of appreciation. I'm ok with any of those examples, as I myself have occasionally bought and donated monies for the odd dynamic code or two. Incidentally, I replaced that horrible scrollbar with a scrolling javascript. I've just got to create a nicer set of arrow graphics for it. I also, as it happens, incorporated Eric's opacity trickery thingy, which I pinched from his website, here.. http://www.visibilityinherit.com/code/css-opacity.php Without tips, tricks, and other cool tool treasure chests like his we wouldn't be able to share anything.
  16. Just wanted to share with you this piece of code for anchoring an image in both the bottom left-hand side and top right-hand side of the viewport or browser window... html { margin: 0; position: relative; background: #000 url(images/floral_top.jpg) no-repeat top right; } body { margin: 0 auto; font-size: small; position: relative; background: url(images/floral_base.jpg) no-repeat bottom left; } Simple, isn't it. Of course, I've done something similar in the past in creating 2 and even the appearance of 3 background colors, but that was to create the illusion of a 3-column layout. Just a little web page I'm designing for someone. (narrow view) And a widened image of the same layout and backgrounds...
  17. I'm currently working on a new web page design for someone, and everything is going well. Well, the graphics that I've either bought and, or the one and only graphic to date that I've created recently are making this new project look promising -- to me. It must be a great feeling being a web designer right now, and or a graphic designer, as there are now tons of resources out there. Quite some time ago when there never seemed to be enough resources. I even, at one time, contributed to that mix myself. Of course, things are different. I mean, I can't imagine anyone being able to keep up with the likes of Smashing Magazine, noupe, psdtuts, and goodness knows how many more resources that there are out there, and even here too. Still, having said that, I'm still going to have to create some interesting design workarounds in-order to fill in the gaps of my knowledge and to also satisfy my own perceived demands. Not being a graphic designer or web designer who can easily conjure up and turn any envisioned graphics into reality isn't such a tall order these days. I can still be inspired by all the trends currently sweeping us by, and if that weren't enough there are plenty of places in which to procure the right material... Now, normally, I would just leave a few links, and expect that you'll have a look-see, but most of us aren't interested (so much as we used to be) in seeing a new website link, so whenever I come across a Photoshop link that pertains to achieving a certain task I will pop it off here. I could simply create my own spaces and places for these resources, but I want to make an effort to mostly remember them. If I just leave them laying around on my hard drive I might not find them again. Also, I thought it might be an idea to not create a new post every time I find a new resource, so instead, I think it might be a better idea to simply update the original post with any new (to me) category of resource or tutorial that looks the biz. And, I might even try to re-create one or two tutorials. Paper texture tutorials http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/interface-tutorials/photoshop-paper-texture-from-scratch-then-create-a-grungy-web-design-with-it/ http://pshero.com/archives/creating-old-paper-with-custom-brushes http://www.bittbox.com/photoshop/photoshop-how-to-make-an-awesome-grungy-paper-texture-from-scratch/ Paper textures (free to download) round-ups http://www.bittbox.com/freebies/free-high-res-grungy-paper-textures/ http://www.fudgegraphics.com/2008/09/free-high-resolution-plain-and-grunge-paper-textures/ http://sixrevisions.com/freebies/textures/high-resolution-grungy-paper-textures/ http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/freebies/5-fantastically-high-res-brown-paper-textures http://psd.tutsplus.com/freebies/texture/high-res-card-and-paper-textures/ http://www.designshard.com/freebies/19-free-hi-res-burnt-paper-textures/ ...more to follow, though at this rate I may need to find another resource in which to stash these useful links.
  18. I took a little break in learning jQuery, and now regret it -- big time. Silly me. Erm, anyway, I've been trying to recapture that first explosion of excitement, and in doing so I've noticed something rather odd, and maybe even trivial that I didn't notice the first time around when looking at how jQuery interacts with CSS... Normally, when we create styles for our mark-up, we first define them either internally or externally, and then create the extra mark-up needed to accommodate those styles in the form of attributes and values. jQuery is a bit weird as to how it is able to link and change any of those styles that you have already created for your mark-up. Not only can you create a method within your jQuery scripts in which to add another class to the ones you already have in your styles and mark-up, but you can seemingly not create any extra styles, at all, and only incorporate them into your mark-up. Eh..? I'm only a beginner with this jQuery framework, thingy, but already it's blown a few fuses in my mind. Unfortunately, when I get excited reading stuff like this, I don't do what most of you will do... Carry on reading the book? No, my mind goes off tangent, and races away into some other weird and colorful dimension. ...But what about that rather odd (beginner's) discovery? You know, the one about only creating the mark-up for your styles and not the actual styles that you would normally first define? I haven't really been able to wrap my head around that one yet, but it seems to me that just by defining it in a jQuery script instead of a style sheet is as good as defining it in your styles -- maybe? I've got to some how control this excitement of mine, otherwise my mind will turn into a firework's display, or more than likely a bomb going off in my brain.
  19. Err, but those aren't drop-down menus. And besides, I've already created a centered dl menu a few years back... http:// www. macrankin.co.uk/ web_projects/navigator/blah_dl_8.html (remove spaces) ...A centered menu that was also perfected by billyboy. Wherever you are billyboy or bill, best of luck to you.
  20. MacRankin

    Twitter

    Hmm, it sounds interesting picking up useful snippets of info. I suppose a blog can be too time-consuming, but then again, blogs are a more in-depth thing. It's something you don't mind diving into, especially if you know that the content is going to help you look at things in a different way. Twittering, or is it tweetering? Anyway, this too can be time-consuming, though perhaps you're more likely to have the opportunity to be that much more on top of new developments when the word gets out, but only superficially, I think, as you've still got to go through the blogs to get a fuller understanding of what's new. I do like the idea of Twitter, but only if you're a professional web designer / developer. I'm not interested in all those other twits out there.
  21. I believe so, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm never am. The only other time I've been messing around with a suckerfish was when Susie was having a real fun time with that major e-commerce website she was working on. If there's a single-level drop-down menu knocking around somewhere that you know of, and that can be centered, I'd like go get it. Erm, btw... I know this might sound impossible, but I'm still thinking of using that hover dl list to create an alternative for that original idea of yours'... But, err, don't hold your breath.
  22. Ok, I think I may have something of some use now. It's not 100% there yet, but I feel it's good enough... Centered Superfish http:// www. macrankin.co.uk/ menus/superfish/superficial_01.html (remove spaces) Admittedly, it did cross my mind to use this. But, then again, if I had not tried to center that suckerfish I might not have found the way to center this super sucker.
  23. shelfimage, centering that 'Superfish' worked first time, then second time with IE6. On the matter of Eric's hover text-devider menu thingy, I really do think that re-using that old dl hover list may work simpler. Maybe after I've mucked around with this superfish, I'll get started on an alternative version for the both of you.
  24. Blimey, if it's any more complicated than that htc file, I don't want to know. I thought I was in Gobble-de-gook city. Erm btw, that suckerfish menu that I was trying to center... Well, I did get it to center, and work in most browsers known to man, but I just couldn't get the mutha to display its 3rd and final level in IE6. So, if peeps are using that browser they'll be missing out of some links. Hopefully, I can strip down this mutha to use as a single level, centered, drop-down menu, as I've got my mind on building a web page or two for a friend. Anyway, I have uploaded it for anyone to use... http:// www. macrankin.co.uk /menus/new_sf_01a.html (remove spaces) P.S. After this, I'm heading straight for my jQuery book.
  25. I look forward to viewing it in IE6. Erm, in the meantime, feast your eyes on this sucker... http://www. macrankin.co.uk/ menus/new_sf_01.html (remove spaces) I'll certainly need to have another go at this, as IE6 & IE7 aren't really displaying all levels correctly. It's getting late. Maybe I'll have another go at it in the morning, which will be soon if I don't get some sleep.
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