Michael John Ludgate
Stuff for Shamara
This page is being actively designed.
Background
This page contains, and will be updated with, items of interest to Shamara.
It may also be of interest to other people looking for information on HTML and web page creation in general.
I don't claim to be very good at either HTML or web page creation in general.
My biggest enemy is lack of time, check out the code for this page and, you'll find a mixture of unchanged html 4 standard and XHTML.
However good advice is easy to offer, even when not followed yourself ;-)
Method & Tools
Paper to Screen - Basic Design
Many people create personal home pages.
Just as people feel the need to pull faces whenever a television camera is about, many enjoy seeing their name in neon on the web.
Having the chance to create a page, and creating one that other people might enjoy are two very differnt things.
The best internet pages are created by teams of people, each a specialist in their respective field.
While the 'state-of-the-art' site is probably outside your reach, a respectable effort doesn't need to be.
The first step is to design your site and it's pages. This is best done as a simple sketch on paper.
What is the goal of your site? Make notes and look for patterns in your ideas, then seperate and group these to form pages.
Now sketch a basic layout for each page, at this stage don't worry about details or content, just have blocks that show roughly where you want your content to be on the page.
[Colour]
[Font]
[Frames]
[Images]
Getting Connected - Overview
If you're reading this page at home, then you have an ISP. It's highly likely the ISP is currently hosting a web space for you or offers one.
If your doing anything other basic web pages, you'll need to read the terms and conditions for the space you're provided with.
You'll need a tool to place the pages and supporting data (such as images) onto the server that hosts your web space.
Certain ISP's may have a web interface for collecting content form your machine, however the commonest method is FTP, I use WSFTP-LE.
[Link first of each acronym to specific Wiki definitions]
Effective Tools & Code Portability - Methodology
I believe strongly in using the basic tools.
Many flashy tools are available to either fully or assist in authoring web pages/sites.
However these tools make trade-offs between functionality, complexity and portability.
As with a pocket knife, you'll have a collection of clever tools you probably won't use.
The knife if pathetic, the screwdriver is naff and supposedly the thing is supposed to fit in your pocket.
Every task is attempted, but none particularly well.
It's common that a page created using a program, such as Microsoft Word, will contain pages worth of code for a very simple page.
When frames, tables and further content is added the page becomes unwieldy.
Microsoft Notepad is suitable, but for nice features such as code highlighting, I prefer to use Notepad++.
Notepad++ is really useful and best of all is free!
Do It! - Getting Started
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It Don't Work :\ - Testing
Blah Blah Blah
I've Finished - Keeping it going
Blah Blah Blah
What's Next
Blah Blah Blah
Links & Infomation
Home Page
About Me
My Computer
Project Entropia
Kawasaki AR125
Kawasaki ZZR-600
Honda Firestorm
Guitar
Web Links
Stuff for Shamara
Secure Area Entrance
Page design © M J Ludgate (HTML for IE5)