Web Browsers

June 7, 2009

Only a couple of blog posts ago I was talking about the curse of IE6. I think I should officially declare it the worst browser ever made. Its a HUGE pain for a web developer. The WC3, however, tells us that 15% of web surfers still use it. Ugh. On the plus side you should also realize that if you ever need to change something on your site specifically for IE6 (you probably will), than you can use:
<!–[if IE 6]> (Put this before your IE6 specific html)

<![endif]–> (Put this after your IE6 specific html)

Alternatively, you could also use:
<!–[if ! IE 6]> to make IE6 ignore certain parts of your html.

While we’re on the topic, if you want a good laugh head over to www.saveie6.com. Yes, this is a joke; the site was opened on April 1.

And finally, some exciting news. A developer build of Google Chrome has been released for Linux and Mac OS X!

Web Fonts

March 2, 2009

One of the sites that I am editing right now is very heavily based on fonts. I need to have the right fonts in the right places or my client wont be happy. But I find fonts to be such a pain. Which fonts are ‘web safe’? What happens if a user doesn’t have the right font installed? As I was coding the site I ran across a great article entitled “The Myth Of ‘Web-Safe’ Fonts”. It’s worth a read for anyone interested in making sure that fonts display properly on their pages. Most interesting was the discussion of the five ‘font family stacks’ and the three types of fonts that a browser can fall back to if the proper font isn’t installed.

First Steps – Creating Web Sites

April 24, 2008

Getting started with computer programming can be a challenge. Where is the best place to start? Designing websites is an easy way to see quick results for your efforts. The most basic way to get started with web design is to use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web editor. Dreamweaver is the champion of this type of software. For the amateur who is just beginning the open source NVU should do fine. However, I highly recommend that you learn to create your own websites using only a text editor and html, javascript, and php. The most difficult part of learning to design web pages will be finding the right sites to learn from.

Learn HTML - DaveSite.com
I highly recommend using DaveSite.com for an HTML tutorial because it assumes no prior knowledge and emphasizes practical application.

Learn CSS - DaveSite.com
CSS is an important part of defining the layout of your web page. To find out more about CSS and how to use it use Dave’s tutorial. Visit the W3Schools website for more tutorial and a handy reference guide.

Learn Javascript - Thau’s Javascript Tutorial
Thau’s Javascript Tutorial on Webmonkey.com was by far the best Javascript tutorial I could find. Once you’ve completed it you can move on to the Advanced Javascript Tutorial.

Learn PHP - PHP From the Ground Up
By now we are getting into designing more advanced websites. Many websites will not require PHP or another server side language. If you feel limited by the capabilities of html and javascript then it’s time to check out this tutorial.