Starting a web sit. Upload and maintenence. [Archive]

putrid

01-03-2008, 07:23 AM

Howdy all. This is a continuation of a conversation I've been having on the thread "Who here has a web page". Good folks giving me help.

The propose of this thread isn't how to make a site. That would depend greatly on the program you use and what you plan on doing with it. This thread will deal with uploading and maintaining a site. Because I'm technichally challenged I'll be asking and posting as many things here as I find out. I have NO CLUE what I'm doing so hopefully I'll ask some of the same questions you would. This will be like a diary of all the ins and outs and mistakes I make. Feel free to post questions and things you've done. And if you see me racing head long into a brick wall. LOL My site will be large with mulitple pages. No frills but plenty of links and numerous uploads and changes. It'll be done in parts.

Here's what I've done so far. Laugh if you want. I have been. LOL

Put together a hand full of pages on the site and decided it's time for folks to see what I've done. The program has a FTP program of it's own ( There will be stuff on what a FTP is and what's it for. The only thing I know right now is it's used to move big files fast.) so I decided to give it a shot.

You have to have a hosting account before you can publish anything to the web. Your FTP program will ask you to set up all the needed information so it knows were to go with your stuff. You'll get that information from your hosting provider. You'll also need to have a registered site name. ONLY register with the hosting provider you plan on using.

So let me tell ya just how hard that first brick wall was. LOL Opened the FTP program that came with the web publishing program I've bought. Did all it asked and was ready to go. Clicked on the folder that has my site saved in it and hit "Publish". More than an hour later I came back into the room and saw all these files that had nothing to do with my site heading off into cybor space. What? like you've never done something stupid before. Stick around. I'm an old pro at it. LOL Good new is there's nothing lost on my computer. Went to my hosing provider and checked the size of my site and it's still 0 bits. Tried it several times more with no results which left me with more questions than answers. So here's a short list of questions I hope to get answers to soon.

Do I have to make a separate folder and upload all my photos and gifs to it? Or will they all upload with the pages there on.?

Can I make separate folders for different areas of the site and upload to them? Or do I have to keep all the site in one folder so all the links will work?

When making changes, say add a page that will need to be linked to multiple pages. Do I have to download every page I need to add links to, make the changes, then re upload them all?

To keep this one post from becoming to long I'll start with just these questions. I have PLENTY more. It might help you to take a look at a FTP program. You'll understand why I'm asking these questions better. You may even find the answers before I have a clue. LOL

I'm hoping this will help folks who, like me, have no clue but want to do it.

Sickie Ickie

01-03-2008, 07:41 AM

Just in case people are confused, FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. Basically it's just a program to copy files from your computer to another place on the web.

"Do I have to make a separate folder and upload all my photos and gifs to it? Or will they all upload with the pages there on.?"

You can upload all at once with the FTP program. Many people have a web site creater program that automatically adds the images into files the site program created. If you program doesn't do this, some people create files to put images into to keep everything tidy. In short, your site creater program will give your page internal information on where to find the image. If you move your image from there it can no longer find it. (If you are not using a program that makes files, you have to tell the program where to find your image and it will still cause problems if you move it and don't update where you moved it to.) Not finding the images often are the main reason for the notorious red X we see where pics should be in a website.

Sickie Ickie

01-03-2008, 07:48 AM

"Can I make separate folders for different areas of the site and upload to them? Or do I have to keep all the site in one folder so all the links will work?"

If you decide to keep separate folders, you have to make sure that the pages have the information on where to find your stuff by providing the correct links for the hyperlinks.

Most programs allow you to browse when hyperlinking and click on what you want for a hyperlink.

Basic URLs when read may look like this:

http://corpsecounty.com/HotGlueGuru.htm

In this case http://corpsecounty.com is the basic site where everything is, HotGlueGuru.htm is the page located on the site.

Sickie Ickie

01-03-2008, 07:50 AM

When making changes, say add a page that will need to be linked to multiple pages. Do I have to download every page I need to add links to, make the changes, then re upload them all?

Unless you are using a program with contents coding or tabs, the answer is yes.

putrid

01-03-2008, 09:00 AM

OK so the entire site should be in one folder. Depending on the program I may need to put all the giffs and pics in a folder. And adding pages with many multiple link is going to be a headache! LOL

I'm going to keep a note book just for the site. In it will be a list of a photos and giffs, there names and what pages there on. Because many of these will be used as links this info will be listed as well. Also in it will be maps of hyperlinks. This way I'll know in a glance which pages I need to alter when adding a new page so I don't end up with dead links. After I conquer this challenge life may become boring again. LOL

Thanks for the info Sickie Ickie. Looking forward to learning more!

Sickie Ickie

01-03-2008, 07:33 PM

Some web designing programs already have maps of hyperlinks that update as you go. Check your program first and see if it does it. You may find that it saves you quite a hassel. :)

putrid

01-04-2008, 07:32 AM

I'll check that out. Thanks. With all the links and hub pages it should look like a field of weeds. I expect when I open that up it'll just flash in big red letters, "You've got to be kidding me." LOL

Sickie Ickie

01-04-2008, 04:35 PM

Sounds like you have an awesome site you're doing. Just be careful not to burn yourself out, my friend. :)

putrid

01-05-2008, 03:57 AM

It takes me years to burn out on something. I'm slow. JK LOL

What I'm doing now with the site is making as many pages as I know will have content on them. This way most of the links will be inplace when I do the initial upload. I've created an 'update' page on the main hub for Christmas side. The Halloween side will have all the content form cryptopropology. Any updates to that side will be represented by new links. Hopefully this will help folks and they wont be bouncing around from empty page to empty page. Personally I don't like 'sites under construction' and I'm sure others feel the same. Nothing worst than seeing something your interested in, click on a link and nothings there. And nothing there to give you an idea of when there will be content. Most folks don't get real heavy into doing things for Christmas till July or August so I have a few months of slow traffic ahead. That is if I can get it uploaded to begin with LOL. ( i;m to old to be pulling my hair out. I treasure each stran. LOL)

Having all the pages in place will mean all I'll have to do is redo those pages and not all the links. Keeping a personal map of all the links for a new page will give me a check list to everything that will need to be changed in order for that page to work properly. That will make things easier. Especially if the new page is a hub with a lot of content and links to multiple pages for a single project.

Right now I'll need to do 41 project pages not including the hubs and shared information pages. Have 23 more projects that will be added to existing hubs or will need hub pages and shared information of there own. I'll have to remake each project to take pictures as I go. Should have it all done by next week end. JK LOL

Sickie Ickie

01-05-2008, 12:03 PM

Next week, eh? Only if you decide sleep is for losers! :p

putrid

01-05-2008, 04:25 PM

I've now got 44 empty pages on the site. Been checking and re checking all the links. Still have quite a few more pages and links to make. My original estimate of 41 was way off. LOL

Sickie Ickie

01-05-2008, 04:58 PM

Try 141. :p

putrid

01-15-2008, 11:31 AM

141 empty pages???? JK LOL
Want ya'll to know this isn't a dead tread. Just haven't had the time to pursue this like I'd like at the moment. Been adding more pages to the site. A few even have stuff on them. LOL No how-to's yet. Also been working on gifs using microsoft paint and publisher. Decided to go this route because the site was looking to sterile.

If you have mircosoft paint try this. Go to custom colors ad pick an evergreen color you like. Go to all colors and choose 4 variations of that color. Going from extremely dark to light and save each choice. Now choose your spray can with the mid size splatter and your darkest evergreen color you saved. ( you may have to go back into custom colors to get it ) Spray a straight line about 2 inches long almost completely solid in color. Now choose your next lightest color and, using the same spray pattern go over the darker color but don't completely cover it. Leave a lot of the darker color there. Do the same with the next lightest color. Spraying even less with each. Your lightest color should be done as lightly as possible. And there you have it. Part of an evergreen wreath or garland.

Sickie Ickie

01-15-2008, 11:47 AM

do you have an example?

putrid

01-16-2008, 07:00 AM

I'll post some pics on my small free site of the garland in process and one of the gifs for the site today and post back to let you know they're up.

putrid

01-16-2008, 07:56 AM

Up and ready for viewing. The deep blue color is the color of the web site pages.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jazzfusion/id23.html

Sickie Ickie

01-17-2008, 07:51 AM

Very cleaver dude. I especially like the snowy effect on the cornucopia.

putrid

02-04-2008, 07:08 AM

OK this really isn't a dead post. Think of it as an extremely slow one. There is progress but it's like watching grass grow. LOL One of the biggest obstacle has been trying to find a place to put a scanner around this small desk. Don't know why I didn't think of this before. I can use my camera to take pictures of the needed drawings. Be about 5 minuets faster for each one. ( old scanner ). Things should start happening faster now. I'm still adding more (and more and more...LOL) empty pages to the site. Still nothing uploaded to the web yet.

putrid

02-09-2008, 07:28 PM

Well I thought that was the biggest obstacle. Nope the biggest obstacle is the fact that I have NO clue to what I'm doing. I can design a site on three different programs but still can't publish. So I finally decide to get help. ( a guy thing, when your completely lost and can no longer pretend your in control. LOL) Earthlink live help has technical difficulties. We that made me feel a little better. They're supposed to know what there doing and are
having trouble too. LOL
Here is some of the things I need to ask someone about.

My web editing program is storing the pages in one folder and all the gif and pictures in another. Do I have to make to folders or are they already there? And if I transfer the pages to a new folder and the pictures and gifs to a new folder will they find each other?

If I upload the site will there still be a copy on my computer or will I need to make a copy in case of problems?

What will be published now is just the bare bones of the site. I'll need to add content and more links to pages. How?

When I tried to upload using a FTP program it wanted me to put the pages on a "map" or something. With multiple pages being small hubs with multiple links going from these hubs back to shared pages ( information that's needed for multiple project put on one page instead of on each page needed ). There is NO way to put pages in order. The home page itself is nothing more than a hub between the two sides of the site. Does it matter what pages go where on this "map"?

And probably the least important question....how do I add a counter to the site? LOL

I know I'll get more involved with this if I knew more of what I was doing. It would be nice to be able to share things off of holidaycraftology.com instead of the small free site I have at Earthlink.

Sickie Ickie

02-09-2008, 08:17 PM

I have limited knowledge of this, but I'll try to help. :)

My web editing program is storing the pages in one folder and all the gif and pictures in another. Do I have to make to folders or are they already there? And if I transfer the pages to a new folder and the pictures and gifs to a new folder will they find each other?

Your program is making folders because the program is telling it to. This program also writes to itself to find these things in these folders. If items are moved, it doesn't know where to find them.

If I upload the site will there still be a copy on my computer or will I need to make a copy in case of problems?

There'll still be a copy in your computer.

What will be published now is just the bare bones of the site. I'll need to add content and more links to pages. How?

Each time you add content, you'll need to re-upload the pages you've changed...or if you want, the entire website.

When I tried to upload using a FTP program it wanted me to put the pages on a "map" or something.

Each FTP is different. No idea what this one is talking about.

how do I add a counter to the site?

There should be a function in your program creator. Press F1 or search for counter. If all else fails, search for "free web counters" on the net. :D

putrid

02-09-2008, 09:17 PM

Thanks Sickie Ickie, but now that you've answered these questions I'm going to drive you crazy with even more! LOL

I'm going to try an experiment before I ask any more questions. I'm going to move a few of the gif's and pictures from the folder and see if they still show up on the page. Thinking this might just be a way to save copies of them. Never had a program that saved something in two different folders. If they don't show up I might try saving them all to a folder in the same folder the pages are in. Be a bit of work. But I'll only have to upload one folder with everything in it. I think. LOL

The map was a drag and drop thing. Each page then connected itself to the page before with a line. Making a visual map of the site. Guess that would work on a simple setup.

putrid

02-09-2008, 10:20 PM

Never mind, it's all going to the same folder. Told ya I have no clue as to what I'm doing. LOL

Sickie Ickie

02-10-2008, 02:48 PM

Hey, sounds like you like doing what I do. Hands on. The only way to learn! LOL

putrid

02-11-2008, 08:59 AM

Be nice to loose that 'grasping in the dark' feeling. LOL

Sickie Ickie

02-12-2008, 11:58 AM

sometimes that can be fun! LOL

putrid

02-14-2008, 09:42 AM

LOL Sickie Ickie.
OK major changes for the site. Not going to have lots of empty pages. Only pages with content will get uploaded. Kidna a relief. Bit off WAY more than I can chew at the moment. What I'll do is move the already set up but empty pages to a different folder. Delete the links to them from the rest of the site. Then add them as I fill them. There are a hand full of pages I'll have to get done before the site goes up. These how-to's are used in a majority of the projects on the site.

Got another question. Dose each page need to have holidaycraftology in the address? Instead of .....tp://wwwhorsedeersheep/ it would read ....tp://holidaycraftology/horsedeersheep/ or something like that. Kinda guessing here. (grasping in the dark again. LOL)

One more question. I'd like to be able to see the site in other browsers besides Windows. Where can I download Firefox and Netscape from? Any others out there? The most complicated part of the site is it's very straight forward tables. But I would like to see if they would work for everyone.

Sickie Ickie

02-15-2008, 08:19 PM

http://browser.netscape.com/

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Dose each page need to have holidaycraftology in the address? Instead of .....tp://wwwhorsedeersheep/ it would read ....tp://holidaycraftology/horsedeersheep/ or something like that. Kinda guessing here.

Yep. It needs to be in the address. Think of holidaycraftology as the big folder and horsedeersheep as a smaller folder in that folder.

putrid

02-16-2008, 02:44 AM

OK, now I have to rename and re-do all the links on all the pages. Why is learning a new trick so painful? JK LOL You know it's kinda stupid on my part. For as much time as I've been on the web you'd think I would have looked at the addresses of pages from the sites I visit.

Thanks for the links Sickie Ickie. Going to down load both to make sure the site works for most everyone. The fun part is, if they don't work I have NO idea how to fix them. Let's see how good this 99 cent program really is. LOL

Thanks again Sickie Ickie for your help.

putrid

02-16-2008, 03:50 AM

Totally cool! Got both Firefox and Netscape up and running and the site looks the same. Everything is in it's place. 99 cents never looked so good. LOL

Now for tha FTP program.......always something new when your learning something new...LOL

putrid

02-17-2008, 06:56 AM

Update but not up to the web yet. Got all the Halloween stuff from my crypotporpology site on the holidaycraftology site. Also copied all our Halloween haunt pics. Had to get them off the net. The computer with all of them and more is down. Don't have pages done for them yet. Started to rename all the pages and change the links. Have more pages finished. I was hoping to get part of this uploaded over this weekend but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Best plans of mice and men. LOL

Sickie Ickie

02-20-2008, 07:26 PM

Glad to hear the news Putrid. Building a website can be frustrating!

putrid

02-21-2008, 06:39 AM

If I could devote more time to it I think I could of had it up by now. Hopefully by the end of next month things will slow down. The idea of having shared how-to information on a single page instead of in each project it's used sounds easy enough. Till you throw in all the variables and materials that could be used. Take for instance a simple Santa made out of a cone covered in material.

How to make a smooth cone has it's own page.
Making the Santa's face Needs
1 Home made sculpting tools.
2 How to make bread clay.
3 Sculpting the face out of/
3a. bread or polymer clay
3b. pulp paper mache ++++this also has it's own how to make pulp paper mache page.
4 Hair and Beards/
4a. combed yarn
4b. tips on using fake fur.
( you don't want to make paper mache hair and bears over material. the glue will damage the cloth)
The rest of the how-to would continue with putting it all together.
Then you would have customizing.
Making small toys, wreaths, trees, and the list goes on and on and ....LOL

However the good news is when I put a how-to for a 24 inch hand sculpted Old World Santa the above information is already on line. Same goes for any other project that calls for these pages of information. ....and with each new project there's more variables and more information with more variables and on and on and.......LOL......... so do you want your cone Santa to have a closed coat or and open one? Smooth on the cone or ruffled and waved like motion? and on and on and.............

putrid

02-27-2008, 07:22 PM

Still nothing to show for all this work. LOL

Right now I'm still working on the layout. As it stands now you'd find a project you want to make, say a Santa, then have to go back to a 'hub' page ( list of pictures of all the different Santa projects ) and go from that page to shared information pages. Don't like it. What I'm thinking about doing now is putting the shared information pages on each single type of project hub page. Say there's 3 variations of a cone and material Santa. You'd go to the cone and material Santa page and on that page the first thing would be links to all the shared information pages and the measurements you'd need. In this case it would be
making cones
sculpting a small santa face
hair and beards
this means there will be a lot of links listed on one shared information page. The viewer would have to remember what page they came from to go back. But the advantage is you don't have to back track to get to the links you'll need.

I'll play with this a bit and see if it works better......it goes on and on and on and...LOL

putrid

03-02-2008, 09:30 AM

Nothing yet, no where near's done.
Changed all the pages and links around to the new set up. I like it allot better. You can make the parts you need then go directly to the project you want to make.

I've found that it takes 4 times as long to make something when your writing everything you do down. LOL Because I've decided to put a paper mache Santa on the toy horse ( toilet paper roll horse ) I'm making a stand up one for the site. Will be writing all the how-to info on the Santa and toy horse. To make these pages work I've added a sculpting small Santa faces and Hair and beards hub pages. Plus I've added a how-to on making and sizing a paper mache Santa to what ever size you need. For putting in store bought sleighs and with deer or horses and the like. The paper mache Santa body will also be used for an armature to be covered with material as well.

I'm going to have to go re-do the how-to on paper mache Santas. I've found an easier way to fit the legs and torso together smoothly. Still have to try it on the real thing. But it looks good on paper. Far easier for folks to follow as well.

Perhaps by July I'll have something to show for all of this. LOL

bethene

03-02-2008, 12:04 PM

At least you are attemping your won site, I don't know where to begin or how to make a site, I am ptetty tech challenged. Some day, maybe my daughter can help me, if I get enough things to put on a site!

Sickie Ickie

03-05-2008, 07:22 PM

You can do it Bethene. It doesn't have to be as near complicated at Putrid's. Just make a single page with photos and instructions on your crafts. Maybe add some info about yourself and hobb and voila. Instant webpage.

putrid

03-06-2008, 06:11 AM

Ya, don't be a complete idiot and bite off WAY more than you can chew like putrid. JK LOL (Down but not out. LOL ) Bethene, if you can use a publisher program you can make a site. Really there's nothing to it as long as your not wanting all the bells and whistles. Please don't let the self made mess I'm in detour you from trying one of your own. There's wisdom in the old saying "start out small". I'm not that smart. LOL Hey Sickie Ickie, good to see ya back on the forum!

Sickie Ickie

03-06-2008, 12:41 PM

Glad to be back, Putrid! :D

putrid

03-09-2008, 10:14 AM

Well if it aint one thing it's another. Holidaycraftology.com is the registered name of my site. Wanted to name it propology but that's already a registered name so I couldn't use it. Now I just found out that chrstismasology is also a registered name and a site as well.

http://www.christmasology.com/

Just so happens to be what I called the Christmas side of my site. Going to have to change it. It's the right thing to do. Kinda glad I found this site before I published mine. No need in getting good folks mad at me because we both thought of a good name. Think I'll just call that side of the site Christmas. Will have to re-do all the links and the main gif. If it aint one thing it's another. LOL

Been looking for Christmas craft sites. Spent a few hours this morning. I found one how to that I think I can use. It's a recipe for a salt and cornstarch clay found on this site under the link title 'salt clay dough',

http://www.imagitek.com/xmas/crafts/

Hopefully this home made clay is better than just the normal salt clay. Salt clay damages easily. Not a good choice to make stuff out of you'd want to keep for a few years. Will have to try it out. If it works out I'll add a page with these folks link on it and the recipe. Always give credit to folks for there ideas or information.

I found hundreds of the same or slightly modified kids crafts. All over the top easy 5 minuets to complete stuff. I'm going to blow my own horn here and declare that I'm going to be one to change that. Just like my Halloween site brought 100's of folks a year ways to make corpses without the expense of having to buy a skeleton. My Christmas site is going to bring skill back into making things for Christmas.

bethene

03-10-2008, 03:21 AM

Good for you, Putrid!!! Too bad some one had your name already. I like Holidaycraftology, your site name!!

putrid

03-10-2008, 05:54 AM

LOL I like it too. Thanks Bethene. Still keeping cryptopropology for the Halloween side. Now the Christmas side is just Christmas. Also re did all the links on the pages I have in the upload folder. I still need to make all the changes to the ones in the other folder. Guess I got a bit big headed in my last post. But I'm still hopeful about my site inspiring folks to do more with what they have.

putrid

03-31-2008, 06:23 AM

Well this isn't going as smooth as I thought it would. LOL I've got a lot of things going on and have had to put this on a back burner for the last few weeks. The good news is my kitchen table is still chuck full of half done projects. LOL I've got a few more things to get out of the way. Hopefully all this will settle back to a dull roar in a few weeks. By then I should be able to get back into the swing of things.

I've checked out a few more Christmas craft sites. Everyone of them is full of crafts for kids. One did have a few things that took more skill. But that's one out of about 50 or so.

Sickie Ickie

04-01-2008, 08:09 AM

That why I started Santa's Projects. There's a gazillion pro sites that have crafts for kids, but few have actual props for adults for Christmas. I'm hoping over the next several years here, we and that site can change some people's perspectives.

putrid

04-17-2008, 07:01 AM

Nope not up yet. Still struggling with how I want to put the site together. I need ya'll input and help. This is the prob.

There are a number of variations for every project.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jazzfusion/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/img_conesant002.jpg

Take the Cone and Material Santas above. You can tell each has different hair and beards. There faces can also be made out of different materials as well. These happen to be bread clay. But you could use polymer clay, paper mache, cornstarch clay (play-dow) even air dry natural clay. Now the techniques for using most of these clays are different from each other. You can't work with a bread clay like a polymer and so on. I want to give the crafter the opportunity to use what they have on hand.

This is how I have it set up now. Let's say you'd choose to make a Santa like the picture above.

When you get to the how to page you would be instructed first to make the parts then come back to this page and follow the instructions on how to put it all together.

The first instructions are the sizes for the cone, face and hair with 3 links. One to the 'Making cones' page. One to the 'making small Santa Faces' page and one to the 'Hair and Beards' page.

Each link ( cone,face and hair) takes you to a 'hub' page. This page lists all the different materials I've made that part out of. Each material has it's own link and how to page. These links ONLY go to and from the 'hub' page. Each hub page will have links back to every project listed that uses that part. (small santa faces would have 5 different Santas linked to it)

You would make the cone, face and hair out of the materials you have on hand or like the look of. Go back to the project page and make the Santa.

The plus side. It would allow the crafter easy access to how to's for different materials to make the same part.

The down side. Instead of the traditional craft how to with everything on the same page the crafter would be asked to go to different pages first to make parts. Then come back and put it all together.

The plus side, fewer links. If the project you would like to make has multiple variations ( example, there are 8 different toilet paper roll Santas ) each variation would need there own links to each 'Making small Santa faces' and 'Hair and beard' how to pages. Imagine what it would be like to have 50 or more links on each page.

The plus side. I would only need to type in a how to for any material variation for any part once. I would be able to easily add more material variations in the future without the need to change any craft how to page.

My questions ( after all of that LOL)
Would this set up work for you?
Would you find it confusing to go to different pages to make parts?
Would it be distracting or confusing to have to choose from different materials to make the same part?

Thanks. This isn't a 'dead in the water' project yet. Just looks that way. LOL

Sickie Ickie

04-17-2008, 12:01 PM

Depends how you look at it Putrid. either it's a great site to just go to in order to spend some time browsing, or it's a time consuming site when everything could have been placed together.

I really think it depends on personality. Do what you like and let others follow. :)

BTW did you help do the artwork on the joy of cooking humans?

putrid

04-18-2008, 06:28 AM

[QUOTE=Sickie Ickie;8101.......
BTW did you help do the artwork on the joy of cooking humans?[/QUOTE]

Cooking humans, joy? I need a little joy in my life. I'll have to try that. LOL
Nope, have no artwork published or done anywhere.

I'm still leaning towards the time consuming I guess. More along the lines of letting someone know how many different looks or materials can be used on a single project. If a person wanted to make an old fashioned split twig German sled and Santa but doesn't have twigs they'd have the options of paper mache, snot ragging, half circle wood trim molding, bread or polymer clay ( with a news paper center to reduce weight and dry/cooking time) and so on. All these options with techniques would be up front letting the person know what they could do with what they have.

I guess I should re-word my question.

If you were asked to make small parts of something only to find multiple options and materials. Then told to go back and find out how to put them together. Would you find this confusing? Aggravating? Inconvenient?

I do have a 'How to use this site' page explaining my approach.

Sickie Ickie

04-18-2008, 02:57 PM

Oh! I just had a neat idea, Putrid! Work with me through my brainstorm...

One page has links of different projects. Click on that link.

Now there's a page with radio buttons asking what you would like to work with in your project. The individual is able to click on his different choices. *click enter*

The page with his choices is displayed for the project.

Coolish, no? :D

putrid

04-19-2008, 12:33 AM

That is a cool idea. The draw back is the over all size of the site would increase substantially. For every material option there would be it's own pics and diagrams + a complete how-to for the over all construction. To give an idea on how much larger that would be.

Estimates;
Making a cone = 10 pics and gifs
Making a small Santa Face = 20 pics and gifs
Cone and Material Santa (construction only ) = 20 pics and gifs.
( leaving out the different hair options. = combed yarn, curly yarn, cotton balls, fake fur -and not recommened for use with cloth but still available, snot ragging, paper mache, clay. And for Cone Angels, embroidery yarn)

As now

Making Cones = one page for all = 10 pics and gifs
Making small Santa Faces = one page for each material (simplify and reduce down to 3 techniques ) = 60 pics and giffs
Cone and Material Santa = one page for all = 20 pics and gifs

Total 5 pages with 90 pics and gifs total.

Same page for each face material

One page each with 50 pics and gifs X 3 = 150 pics and gifs.

That doesn't sound like much until you throw in all the projects that use 'Making small Santa faces'.

Santa and sleigh ( cardboard, store bought, wood, old world twig, sizing your Santa for the sleigh, deer, need you have,)
Cone and paper mache Santa
Cone and Clay Santa
Cone and paper Santa
Toilet paper roll Santas ( 8 different ones )
Paper mache Santa

Simplified and not adding all the options available for each of the projects above the same information would be repeated 17 times.

As now,
Making small Santa faces = 3 pages and 60 pics and gifs.

Each page with it's own material = 1020 pics and gifs.

I'm not sure if my 'techincaly challanged' is showing. LOL I don't really know if one picture takes up the space of one picture or it's space is multiplied by each time it's used ( the assumtion I used above ). However there is still the problem of the different hair materials.
To ferther enlarge the site there's still the fact that some of the projects listed above have more than one option to choose from. For an example there's not one but 3 different 'Cone and Material Santas.
The first option is the ones pictured in post number 44.
and;
'Open coated' - using one or two different materials as a shirt, shirt over skirt (?).
'Draped Material' - pleated and more flowing look.

And to ferther complicate things the 'Making Cones' how-to is also used for Angels, Cornucopias, Snowmen and smaller ( 16 inches or less ) pine cone trees and topiary.

One of my biggest problems is the overwelming size of the site. I'm finding it difficalt to just break it down. And still have things going on that's taking more time away from this.

Sickie Ickie

04-19-2008, 07:01 PM

oh well. Cool brainstorm anyway. LOL :p

putrid

04-20-2008, 04:24 AM

Totally cool Sickie Ickie. And thanks, any ideas and help are always appreciated.

Sickie Ickie

04-20-2008, 01:57 PM

I think outside the box, so most ideas are far-fetched. Some occasional work, though! LOL

putrid

05-05-2008, 10:42 AM

This work in progress has just taken a turn for the better. But first I'll have to scrap everything. Does that sound better or what? LOL Yep, going to start over. Best way to fix all my mistakes. The main probs I was having is not even knowing what to ask. So I got a book off of Half.com. Paid a whooping 4+ for it shipping and all. Right in my price range. Cheap. LOL Anyway I've learned all kinds of things I was doing wrong. Everything from naming pages to storing photos and giffs. This should go a lot faster now. Should only take me the rest of the year instead of 5 or so. LOL

Sickie Ickie

05-05-2008, 05:31 PM

Cool! I only know what I've learned through trial and error, so feel free to teach us while you do it Putrid. :)

putrid

05-06-2008, 06:08 AM

Well OK, My biggest mistake was first getting a picture from a folder on my computer and pasting it on the site page. The file name for each of them will contain the original folder AND the folder for the site. The right way is to first put them into the web folder THEN add them to your page.

Plus ( you do know it's more fun talking about other peoples mistakes? JK LOL ) after reading a few chapters on layout and function I re-visited my set up. Man does it look bad. I'm kinda proud of it actually. I hit most of the bad things without even trying. LOL I could make a new site with all the dead space on each page. Did you know that big type is harder to read? I'm still working out all the confusing links. That may end up being a problem I wont be able to solve. Many due to the directions for multiple materials to make each project.

And I'll need to rename all the JPGs and Gifs so they'll group together around there intended page. This will make them easier to locate in the main folder. Both on my computer and on the server.

And lots, lots more. LOL About the only thing I did right is making the site so you wouldn't have to scroll sideways. If you're viewing on a 17 inch monitor.

Elvira

05-06-2008, 06:13 AM

*clapping hands* Yay! isn't it fun reading and building?

putrid

05-06-2008, 07:47 PM

Im a guy, I don't need directions. LOL

Sickie Ickie

05-07-2008, 08:13 AM

So far everything you said for the corrections sound correct. I don't bother renaming my gifs and JPGs because I don't have a lot, but your site is going to be extensive!

putrid

08-24-2008, 03:16 PM

Just to let ya'll know this isn't a dead project. Just had to put it on the back burner for a wile. Ok, eight months or so. But it's better than a couple of years I guess. LOL

So I went ahead and bought an updated version of the Namo web site editor so I could have more Java scrips. Just to find out that the new version of explorer will turn them off because of virus possibilities. Oh well. LOL Looks like it'll be a real simple looking site after all.
Changes made to the lay out.
Every page will have every how to needed to make that project. There will still be pages for making perfect cones, bread clay and the like. But if those instructions are needed to make a project they'll be included on that projects page. Stops the confusion. Unfortunately that means some projects will have to have multiple pages to keep the file size down for those of us on dial up.

Going to keep all the gifs down to simple as possible. These I could change later if I wanted to.

I'm going to start out with what I'm working on now and go from there. I really wanted to have most things in place but that would take more time than necessary.

One thing I really like about this new program is I can make the screen size smaller to accommodate smaller monitors. Like this forums main viewing area. I can make everything fit in the center of an 800x600 window.

I still have problems with this computer and possibly because I'm using programs that are more than 10 years old. But I'm finding ways around this so I can get the things I need done. Can't afford to get new programs. Just bought some Christmas Jazz CDs. Gota have my priorities in order. LOL

Sickie Ickie

08-26-2008, 06:00 AM

Bolton's Jazz sax? Great one to listen to while designing web sites. heh

putrid

08-30-2008, 07:11 PM

Love listening to good music when working with the computer!

Well I just keep finding more reasons to hate this new computer. Now it's converting the fist page of my web site into a DOS document. Then of course it can't open it back up after it's been saved. More delays I don't really want to deal with.......

Sickie Ickie

08-30-2008, 09:57 PM

ugh! The comps are against ya, P!

putrid

08-31-2008, 06:29 AM

I figure out how to stop that from happening. Now I have to figure out why it doesn't so graphics when I preview the site.......I tell the program where I want to save the pages. I tell program where I want to save the graphics. So the computer looks everywhere ells for them but where I saved them to. One day I will find this funny. Not today.

Sickie Ickie

08-31-2008, 09:45 AM

*SI plays taps*

henryjames

10-16-2008, 05:31 AM