need help spicing up my website...anyone interested?

[angelog22]

I run a fantasy football website

http://www.trffl.com

I'm not very knowledgeable on programming. I can just do the basics. I normally just view code of things I like when i'm on other webpages.

I'm always looking for help with enhancements or changes.

If anybody out there is looking to experiment with my site, I'd like your input!!

Thanks all!

[tgpo]

HTML editting is fun. I think the process of learning from others and stuff is really interesting.

[lordsmurf]

Still a lot of flaws, but it's pretty darned good for your a starter site. At least this one can be tweaked to look better.

Unfortunately, most of the things are design issues, something learned in a class moreso than from tips.

What I would suggest it to align everything better. The tables float too much at radnom.

[angelog22]

Thanks LordSmurf! your comments/ideas are always welcome!

Ya, i agree as far as design goes. but i'll learn that as i go.

there are a couple things that i'm hoping to incororate next year. I barely have HTML know-how let alone other languages (perl, javascript, css, etc).

can i run a couple of ideas by you and see how difficult they sound?

[troyvcd1]

looks good and loads pretty fast. Who is your host provider? How much do you pay to get this hosted?

[troyvcd1]

Also it definately needs some type of background. The white is ruining it.

[lordsmurf]

Also it definately needs some type of background. The white is ruining it.

Not necessarily. White is fine, just needs to augment the structure and layout.

KISS = keep it simple stupid

[angelog22]

here are a couple things i'd like to incorporate for next season.

1. i want owners to have to LOG-IN.

2. each team should be able to add or drop players from a player database.

3. each team able to offer trades to other owners, and if accepted by that owner, process in "x" amount of days.

those are just a couple.

are those tough things to get done?

[pacmania_2001]

Short Answer: Yes

I would do a search of the internet, you may get lucky and find someone has already written the code or program that will do something like this otherwise its going to be tedious and quite a steep learning curve.

[thayne]

Also it definately needs some type of background. The white is ruining it.

NO NO NO! Leave it white. White is good.

I also agree you should make all of the content tables the same width. I would even make the logo graphic a little smaller.

You might also concider moving the navigation to the left side, nothing wrong with where it is, but being on the left is more user friendly.

I would also make the HR's the same color as your table borders like
<hr color="#xxxxxx" size="2" width="100%">

[angelog22]

could someone help me with this?


I read that there's a way to have the navigation bar "separate" from the rest. that way, if i change something on it, i don't have to change it on 30 pages. i just change the one and that covers it.

and i do agree that it should be on the left. truthfully, i have no idea why i put it on the right.

and i do like plain background.

[pacmania_2001]

It sounds like you are talking about frames. For more information plus a good guide on the basics of implementing frames I would check out this link:

http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/96/31/index3a.html?tw=authoring

In fact it might pay to just have a browse of some of the other stuff on that site as it has a lot of HTML guides written in relatively easy to understand terms plus it will give you a lot of tips about how to design your site right.

[thayne]

You could put the navigation into it's own file then include it in all your pages. To do that you need to re-name all your files from .html to .shtml (or .asp on a windows server)

Then in each page where you want the navigation you just put


here is more info on includes
http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/docs/tutorials/includes.html
and
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/howto/ssi.html

[lordsmurf]

Don't use frames. Frames are old tech. Frankly, they suck.
Use INCLUDE pages, a nifty byproduct of DHTML.
Easy to do in Frontpage 2000/XP.

You can do all that login/trading/etc with ColdFusion, maybe ASP/ODBC-Access ... but good learn, the more complex it gets, the more you must learn. Those are the two database implementation I recommend, and they're not too hard to learn, at least not to me they weren't.

[angelog22]

thanks guys.

right now i'm working on my XMAS cards. as soon as that project is over (and my wife gets off my back ) i'll get back to the important stuff..... MY WEBSITE!

then i'll let you guys know my progress!

thanks for the guideance!!!!

[tgpo]

I agree, Frames are very, very bad. Like smurf said, Server Side Includes are very nice. You only change one page, but it will change on all pages that include it. Not all servers have it enabled though.

[angelog22]

i tried playing around with it. apparently my server DOES in fact allow SSI. i read the sites that were linked above and a couple others.

so far i've done the following:

1. changed index.html to index.shtml
2. created file named topnav.html
3. created file named leftnav.html

check out http://www.trffl.com

i can't figure out how to get the LEFTNAV part on the left. do i change the code in the LEFTNAV.html file or in the INDEX.shtml file????

i'm getting there!!!

(i figured i'd work on it here at work where nobody will bother me about xmas cards!!! )

______________________
edit:

i've tried the following code at the end of LEFTNAV and also at the beginning of INDEX. nothing happened.

    <td width="10" valign="top" align="right"></td>
             <td valign=top  bgcolor="#ffffff">

any ideas??

thanks.

[angelog22]

Three Rivers Fantasy Football

i figured it out!!!! well, not actually....just kept deleting and moving until it worked!!

but the home page is now set up with the navigation bar on the left.
I also incorporated SSI includes. my homepage now consists of 2 headers, a left navigator, a footer, and the main page in the middle. i've only set up a couple pages so far.

AND on top of that, i got the xmas cards done!

life is good!!!!

thanks all!!!!

[lordsmurf]

2 thoughts:

1- I hope all your visitors have 1024x768 minimum res, otherwise think about 800x600 base size

2- Load times too long on images. Even on my BB connection. Use Photoshop 5.5 or higher, use the SAVE FOR WEB function, save images GIF 32 or JPEG HIGH/MED as needed... go small as you can, but still look good (preview can help you look at applied compression).

Table structure much better.

[angelog22]

My issue with 800x600 is the DRAFT RECAP and ROSTERS page. they need to be pretty wide. I figured if those people already have to scroll for those two pages, why not everything else?

Thanks for the tip on the photos. I recently got PHOTOSHOP 8 CS and PAINTSHOP PRO 8.

I just got FUSION 7.5....i have to download the user manual to see if it's something i can handle!!

[angelog22]

ok...getting frustrated again..

I'm taking your advice and trying to use % rather than constant numbers to allow users with lower resolution to see the whole page without scrolling.

the three pages i've been working with are :

The left navigation bar (used with SSI include command)
The TRFFL HOME PAGE.
and intimdator's TEAM PAGE.

If you toggle back and forth betwee the two pages, it's obvious that the left navigator is not in the same spot and therefore the tables aren't in same spot.

if i'm using the left navigator, i'm confused as to why it would (or even can) change as far as where the starting point is.

anybody with experience got a moment to try and look at the code for my error(s) ???

Thank you in advance!!!!

[lordsmurf]

Home page is best looking page. Other one is down, error 404.

[angelog22]

i'm sorry, i forgot a subdirectory... here it is..

http://www.trffl.com/mw/teams/dan.shtml

i can't get the tables lined up! driving me crazy!!

by the way, when you are at the home page, is the tropy "glistening"? its supposed to be an animated GIF. as is the divider above it. it works when i'm at work, but my PC here at home just shows still GIFs.



Happy Holidays!!!!!!

[lordsmurf]

Glistens, yes. May require certain browser.

[angelog22]

Lordsmurf,

I found the problem. At home i'm running ZONE ALARM which, apparently, doesn't allow the viewing of animated GIFs.

Thanks.