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General discussion

Buttons

Nov 19, 2008 11:11PM PST

Where to start. No history of the hows and whys of what I am doing as it would be long. I guess I can put it in a blog if you want the particulars.

I need to understand buttons how to create them and to make them work.
I have found sites that let you create buttons for free but nothing on how to make them do what it is that you need them to do. An example is to have someone that wants to be added to a mailing list on your site. I know to (for a better lack of a word) steal the part of a form that you can fill out with your email address but the send button that sends it to your email so they can be added is beyond me.

I found one site that gives easy programing that will let you do that by down loading their program, problem was it had a Trojan in it and was caught by my virus program before it was installed to my computer and was removed before I opened it.

By the way I was looking for a free program, are there any such out there that don't jerk you around. All of the free buttons sites only asked for a link back to their site and I understand the reasoning for this. I am no computer expert I do however understand a lot of the whys and wherefores of what is going on in using the net.

Thanks in advance.
Don

Discussion is locked

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In short.
Nov 19, 2008 11:16PM PST

This only seems to be a mystery until you research and learn how things work. I think you want such a thing without the pain of knowing how it works or any 'writing code.' For that you pay more for a web host that gives you easy.

To recap, what you asked has been asked many times. The answers sometimes annoy the asker since the answer is to dig in and learn.
Bob

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My intent
Nov 19, 2008 11:41PM PST

Again without getting to deep. There are a lot of folks with small businesses who would like to be on the net. 1)Most have very limited funds as they are struggling to begin with and think that by getting on the net it will grow their business, as we already know that is not the case if not done properly. 2) They don't know how to get a website and all that it involves.

I am trying to preform the kiss system on being on the net and have to this point discovered much on how to create sites that have limitless space that costs nothing to build with as many pages as your heart desires to do what ever you want. It is now getting down to the odds and ends that can make a site flexible and easy to use.

I am not talking about trashy sites with things that you don't want on your site like outsider advertising. But are clean and have only what you want on them. Easy to build and require no real programing knowledge.

Sounds impossible I know but through a great deal of research I can do all this and more.

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That's why...
Nov 19, 2008 11:48PM PST

People that don't want to dig in, learn HTML and such go with web hosts that give them such things "easy."

If your web host doesn't offer it, then move to one that does.

Again, your question and goal has been seen many times before. Please don't take this wrong but the answer is simple. That button should fire off a request on the server but you don't want to know how it works but that it does. As it stands you may be on a web host that didn't provide you with "easy."
Bob

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Thanks for the response
Nov 20, 2008 12:23AM PST

It maybe that my intent has been missed so let me go a little further. Can you buy a program that is not a killer in price that will allow you to create buttons on your computer that you can program without knowledge of HTML?

As it stands now I have a registered web site that cost me nothing that gives me the tools to design my site in any way I wish. What I lack is a way to create buttons, if there is a program that is a one time cost that will allow me to do this then I come out in the long run. ie: No monthly or annual costs for having a registered website.

My daughter had a site that she had to pay for but got her no where except to dish out money. Yes you can pay for advertising and you can pay for this and that and the other but you accomplish nothing but shelling out money with no guaranteed results.

I have learned how to get onto search engines as well as a verity of other ways to get your site promoted and costs nothing to accomplish. I have gotten quite good at it. I am now just looking for finesse.

I know that I can search for such things on the net which requires a great deal of trail and error but by way of forums I have found that I can cut a lot of that work out by picking the brains of good folks like you. Happy

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No.
Nov 20, 2008 12:37AM PST

"Can you buy a program that is not a killer in price that will allow you to create buttons on your computer that you can program without knowledge of HTML?"

No. Here's why. That button has to work with your web host and server. While there are standards in web services and servers you common cheap web host doesn't implement this.

As first the persons asking for this will be very upset over this. Again, it is what it is and why this seems hard to most only seems elusive until ... you learn how things work.

-> Let's bottomline this.
Putting a button on a screen = Too easy.
Making it submit something back to you = not supported on simple web server sites.

Bob

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Re: buttons
Nov 20, 2008 12:37AM PST

If your ISP offers a program to maintain a website and it doesn't support buttons, it's doubtful if it will support integration with some other design tool that does. It's even doubtful that it will let you create buttons if you know how to do it in html. But nobody here knows, because you didn't even tell what program it is.

So - after your research the possibilities of the software you use now - it might be time to start all over (with this ISP or with another). You've got 2 options, in principle:
- Do it yourself using some website designing software that runs on your computer. To make it a nice website you might have to use a CMS or server-side programming in PHP and/or MySQL.
- Find a company or website programmer that does it for you. That's much faster and the result will be much better. But it will cost money.

Kees

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Website provider
Nov 20, 2008 1:06AM PST

I have a website on Micro Office Live Small Business. outon731.com is the address. I have played with it with nothing serious for the last year and a half. There are people I know that talk about being on the net but are clueless as to the ins and outs of doing so. In talking to them it becomes apparent that they are on the road to frustration and costly expenses that will get them no where so I decided that I would pass on what I have learned since I won't be using that knowledge myself.

It will by its very nature become long and complicated as you well know, so my attempt will be to make it as easy to follow as possible until they get a working knowledge of how it is done. I can do things like mailing lists but will not be as easy and clean as buttons will make a site, and since most people who surf the net like easy that is what I am attempting to do.

Also so you will know I link from the site to goggle blogspot where I have access to HTML code so if someone wants to get into that part of it and have the will and wherewithal can do some of their own programing for buttons. You can go nuts on blogspot and they don't care. Happy

Since you mentioned it I checked my office live site and noticed that I have HTML access to what I don't know maybe I can program a button on it, it maybe just learning how.

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The ONE THING you need to know is...
Nov 20, 2008 1:13AM PST

That this is NEVER an issue with what you put on your web page but what your web host provides for you. No amount of HTML code can change the basic issue.

But you will find people that haven't figured out "how things work" and they will ask this question until...
Bob

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Sounds like a challange :)
Nov 20, 2008 1:29AM PST

As the old saying goes, if I had a quarter for every time I heard that and then went out and done it anyway I'd be rich. Happy

What you say may well be true but I never say die until I manage to cut my big toe off.

So off I go on the big adventure, which seems to be what I do best.

Thanks!

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Here's a demo...
Nov 20, 2008 3:48AM PST

of a button in html. Couldn't be easier.

It's a very useful site, w3schools, for web-programmers. Really.

Kees

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Got A Quater?
Nov 20, 2008 3:55AM PST

OK so it wasn't a button I needed but you got me to thinking. What I needed was a web form, so off I go expecting to have to buy a program and low and behold the first site I got was an email form site that let me create a mailing list form complete with a send button and here's the kicker its free and I can create as many forms as I like.

It took a while for me to figure it out to get it to work correctly when I added it to my office live site but I not only figured out how to do it but I figured out how to do it in two different ways.

Whoa I love a challenge. Happy