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General discussion

New site design

Feb 9, 2004 8:41AM PST

Would people test the new design at my safety site please? I have changed the structure, and incorporated the formatting into a style sheet, rather than HTML tags.

According to TopStyle Pro, it is compliant with both CSS 1 and CSS 2 standards, and the html pages are marked and compliant with 4.01 transitional. Against browser standards, it is shown as compliant with NS 5 and over, Opera 5 and over and IE 5 and over, and shows perfectly as intended in IE6 SP1, my own browser.

However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we all know that what appears compliant may not be in reality. So if some of you could dip a toe into the site and let me know of any bugs, I'd appreciate it. Happy

Things to look for which are possible problems, are the use of a background image under the menu bar, which should also stretch edge to edge in your browser plus the menu titles should be no-underscore, and a similar image used as the buttons in the contact form, in place of the ugly grey defaults. These are all set in the style sheet, so that is why I am unsure if they work for everyone.

Discussion is locked

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Works for me; Netscape 7.1
Feb 9, 2004 10:45AM PST

Noticed a couple of typos, numbers out of place, but you probably haven't been over it with a fine tooth comb yet.

No browser problems noted.

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Works in Opera 7, Slim Browser, N7 and Opera 6.
Feb 9, 2004 1:39PM PST

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I'm not sure what you mean by background image under the menu bar. There is no image, only a diffent color from the rest of the page behind the menu bar.

N7 fonts in menu bar are a bit different than Opera and Slim Browser but not much.

You probably know this but every other number is missing in the bully section, ie, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.

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Screenshot of what it should look like (50KB)
Feb 9, 2004 4:45PM PST

Thanks guys, glad it's working as I've never made a web site totally CSS dependent for main formatting before. Happy

Rosalie, this screenshot is what the design should look like, two colours on the screen above and below the menu bar, with a graphic backgorund image on the bar itself.

Curious it won't display like that in Opera, as the only browser which TopStyle suggests it *may* encounter trouble with some elements is actually Internet Explorer! Every element passes 100% on the CSS checks with NS and Opera. Then again, since Opera is based on IE, maybe that is a cause of it?

Would you do the test again with the index.html page again? I made a slight tweak to the actual HTML, which I think might have solved it. Happy

Also, just how different is the NS font? I want it to show as a sans serif type font, preferably Arial, and it should have a definite gap between the labels when viewed on an 800*600 screen. I optimised for 1024*768 as I expect people to be running 17" browsers but still accommodate the smaller size, though I will probably stop doing that later this year and expect people to get updated in hardware.

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It's A-OK, Dale. Opera 6 and 7, N7 and Slim Browser show ......
Feb 9, 2004 6:41PM PST

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the site colors and fonts and images just like your screen shot. I didn't understand about the placement of the images, when you said under the menu I thought you meant your menu. The fonts that showed differently in N7 as opposted to Opera were the page titles: Surf Safely, PC Protection, etc. They now apprear to be the same in all my browsers.

BTW, Opera isn't based on IE, Slim Browser is. Mozilla is based 0n Netscape, or vice versa. Opera seems to be a different type animal all together. LOL

Nice work you have done, BTW.

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Opera 6.04 and 7.23...
Feb 9, 2004 1:49PM PST
However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we all know that what appears compliant may not be in reality. So if some of you could dip a toe into the site and let me know of any bugs, I'd appreciate it. Happy - Dale Johnston

The pages appear to be working correctly in both Opera 6.04 and 7.23. I have Opera set to play breaking glass whenever it encounters a problem while opening up a web page. I hear lots of breaking glass on each page using Opera 7 but I don't see anything wrong. Opera 6 runs without reporting any errors...
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IE 6 SP1 works fine...
Feb 9, 2004 2:19PM PST

and congratulations to a great design! Very well done.

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Ditto, and a suggestion.
Feb 10, 2004 12:33AM PST

The add popped up on each screen I looked at, and blocked the safety text. It then stayed there for what seemed like at least 5 seconds. I suggest moving it away from the text. It could get very annoying.

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He can't fix that...
Feb 10, 2004 1:11AM PST

as it is done by geocities/yahoo.

It is their code that also shows as problematic in some browsers/browser versions.

Just a minor price to pay for free hosting.

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Dale, Very well done!!! Congrats Maybe a tut one day on how to do that,lol.....NT
Feb 9, 2004 10:52PM PST

.

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Re:New site design
Feb 9, 2004 11:45PM PST

Dear Dale

All of the pages arrived OK on my IE6 SP1 so no bugs detected, but I did not attempt to effect any links.

Were you also looking for comments on content also? as I have a couple.

Found it a bit irritating that the Geocities advertisement obscured your print on the right-hand side until it resolved itself to a smaller box that I could close (using the X box) so that I could read your pages.

You say that it is posted in big print, but I couldn't adjust this to small print via my View Text Smaller browser option. Is this intentional?

Aside from comments on actual content, I found it confusing as to whether you were aiming the site at adults or children, as it seems to be rather an odd mixture. I'm not sure, for example, if you are aiming at adults, in which case the wordage should be addressed to adults as regards their children. On the other hand, if the site name(?) is intended to attract children, then I guess the site name (whatever the final one is), might attract children but I doubt if the content will. I hope you know what I mean.

I applaud 100% any site such as this but you will forgive me if I have my own views as to content. Let me know.

Regards
Mo

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Re:New site design
Feb 10, 2004 1:07AM PST

Hello Dale,

Looks good.

In Netscape 4.X there is a minor problem with the menu and even text appearance because it doesn't handle CSS well. Even so the appearance is not bad and doesn't detract.

Here is a screenshot of the menu so you can see for yourself.

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Re:Re:New site design
Feb 10, 2004 3:30AM PST

Thanks guys, glad it worked out pretty much as hoped. Not done such a CSS reliant site before, so was unsure if it I could pull it off.

Ed, was a time I would fuss and worry over NS4, and even kept NS 4.08 installed along with Opera 5 for just this purpose. However, I;m taking a leaf out of Andy Levy's book: work towards the standards compliance and test with more up to date browsers.

I realise there are still people out there use the oldies, but with so many leaks, bugs and holes, they shouldn't be. The beauty of TopStyle Pro is it includes HTML Tidy, so lets me test the HTML as well, and that lets me check against specific browsers. BTW, got feedback off another site too, it also works with Mozilla/Firefox, so that should keep our Linux devotees happy. Happy