I need a forum

@stancreatorJul 07.2003

Hi to all the expirienced programmers out there. My name is Kevin, I am a 14 year old HTML & JavaSCript programmer. I have reccently been asked to create a community webste for my town. The main feature of this site is a forum. Currently I have got one with ~~[url]~~www.akheva.com,[/url] however I am not completely satisfied with this service (although it’s very good it’s just a bit complicated). Can any of you recomend a better service, free if possible. All replies will be creatly appreciated.

p.s. to see another one of my projects go to ~~[url]~~www.surfinstan.com.[/url]

p.p.s. I AM NOT A SPAMMER.

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24 Comments(s) _↴

@DaveSWJul 07.2003 — #What server side languages does your host support?

@stancreatorauthorJul 07.2003 — #I'm not sure, I'm with www.123_reg.co.uk. why, who were you thinking of?

@pyroJul 07.2003 — #Ok, assuming what you really meant was http://www.123reg.co.uk, it doesn't appear to support PHP, but looks like it will support CGI/Perl scripts. I would recommend [URL=http://www.yabbforum.com]YaBB[/URL].

@stancreatorauthorJul 07.2003 — #Yes i did mean http://www.123_reg.co.uk , can you tell me a website where this Yabb thing has been used?

@pyroJul 07.2003 — #YaBB has a support forums set up at http://www.yabbforum.com/community/

@stancreatorauthorJul 07.2003 — #sweet man, thanks dude. have you seen my website by the way?

@pyroJul 07.2003 — #No, I haden't, but I just took a look... If you are looking for advise, I'd make a few changes asthetically... Let me know if you want me to point some of them out...

@stancreatorauthorJul 07.2003 — #sure if it'll make my site better, let's hear them.

@pyroJul 07.2003 — #Ok, the main thing I'd recommend is changing the backgrounds. I visited several different sections of the site, and they all have backgrounds that make viewing the page very hard on the eyes. Also, you may want to use the same font for all the navigation links on the left side of you homepage, so they all look the same...

@James_L_Jul 08.2003 — #I agree, and I would definitely loose the scrolling status bar at the bottom.

Scrolling text, such as this, can be very distracting when trying to look at a page. If there is something important to say, put it up top in the main body of the text.

Scrolling = <blink> tag in many peoples minds.

...hope this helps! ?

@stancreatorauthorJul 08.2003 — #Thank you both, the changes will be made ready for my next update. But just one question, (to james l) were you talking about the yellow bar with red writing in it?

@spufiJul 08.2003 — #On the bottom of your page you have a scrolling text saying that if a person is "having problems viewing pagees then." There's nothing after "then" that I could see with normal viewing. Yes, you do have text after that, but I only found it after digging around.

You have a ton of JavaScript code that I could really debate as be unneccassary.

Learn to validat a page. You have a ton of code that goes within the <body> that before you even use the <body> tag.

Now using a <center> tag isn't the most current way of doing things, but you over use it a lot. Here's just a small sample of what I mean. Here's your code.

"<center>

<hr width="100">

</center>

<center>

<a href="quiz.htm">

<img src="quiz.bmp"

title="find your stanfan rating"></a>

</center>"

Here's how it could be simplified using the <center> tag.

<center>

<hr width="100">

<a href="quiz.htm">

<img src="quiz.bmp"

title="find your stanfan rating"></a>

</center>

Add define your width value better. In the case of your code above, it's 100 what? px? %?

I'm really not feeling the colors, and I'll agree that the backgrounds on other pages are not visiually appealing.

Well, I think that's good enough for now. ?

@stancreatorauthorJul 08.2003 — #thank you for your, in depth, analysis. yes i agree that some of the javascript could be taken out. the thing about the body tag, i know, it's just because that was the very first html document i ever programmed and i didn't understand anything in those days. does it have any effect at all? putting stuff before the <body> tag?

I'll set about making some changes,

p.s.did you like my backgrounds that i made myself, in the hanks store section?

@pyroJul 08.2003 — #[i]Originally posted by stancreator [/i]

[B]p.s.did you like my backgrounds that i made myself, in the hanks store section? [/B][/QUOTE]IMO, any bold backgrounds are [b]very[/b] hard on the eyes...at least mine...

@stancreatorauthorJul 08.2003 — #but did u think they were a good acheivement?

@James_L_Jul 08.2003 — #The status bar is the very bottom of the browser window. Currently, you have it scrolling the text:

"Hi, and welcome to Surfinstan.com. Take a look around a while... what have you got to lose... etc"

Not too knock you, as you are doing the very best thing you can, which is to ask questions and learn, but I would completely turf this. Having scrolling content down there detracts from the top of the page, and is something most people find annoying.

When I do creation I look at sites and figure out what I like about them. For example, go to any major, well done design, for a large company and I don't think you would find a scrolling message in the window status bar.

Likewise, people have mentioned the background of your site. Go look at pages that you love, and figure out why you love them. What backgrounds work? What are the experts doing?

If I were you, what I would do is a complete redesign, on the side, of your page. Work on it bit by bit, but keep the other one up if you like.

Start by learning how to place a doctype in the top and how to validate the page on the W3 web site.

Next, learn how to style the page with CSS (and to validate it).

Finally, add any other stuff back in like Javascript, etc... but do it tastefully!

@spufiJul 09.2003 — #[i]Originally posted by stancreator [/i]

[B]thank you for your, in depth, analysis. yes i agree that some of the javascript could be taken out. the thing about the body tag, i know, it's just because that was the very first html document i ever programmed and i didn't understand anything in those days. does it have any effect at all? putting stuff before the <body> tag?

I'll set about making some changes,

p.s.did you like my backgrounds that i made myself, in the hanks store section? [/B][/QUOTE]

No, most, if not all, of the JavaScript should be taken out.

Misplacing the <body> tag screams "I'm a newbie and I don't really know what I'm doing, but it works in my browser so it must be ok." Granted you are a newbie so don't take that too harshly. One of the downsides to making a web page is that browsers can be really forgiving in how you code. This means you can make tons of errors on still pull off a website that looks ok in a browser. I'm more from the school of programming where if it doesn't compile, it doesn't work period.As posted before, learn validation and clean up your code. This means your site will look just as good, or better on more than just your browser, which I'm guess is IE.

Basically all of your background images were annoying. Sorry, but it's true. Want to know what my favorite background image is? None. A plain white background does wonders and tends to be the one that's used on sites that have heavy amounts of traffic. Add color in spots to break up the white and to give your site some life, but really watch what you use for colors. Neon versions of colors aren't the best to use and should be avoided. Remember, it has to look cool to more than just you.

@stancreatorauthorJul 09.2003 — #thank you all very much for the advice, i really do apreciate it. Please, be as blunt as you like (as long as you really do know what you're talking about). If you've got anymore comments or suggestions please post them in the forum 'got some spare time' in the general section. I have begun making all the changes. Hopefully the new surfinstan.com will be a vast improvement.

Once again thanks.

@stancreatorauthorJul 12.2003 — #how was this forum made? and by who?

@spufiJul 12.2003 — #[i]Originally posted by stancreator [/i]

[B]how was this forum made? and by who? [/B][/QUOTE]

http://www.vbulletin.com/

@stancreatorauthorJul 13.2003 — #hey just a quick question now, probably to pyro. Remembering I'm with 123-reg who should i go with, yabb or vbulletin?

@stancreatorauthorJul 13.2003 — #can any body tell me how to find 123-reg.co.uk's perl location please?

@kipkreationsJul 13.2003 — #Any forums I make are with ASP code,

for beginner's you can also download programs from sites, like www.asp101.com.

@stancreatorauthorJul 13.2003 — #I've been to www.asp101.com but i can't find any downloadable forums, please help.

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