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I need help with some technical problems with my portfolio

Hi!

I need help with my portfolio which I am creating for my web design class. You can see what it looks like for now [URL=”http://webdesign2.ubg.nu/te1b/niklas/Ny_portfolio/index.html”]here[/URL]. So far only “Home” and “Gallery” works. What I need help with are quite many things, so I don’t know in which forum i was supposed to post this so i just did it here in general ?

  • 1.

    Right now I am using a table to hold everything where I want it to be. But the problem here is that I have an Iframe inside the table and I want that iframe to be able to just stretch out (y-axis) as far as it has to whenever I add new content. I want it to behave like this on all the pages except the news page (home) where i want it to create pages.

  • 2.

    I’m using javascript to get my news in xml form to html. I will probably change that to xslt. But the tricky thing here is that I want to be able to update all pages when I add content in one or two xml files. I want to be able to use one xml file for news. and one for new content for the gallery. So I don’t want to have to update all pages just to add a new picture to the gallery. How am I supposed to do this? Think it like a blog-like site where the archive and everything gets updated automatically. Will I have to use javascript for this or can I do it some other way.

  • 3.

    In addition to the above I need the “random” and “most recent” content to be updated as well. And I don’t even have a working script for either of them.

  • 4.

    The lytebox I’m using doesn’t work properly in firefox 3 which I’m using when I run it from within an iframe but it works on IE. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

  • 5.

    On the right side next to the navigation bar I want some special features like being able to search through the site after news or gallery content. Here I also wonder how I create a calendar where people can see which dates new stuff have been added, and also click on it to go to the added content that date.

  • 6.

    I also need help with the spry menu. When I use it in IE the frame that is added shows up behind it. How do I get rid of this but still can use it in older versions of IE?

  • I hope I remembered everything. I know this is a lot but I hope that at least someone will come with a solution for some of this ?

    Thank you very much!
    p.s. now when I’m trying to view it in firefox it seems like the news script doesn’t work properly. But it does work when I try it in IE.

    to post a comment
    Full-stack Developer

    35 Comments(s)

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    @opifexSep 23.2008 — step 1: validate your code

    step 2: move your inline styles into css and validate it

    step 3: use server side parsing for your news feed and get rid of the news iframe

    there is a lot of ie proprietary style used in your in line styles and that is why it doesn't work outside of ie.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 23.2008 — step 1: validate your code

    step 2: move your inline styles into css and validate it

    step 3: use server side parsing for your news feed and get rid of the news iframe

    there is a lot of ie proprietary style used in your in line styles and that is why it doesn't work outside of ie.[/QUOTE]


    Thanks for the reply! but it would be good if you could answer a bit more thorough. You don't happen to know where i can find information about server side parsing?
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    @opifexSep 23.2008 — hmm.... thought you were in a web design course and would understand... my mistake!

    do a search for "rss parser" or "xml parser" using your favorite search engine. there are hundreds of open source parsers out there... you need to find the one that matches your needs and technical abilities.

    options available include the following flavors: PHP. PERL, RUBY, AJAX, C(+,++,#) and combinations. can't tell you which ones might suit your particular needs.
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 23.2008 — ok, thanks, I will look into that. I am in a web design course but I just haven't got that far yet ?

    But what should I do with the spry menu and the "random" and "most recent" script? Do I need a database for this?
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    @opifexSep 23.2008 — i really think it would be best to review the instructions from your course related to this project. make sure that your design meets the project requirements; if in doubt ask your professor!

    there are options to design code with and without databases... you can cache data in a flatfile or cache the xml to parse or parse live data.

    spry is a good set of scripts, but occasionally hiccups when you try to use them outside of an Adobe/Macromedia environment if you can't edit the code. iframes work fine, but in general can be difficult to format depending on your design.

    there are all kinds of options. follow the advice of your professor.

    ** in my classes, following the instructions is 50% of the project grade and I know that others grade in a similar manner!!!
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    @ShortsSep 23.2008 — Have to agree with opiflex about the instructions. For a second reason, you might be doing more work that hasn't been addressed yet.

    Aside from that, break out of the habit of things like this:

    alink="#33CCFF" vlink="#3399FF" link="#3399FF"

    unless you are using HTML and not XHTML.

    CSS equiv:

    a { color:#39f; }

    a:active { color: #3cf; }

    a:visited { color:#39f; }

    or a { color:#3399ff; } and so on. Cool with CSS are short tags, if its a hex number and they are the same doubles (33,99,ff) you can just drop it to (3,9,f).


    <font> tag is another one to go:

    CSS:

    td { color:#666; }

    One of your lines has an </h5> closing tag as well, without being opened. That can cause discrepancy between browsers.

    http://validator.w3.org/ helps a bunch.

    --

    Mullanaphy!

    http://www.mullanaphy.com/
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 23.2008 — The thing is that I already got a portfolio for the course and this I create now because I want to learn more than what I've already learned. This isn't really a part of the course, it's something i've chosen to do myself because I want a good looking portfolio for what I will do in the future. ?

    So this isn't necessary for my grade, but I guess it will give me a plus in the grading process if I do get everything to work ?
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    @ShortsSep 23.2008 — Thats cool and I'll definitely support your desire to continue learning on your own. Thats how I got into web design, everything was self taught and self research.

    Your big step now would be probably just worrying about valid HTMLXHTML and CSS. With valid HTMLXHTML your CSS and JS will become easier tasks. For starters, working with a stylesheet and removing all style attributes from your HTML and working them into a stylesheet.

    Also, its good that you are using LI's, now we'll just need you to get used to DIV's and bye bye Tables! ?

    --

    Mullanaphy!

    http://www.mullanaphy.com/
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 24.2008 — I haven't figured out how div's work yet. What's so special about them and why should I use them instead of tables?
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    @ShortsSep 24.2008 — DIVs are just Divisons of a page. For dividing it up. The reason they are great is because you can put any block of content into it and then with CSS stylize it the way you want your page to look.

    Best examples would be top headers, left, center, right columns and so on.

    As for why not tables, because HTMLXHTML are going more and more towards using tags for their intented purpose. TABLE is for just that, a table of content, like a spreadsheet.

    Also, when you get more comfortable with CSS, you can do way more to DIVs then you can TABLE. Infact, you can completely change the look of your site with just CSS if everything is grouped together in a DIV. E.g. put the menu on the left side as a horizontal list, or the same html, change the CSS a bit, and make it a menu on the top of your page in a verical list.
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 25.2008 — oh, then maybe I should try switching the tables to divs. I will let you know how it goes ?
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 25.2008 — I'm trying to figure out how I should do to get the position correct in all resolutions and sizes of the browser but I can't get it to work. I've been looking on some tutorials but it haven't helped. Either I have a normal div as I have on the logo and menu but when I try to position the spry menu bar with an apdiv I can't get it where I want it. How should I do this?
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    @ShortsSep 25.2008 — the best way is to use floats.

    so columns would be like so:

    [CODE]
    .left_col {
    float:left;
    width:150px;
    }
    .content {
    padding-left:160px;
    }
    [/CODE]


    [CODE]<div class="left_col">
    LEFT COL STUFF
    </div>
    <div class="content">
    CONTENT
    </div>[/CODE]


    Or both can be float:left; and .content would not need the padding-left:160px;

    Just if you have both elements floating and you want something below like a footer, the footer div would need a clear:both.

    Heres a good site about floats:

    http://css.maxdesign.com.au/floatutorial/index.htm
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 25.2008 — Thank you very much, I will get into it tomorrow! ?
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 26.2008 — I've been changing the whole site to divs instead of tables. But there is some places where I have really gotten stuck.

    [url=http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=51515935zm4.jpg]picture of the problem[/url] (look at the menu).

    Here I can't get the div's to be positioned where I want them. I have 3 divs for the menu. 1 (furthest to the left) is a div containing a picture for the edge of the menu bar. But after that one I have the spry menu bar but it change places with the "end picture" of the menu bar which should be positioned last. I haven't uploaded the new site so I've included the code here instead. (please note that I'm not finished yet so many tags still got attributes and I haven't removed the iframe yet)

    [B]html:[/B]
    [CODE]<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
    <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
    <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <title>Niklas Rosenqvist's Portfolio || Te2b</title>
    <style type="text/css">
    <!--
    body {
    background-image: url(background/bg.gif);
    background-repeat: repeat-x;
    }
    -->
    </style>


    <!-- LYTEBOX -->
    <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="lytebox/lytebox.js"></script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="lytebox/lytebox.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />

    <!--Spry menu bar script-->
    <script src="SpryAssets/SpryMenuBar.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <link href="SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarHorizontal.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    <!--Spry menu bar script end-->

    <link href="css/picturefade.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    <style type="text/css">
    <!--
    #apDiv1 {
    position:absolute;
    left:242px;
    top:16px;
    width:918px;
    height:166px;
    z-index:1;
    }
    -->
    </style>
    <link href="portfolio.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    <style type="text/css">
    <!--
    #apDiv2 {
    position:absolute;
    left:830px;
    top:182px;
    width:303px;
    height:34px;
    z-index:1;
    }
    -->
    </style>
    </head>
    <body align="center" alink="#33CCFF" vlink="#3399FF" link="#3399FF">
    <div id="container">

    <!--logo-->
    <div id="logo"><img src="logo/logo5.jpg" name="logo" width="920" height="167" border="0" id="logo"/></div>
    <!--logo end-->

    <!--menu-->
    <div id="menu"><div id="menuleft"><img src="Menu/menuleftpic.jpg" /></div>

    <div id="spry">
    <ul id="MenuBar1" class="MenuBarHorizontal">
    <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="iframe/iframe_news.html" target="iframe">Home</a>
    <ul>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_newsarchive.html" target="iframe">News archive</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_profile.html" target="iframe">My profile</a></li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="iframe/iframe_gallery.html" target="iframe">Gallery</a>
    <ul>
    <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="iframe/iframe_gpictures.html" target="iframe">Pictures</a>
    <ul>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gcreated.html" target="iframe">Created</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gedited.html" target="iframe">Edited</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gphoto.html" target="iframe">Photographs</a></li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gaudio.html" target="iframe">Audio</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gvideo.html" target="iframe">Video</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gwebsites.html" target="iframe">Websites</a></li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a class="MenuBarItemSubmenu" href="#">Contact</a>
    <ul>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_email.html" target="iframe">Email</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gb.html" target="iframe">Guestbook</a></li>
    </ul>
    </li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_links.html" target="iframe">Links</a></li>
    </ul>
    </div>

    <div id="menuright"><img src="Menu/menurightpic.jpg" /></div></div>
    <!--menu end-->

    <!--content-->
    <!--iframe-->
    <div id="body">
    <div id="content"><iframe id="iframe" src="iframe/iframe_news.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" name="iframe" width="550" height="1000"></iframe></div>
    <!--iframe end-->

    <!--navigation-->
    <div id="navigation">
    <div id="navhead1">
    Navigation
    </div>
    <div id="navlist">
    <ul type="disc">
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_news.html" target="iframe">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gallery.html" target="iframe">Gallery</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gpictures.html" target="iframe">Pictures</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gaudio.html" target="iframe">Audio</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gvideo.html" target="iframe">Video</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gwebsites.html" target="iframe">Websites</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_email.html" target="iframe">Email me</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_gb.html" target="iframe">Guestbook</a></li>
    <li><a href="iframe/iframe_links.html" target="iframe">Links</a></li>
    </ul>
    </div>
    <div id="navhead">
    Most recent
    </div>

    <div id="mostrecent">
    <a href="iframe/gallery/logos.jpg" rel="lytebox" title="These are all the logos/themes I've had for the portfolio."><img src="iframe/gallery/logos_thumb.jpg" alt="" border="0" cl="gallery2" onmouseover="this.className='transOFF'" onmouseout="this.className='gallery2'"/></a>
    </div>

    <div id="navhead">
    Random
    </div>

    <div id="random">
    <a href="iframe/gallery/through_faith.jpg" rel="lytebox" title="This is a T-shirt design I made for a contest."><img src="iframe/gallery/through_faith_thumb.jpg" alt="" border="0" class="gallery2" onmouseover="this.className='transOFF'" onmouseout="this.className='gallery2'"/></a>
    </div>

    </div>
    <!--navigation end-->

    <!--extras-->
    <div id="extras"><img src="images/blank.gif" border="0" width="178"/></div>
    <!--extras end-->

    </div>
    <!--content end-->

    <!--Spry menu bar script-->
    <script type="text/javascript">
    <!--
    var MenuBar1 = new Spry.Widget.MenuBar("MenuBar1", {imgDown:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarDownHover.gif", imgRight:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif"});
    //-->
    </script>
    <!--Spry menu bar script end-->


    </div>
    <!--Signature-->
    <div id="bottom">Niklas Rosenqvist, Te2b, Upplands-bro Gymnasium</div>
    <!--Signature end-->
    </div>

    </body>
    </html>
    [/CODE]


    [B]Css:[/B]
    [CODE]@charset "utf-8";
    /* CSS Document */

    #container {
    margin-left:auto;
    margin-right:auto;
    width: 920px;
    }

    #menu {
    background:url(Menu/menucenterpic.jpg);
    background-repeat:repeat-x;
    height: 32px;
    }

    #menuleft {
    float:left;
    }

    #spry {
    float:right;
    }

    #menuright {
    float:right;
    }

    /* picture fade */
    img.gallery {background-color: silver;opacity:.50;filter: alpha(opacity=50); -moz-opacity: 0.50;border:0; }
    img.transOFF {background-color: silver;border:0; }
    img.gallery2 {background-color: silver;opacity:.85;filter: alpha(opacity=85); -moz-opacity: 0.85;border:0; }


    #bottom {
    font-size:9px;
    color:#666666;
    text-align:center;
    }

    #content {
    width: 550px;
    float: left;
    }

    #navigation {
    background:url(images/nav.jpg);
    background-repeat:no-repeat;
    width: 197px;
    float:right;
    }
    #navhead1 {
    font-size: 24px;
    color: #e1e1e1;
    margin-top: 80px;
    margin-left: 18px;
    }

    #navlist {
    }

    #navhead {
    font-size: 24px;
    color: #e1e1e1;
    margin-left: 18px;
    }

    #mostrecent {
    margin-left: 40px;
    margin-top: 18px;
    margin-bottom: 18px;
    }

    #random {
    margin-left: 40px;
    margin-top: 18px;
    margin-bottom: 18px;
    }


    #extras {
    width: 173px;
    float:right;
    }
    [/CODE]

    I got the same problem with the position of the 3 parts of everything beneath the menu. I want the "extras" div to be furthest to the right but the "navigation" div takes its place.
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 26.2008 — Haha! never mind the earlier post. I actually got it to work ? oh joyous day!
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 27.2008 — Now on to the next obstacle ?

    If I want the content of the site to be updated like it does on this site (scroll down and look) http://www.myextralife.com/, what should I do? Should it be created in asp or what is the most common way? I want the new content to also be automatically stored in the news archive and gallery
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    @ShortsSep 29.2008 — Now on to the next obstacle ?

    If I want the content of the site to be updated like it does on this site (scroll down and look) http://www.myextralife.com/, what should I do? Should it be created in asp or what is the most common way? I want the new content to also be automatically stored in the news archive and gallery[/QUOTE]


    Yes, that you would have to do in ASP, PHP, or another programming language of your choice.

    You would also need SQL for storing the data.

    In PHPMySQL you would have a database, something like CONTENT, and in that would be values: Time,Title,Content,Author.

    Then you'd sort it by date and limit the results for the main page. Archives would retrieve everything and limit it by views per page.
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    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 30.2008 — What is the difference between php and asp? which should I choose?
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    @ShortsSep 30.2008 — They are just different server side scripting.

    PHP is more like C,C++,Perl, etc. ASP is usually more based on VBasic (although they have C# and other type of languages to be used).

    If you do not know any languages already I would suggest PHP. Most hosts support PHP and it was built from the ground up for easy web based programming. PHPMySQL is where its at.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @gunnarflaxauthorSep 30.2008 — Ok I will try that! I can probably find a good tutorial on w3schools.org. I will get back to you when I'm finished or need help ? thanks for the quick reply!
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    @austanyOct 06.2008 — asp is c#
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    @opifexOct 06.2008 — [I]just a note about asp[/I]

    VBScript [B]is[/B] the default scripting language for ASP and has been since 1996.

    Since ASP is proprietary ... Microsoft Server, I guess that Microsoft just might be the authority on the subject.... MSDN
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    @gunnarflaxauthorOct 06.2008 — would php be a better choice in learning? since the both are more or less equal in functionality but php is free?
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    @opifexOct 06.2008 — learn php - it's open source and easily transportable between servers.

    learn javascript - there are lots of advantages to client side scripting

    learn AJAX - it's nice for the web user and you can make nice interactive pages - it's a [I]touchy-feely[/I] thing

    it's also a good idea to have at least a little experience with perl, python and ruby.

    my personal advice would be to stay away from any of the "frameworks" until you have a good basic knowledge of php and javascript.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @austanyOct 06.2008 — [I]just a note about asp[/I]

    VBScript [B]is[/B] the default scripting language for ASP and has been since 1996.

    Since ASP is proprietary ... Microsoft Server, I guess that Microsoft just might be the authority on the subject.... MSDN[/QUOTE]


    I was obviously really tired this morning, i had simple asp and .net confused. .net is coded mostly in C#, it makes it stronger in my mind.
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    @gunnarflaxauthorOct 06.2008 — I've borrowed a book about php from a teacher but what is ruby and ajax? what are they used for?
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    @ShortsOct 06.2008 — AJAX is for interacting with a server through GET or POST without changing the page.

    Its usually used to work with a database through PHP.

    For example, on my site: http://www.mullanaphy.com/

    If you click on Karma ++ or -- it automatically changes the associated Karma in my database depending on if you add or subtract from it and then updates the number on the page itself.

    Through AJAX (JS,PHP,MySQL) it is all done seamlessly without needing a page reload or an iframe.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @austanyOct 06.2008 — learn c#, its better for your brain, develop rich internet applications and be on top of your game.

    heres some information for you:

    http://www.csharphelp.com/archives/archive95.html
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @ShortsOct 06.2008 — learn c#, its better for your brain, develop rich internet applications and be on top of your game.

    heres some information for you:

    http://www.csharphelp.com/archives/archive95.html[/QUOTE]


    Brain? Pfft, my brain is very free, yet then again its very cluttered with useless knowledge and highly unorganized... making PERL my favorite language (and my first) ?

    Structure is for suckers!

    But yeah, find a program you feel comfortable with, PHP makes sense for me due to the practically unlimited hosting and the many similarities to PERL.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @opifexOct 06.2008 — ruby is a unique blend of OOP and functional/interpreted programming. it's similar to perl, but handles blocks of data - everything is treated as an object.

    http://www.ruby-lang.org is the official site

    there is a popular adaptation of ruby to the rails framework called "ruby on rails"

    rubyonrails.org is the official site
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    @austanyOct 06.2008 — but you cant argue with the complete control you have over your applications. why deal with parts when you can just handle the whole. buy visual studio, and make websites like you dream about.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @ShortsOct 06.2008 — Notepad is free ?
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @austanyOct 07.2008 — yeah you can also walk to your meeting across town, use smoke signals to contact the outside world, have a piece of paper with all your contacts on it, and debug a application with 17,000 lines of code in notpad:p pshh.
    Copy linkTweet thisAlerts:
    @ShortsOct 07.2008 — Walking is good exercise, smoke signals means I only message who I want, and paper shows I'm sincere ?

    Finally for debugging, this line is great
    [CODE]
    use CGI::Carp qw( fatalsToBrowser );
    [/CODE]


    Although 17,000 seems like a lot of lines for a webpage... ?
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