old skool html sites

[greenthumb]

I create websites for clients who (often) have clients with older browsers. I find that I end up creating the standard nuts and bolts html site and I don't get to play with CSS and all of this great stuff that is out there.

I know that getting clients who have a more web savvy client base is one piece of advice that could be given, and I do create some Flash sites.

What's your advice though. I get bored doing the same table template for every project.

[txbakers]

Whatever pays the rent.......

[KevinC]

pay someone else to do all the tedious work and just spend your time dealing with the clients.

[greenthumb]

I've been increasingly having others do the boring stuff...

But I'd love to be doing all of these cool cutting edge things with CSS. Maybe I'll redo my company site or something...design companies notoriously have bad sites and mine is no exception.

Any other advice?

[edit_g]

dealing with the clients.

Which can often also get boring. ;)

More to the point - who cares as long as you're getting paid.

[greenthumb]

I suppose you're right.

[grandpa]

There doesn't seem to be any reason that you can't create some CSS based pages. Do they absolutely have to go on a site? Get the experience before you have one that goes "live".
Use them as samples to get new clients. I've got several CSS layouts just waiting to see the light of day.

[4serendipity]

Get the experience before you have one that goes "live"

I absolutely agree. There is a bit of a learning curve when switching to css-based pages, so it's best not to learn on projects that might have strict deadlines

[grahamstewart]

Or you could consider designing sites that forward people with ancient browsers to an old skool table based layout, but let anyone with a browser from this decade see the CSS based design.

More work but it will give you some experience and may open the eyes of some of your clients.

[korkus2000]

>>Maybe I'll redo my company site or something

I think this is the best route. You get to experiment with your own site. I find redesigns to me sites are always fulfilling. The added advantage is that clients will want to take what you have on your site.

If you clients need old browser support then you really are stuck doing that.

[greenthumb]

Of course, if I redesign the site in CSS, I have to do one for lame browsers that clients have too, otherwise it's the CSS/DHTML Netscape 4 vision.

[greenthumb]

"Or you could consider designing sites that forward people with ancient browsers to an old skool table based layout, but let anyone with a browser from this decade see the CSS based design."

You'd just use some javascript to read the browser or is there some fancier way?

[grahamstewart]

Nah too many people have javacript disabled. You'd be better off doing it server side with PHP, Perl or whatever your preferred language is.

[greenthumb]

I only know a little php. And code tips/links?

[4serendipity]

I only know a little php. And code tips/links?

A quick search for "php browser detection" or soomething similar will turn up many simple scripts.

[greenthumb]

putting the script on the server...is there any trick to that or is it just about programming the code to be pointed at the server? Or does php just automatically get translated server side?

Hell, I should just code a site in php for these old skool html clients. If it runs off of my server, it's the same everywhere right?