site redesign

[sindri]

I'm going to be redesigning my website in the near future and would appreciate some pointers. I currently use frames for navigation and would like to do away with them but most other options are just beyond me. I have basic html knowledge, just enough to make a simple site in notepad. I want to keep the site as simple as possible to cut down on browser conflicts and retain a 'homey' feel due to content, I'd like people to feel that they're sitting down for a coffee and chat

Is there somewhere that I can post a link for someone to take a peek without being laughed at? It is by no means professional and most other forums I've come across are intimidating when I see the standard of work.

Thanks

[trillianjedi]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld Sindri!

We don't do site reviews here and posting a link is against the TOS.

But if you can explain a little more about what you would like to achieve, design-wise, then I'm sure you'll get plenty of pointers.

The latest generation of WYSIWIG HTML editors actually do a reasonable job for a simple layout site, and they'll take the strain out of having to learn CSS by automating a lot of that process. If you're fairly new to HTML, notepad may not be the best editor for you, unless you intend to use some form of "insert content and edit to taste" style template.

Losing the frames is a good idea.

TJ

[sindri]

I used notepad mainly because I couldn't get a good feel for programs like Dreamweaver before the trial ran out. I'm a bit hit or miss with available time.

My biggest issue is the site navigation. The site started quite small, just a couple of pages and has grown to about 15 and will probably continue to do so. Some of the pages themselves could actually do with being broken down into sub topics as well.

As I said, I'd really like to keep the whole thing as simple as possible in terms of code used. I had thought about doing a pull down menu, but wonder if that could lead to problems. My other thought is to have main nav links running down the left with sub links running across the top of each page. Would that be too confusing? I'd really like all links to be available from each page as I know I hate having to continually hit 'back'. Or, alternatively using one left aligned table to put all links into.

I don't know if I made much sense. I've read so much the past week or so my head's spinning!

Thanks.

[stealthmag]

What about using something like a blog or movable type?

[mabx2]

I have found an editor that is somewhat of a cross between DreamWeaver and Notepad. It is call HomeSite and is made by the same company that makes DreamWeaver (Macromedia). The latest version is 5.5. It is a text editor, but with some cool extras:

1. It color codes various syntax (ie VBScript, JavaScript, Form elements, comments, etc...)
2. It will allow you to manage your site a little better (ie global Find and Replace if you need to make changes to many pages within your site).
3. It can perform "tag auto-complete". When you enter a tag, it automatically enters the closing tag.
4. It can verify links on your site.
5. It can open a wide variety of "web" files (asp, jsp, css, txt, asa, etc...)

I don't use a WYSIWYG editor because I like "precise" control over what I produce. If you want to stick with coding using a text editor, then I definately recommend HomeSite. It isn't free (about $99 US for full version - as of this posting), but is much less than DreamWeaver. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to really "know" HTML and other programming languages by writing them by hand. It will give you a better understanding of the inner-workings of your site.

To find out more about HomeSite, just go to Macromedia's site --> Products. HomeSite is towards the bottom of the list (under the "more..." section)

Hope this helps. Happy coding :-)

If you have any other questions, just send me an email (check my profile).