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ADH-HH Tips & Tools


Fearless HTML and Setting a Good Table

If you have been on line for a while and practice your web page building skills, and you're willing to help others, it isn't long before your email begins to fill with "How do I...?" and "It won't work!" messages. If you are new to the art of web page building, it isn't long before you start desperately looking for someone to help you.

In this article, we've taken several tips and edited them into one major theme. We'll presume you have a definite desire to try web page building. So here are a few tips to ponder when starting.

Basic Tip : Good content
   ~~~  submitted by:  Larry   ~~~
...too many people with link pages only (of various types) wonder why they don't get more hits.... Link pages are a dime a dozen on the net. People are looking for content...have something to say when you decide to make a page....whatever the topic is! Unless one has a unique link page as a few in our group do, you must have content and always be freshening the content to get visitors and return visits.

Basic Tip : Fearless Page Building (HTML)
   ~~~  submitted by:  nancy   ~~~
The goal is to compose a page. It should have a topic. Select one in a "comfort zone" for you. (maybe a hobby, cause, personal accomplishments or interests, etc.) The content at first may seem of less importance than learning the means and skills required to build a web page. Taking a look at some of the coding required to create a page may seem fearsome. It is not. Take HTML for an example. Learning and using HTML can be fearless.

THOUGHTS ON GETTING STARTED  Writing and composing a web page with HTML means practice... but if you think about it, physicians "practice" medicine, attorneys "practice" law and you as a beginning or accomplished HTML writer "practice" your skills. Pages have a way of having a "life of their own" and writing themselves. The page you thought you were going to write turns out entirely different in form or structure as you see it unfold on the screen. Prepare to be amazed at this phenomena.

FEAR REMOVER  WebTV itself is a very great tool! Use it and have fun with it. Remember, there is another tool out there when things just will not work. It's the "WebTV Eraser" otherwise known as the "delete key." It can be used at any time to remove work that did not come out as planned or is unsatisfactory in any way . You can begin again. What other craft allows you such a great and wonderful tool?

As you practice your skills, "make it a thing" to pass what you know on to others. Help others also improve in the art and skill of page building.

RESOURCES  Using various resources will allow you to enjoy learning HTML and your subject matter as well as building web pages. Displaying your creativity successfully on your web page is very rewarding. Web pages are developed through the use of tools. Resources as a tool aid learning the HTML tags and the search engines help to find information on subject matter. Resources can include a "mentor," someone who also looked at a blank page and said "hmmm, now what?" [Note:] Helpful details on the search engines in a later article.

Basic Tip : Avoiding A Catastrophe
   ~~~  submitted by:  Committee Members   ~~~
We hope you learn quite a few new things or new ways to do things from these articles. You will undoubtedly want to experiment with some of the tips and tools featured. To avoid a catastrophe to your page, especially if you plan on doing major editing, it's advisable to first make a copy of the page you plan to extensively edit. Then experiment on the copy. When you have it the way you want, either delete the original and rename the copy back to the original's name, or rename it to the original and overwrite. The added advantage of this is that if someone is viewing your page when you're in the middle of editing, they will see the intact "original" page (especially if you decide to put off the remaining edits until a later time).

Intermediate Tip : Table Formatting
   ~~~  submitted by:  Sue47   ~~~
To make a table to put around an image use the code(s) below. You have two samples of what can be done: one with a simple border, one with two different color borders. You can also add text and play with height and width to add more than one graphic. More on that in a later article.

# 1. A Color Table Border.
Here is a simple table border around an image. Pick your own color and image address to add to this example:

<table bgcolor="green" border="2">
   <tr>
      <td align="center">
<img src= "https://members.tripod.com/~webtv21/ cutebear3.gif" height="375" width="390" border="5">
      </td>
   </tr>
</table>

[Note:] you can fool with the color and border number to get the desired look you want. You can see what this looks like by scrolling down to the first graphic.

# 2. Adding Two Color Table Borders.
To add another color border around your image use this code below, again picking your own colors and image address:

<table bgcolor="yellow" border="7" height="85" width="100">
   <tr>
      <td align="center">
         <table bgcolor="blue" border="5" height="75" width="90">
            <tr>
               <td align="center">
<img src="https://members.tripod.com/~webtv21/ cutebear3.gif" height="75" width="90">
               </td>
            </tr>
         </table>
      </td>
   </tr>
</table>

EXAMPLE #1


EXAMPLE # 2

[Note:] You will notice the "staggering" of the coding for the tables. In HTML this does not affect the outcome of the code. This is a very helpful little tool to use. This is more evident in the two borders (embedded tables) example. Since each table data cell <td> must be closed </td> before closing the table row </tr>, this method helps to visualize and verify that the proper elements have been closed. You can put quite a bit into a table data cell. In our examples we only used one piece of data (cutebear3.gif). You just have to remember to close it properly before opening another one. A table row can have numerous data cells.

Tables are very finicky creatures. Omitting any of the basics or not adhering to the proper coding rules and components of a table will most likely result in some very interesting, a.k.a. weird output.

About Alt.Discuss.Homepage-Homepage Helpers

The alt.discuss.homepage newsgroup is a great source of help if you run into a snag when creating your home page. Each issue, we will focus on one or more tips that will help your home page design. ADH also has a group of members called Construction Crew. If you have a particularly complex design problem, you can visit our home page at https://members.tripod.com/adhhh/ & request a Construction Crew member contact you for more one-on-one assistance.

  • alt.discuss.homepage
    A discussion group by & for people involved in the creation of home pages. Go here to gain or share information or request "quick" help.
  • ADH-HH Resource Page:
    Links to sources of elements used to create a home page, written by & for WebTV users. Some have quick or extensive tutorials.
  • ADH HH Construction Crew:
    To find others on line who are offering to share knowledge & skills on a one to one basis. Find a "mentor."
  • ADH-HH Members Pages:
    To view the works of others & see what can be done.
Have a tip, idea, tool, or shortcut you'd like to share & see featured in the next or subsequent article? Submit your tip to our ADH-HH Tips & Tools Committee.