Dotty Storer's Web Development: resources and tips

Dotty's Pages

		Web Development There is so much good information on the internet about web development that I will not attempt to repeat it here. I will add a few tips and provide links to sites that I have found helpful. Font Wars Good Website Examples Graphic wars Flash Tools and Advice Visual Studio 2005 If you want your own website but don't want to create it yourself, see Storer Software which specializes in constructing and maintaining websites for small companies, organizations and individuals and teaching people to use their computer, the internet and software products. I began my website using Yahoo's PageBuilder and then converted it to html and java script. Now I've expanded to multiple websites, using ASP, ASP.NET, , PHP, XML, RSS and Access and MySQL databases. (Yahoo GeoCities offers free website hosting and tools.) PageBuilder Tips contains my hints on using PageBuilder. I use graphics available on the web or create my own with Gimp or my own photography. Do not copy graphics unless permission is given. I found the following links helpful. I hope you will find them useful too. Tools and Advice Barnes and Noble University - Free online classes in web development and other subjects. I'm taking Introduction to XML, which is an excellent course with a great instructor. Class materials are available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and for 2 weeks after the course ends. A message board provides interaction among students and with the instructor. Recommended course texts are available for purchase from Barnes and Noble. I've posted assignments from two classes I've taken at BNU: Beginning Web Animation with Macromedia Flash 5 - Great class tutorials. I highly recommend this class for learning Flash. Graphic Design for Non-Designers - I wish there had been more assignments creating graphics Introduction to XML - Excellent instructor. I wish there'd been more programming. Cool Archive - Free graphics, fonts and web development tools and services. The logo generator is quite powerful and very easy to use. You can use the Search Engine Submit (listed under Free Services) to submit your site to 5 of the top search engines. Create It~101 - HTML tutorials and free graphics FreeTranslation.com - This free service can translate your website to 6 languages. You can also add an applet to your site to translate text or a URL. These are not polished translations but certainly give the gist of the content. The service translates only one page at a time, so the visitor needs to request the translation for each page. If you want to have separate pages of your site for translations, this could provide a good beginning for you to polish. FreeTranslations's service is a great service for webdevelopers, internet surfers and global understanding. I've implemented it at Dotty's Virtual Jigsaws. HTML Goodies - My favorite website for beginner web development tutorials and reference. Explanations are clear with good examples. Author Joe Burns has a good sense of humor too. HTML Home Page - Standards for HTML from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Lots of info, but often not very readable. Has some helpful tutorials that are very readable. HTML Code Tutorial - HTML reference, tutorials and forum. HTML Validator - Great tool for validating your webpages. There are free and professional versions. There is even a Firefox add-on that will enable using this tool directly from your browser. Validate your webpage online now using this form: NEW! Check your document online with CSE HTML Validator Lite. Add this to your site. URL: InfoLink - This link verifier can scan your whole site or an individual page and report broken links. The shareware can be used free 50 times. Registration is $49.95. Reports can be viewed within the program or with your browser. The Verify Detail report is the most helpful report. (This tool has been discontinued, but you may still be able to find downloads for it by searching google.com.) Java.com - Get the latest version of Java or learn about Java development. MSDN Online Web Workshop - Microsoft offers a tremendous amount of information on a wide variety of web development topics. Spriteworks Developments - Lots of useful freeware and low cost shareware for web developers. Technocrat's Place - Includes a free graphics gallery, internet glossary and reviews of Html editors. More to be added soon. Web Hosting Stuff - The world's biggest directory of web hosting services is great for finding a web host to fit your needs. The advanced search is particulary helpful. There's also a simpler search with fewer options. WebReference - Great tutorials and resources on a wide variety of web development topics. WizHat - Quick Html reference, glossary, free graphics and more YusASP - Products for webmasters. I use the Content Editor for my members at JigCard Gallery to edit a page about themselves. Advanced Content Editor Advanced Content Editor - LITE Good Website Examples CSS Zen Garden - Beautiful website promoting the use of CSS for formatting and improved accessiblility for visitors and search engines. The book The Zen of CSS Design : Visual Enlightenment for the Web explains how the website was built and is an excellent resource for inspiration and CSS techniques. Graphic Cat - Beautiful website by a graphic designer. The hydrandea wallpaper and graphics that I use are from her free graphics area. She's also know as Graphic Pat. Nerd Mom's Home and Garden - Personal website of a GeoCities community leader. Attractive layout and graphics. Gennenut's Poetry Homepage - Personal website of another GeoCities community leader. Attractive layout and graphics. Brandi Chase's Homepage - Great use of graphics and mapping from a freelance designer. Uncle Ben's Interactive Cookbook - No longer uses mapping for menus, but still a good example of menus and forms. Move your cursor around the page and discover where the links are by watching the status bar for web addresses.