Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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I have our site basically designed. Well, sort of.
I have our website totally designed in photoshop. Just a bunch of flat images with words like "shop" and "blog" but... well you get the picture, I don't know what's next.
I hate flash more than I hate vinyl siding, so I want something really basic. I think I am going to use shopify for the shopping cart, so I don't think it should be too tricky.
Is there anyway for someone with a total lack of knowledge to turn a bunch of images into a website?
JonMyers
HCMC ✈
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Josh, there are a ton of services out there that will slice and dice your design into valid HTML code. Meaning a tableless, css based layout. The going rate for this service is 100-200 for the first page and 100 bucks for each additional page.
I've never used any of these guys, but here are a few:
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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Well, Niki's brother can do the code for me actually. I didn't want to ask him, but I would rather ask him than pay someone (in money).
I thought maybe something existed that I didn't know about, since I would have no reason to no about it. If not, I'll go the other route.
th0m
Beechwold
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i dunno man, if you're talking mock ups with buttons and layouts and stuff, that's non trivial, and something that can be somewhat tedious 'cause someone else has to figure out how the thing is supposed to all work first...
but i mean, just skip navigation and all that crap, i think people are sick of even the simplest of "navigation buttons", and just make a simple slideshow of important information... then the html is very simple... and < img src = " " > and then like < a href = " " > .... and that's about it, honestly a lot of browsers don't even miss the rest... start with that in notepad, and save the file as index.html, name the next one something different and put its name in the previous... put in your image names (keep it simple, 0001.jpg hehe) and boom, that's like 1 hour, easy... simple as the board code... case in point craigslist, delicious, etc, etc
brothermarcus
West Siiiide
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easiest method - chop the image up into squares you can fit into a table in your wysiwyg editor (dreamweaver, whatever) and set the table cells to match the image attributes and then hyperlink the navigation images in the cells.
tools-insert-image
tools-insert-hyperlink
requires writing down some image sizes and typing them into cell properties fields, but it's relatively painless.
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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brothermarcus wrote easiest method - chop the image up into squares you can fit into a table in your wysiwyg editor (dreamweaver, whatever) and set the table cells to match the image attributes and then hyperlink the navigation images in the cells.
You can make it a step easier by slicing up the image in photoshop and saving "for web" which can output an html file and throw all the images into a "images" folder. Will save quite a bit of time and hassle:
brothermarcus
West Siiiide
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MatthewJR30 wrote I'm a little slow at this as well, I use Dreamweaver. Just out of curiousity, whats wrong with tables besides being old fashioned?
nothing at all.
milodesc
NJ
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MatthewJR30 wrote I'm a little slow at this as well, I use Dreamweaver. Just out of curiousity, whats wrong with tables besides being old fashioned?
as brothermarcus said, nothing is really wrong with it. in tigertree's case, it doesn't seem necessary. however, there are some advantages of tableless layouts:
Pros and Cons
* Tables-based layouts
o Pro: Some people are used to working with tables-based layouts.
o Pro: Older web editors, such as Microsoft FrontPage, display tables-based layouts better in the design editor view.
o Con: Tables are no longer recommended for layout by current web standards.
o Con: Tables-based layouts can be less optimized for search engines.
o Con: Tables-based layouts often involve more code and increase bandwidth.
o Con: Tables-based layouts do not allow for global design updates the way CSS does.
* CSS layouts
o Pro: CSS layouts are recommended by current web standards.
o Pro: Because the layout definitions are centralized in a stylesheet, global design changes are easier to make.
o Pro: By separating the layout and design from the actual content of a page, the page code can be more optimized for search engines.
o Pro: CSS layouts usually result in more streamlined code, decreasing bandwidth.
o Con: Some older editors such as Microsoft FrontPage do not display CSS layouts properly in the Design View. While it is still possible to work with older editors, the user will have to get used to working in Split View and refreshing frequently in a browser instead of depending on the Design preview.
o Con: As with any technology, there is a learning curve for CSS. Developers who are used to using tables may not want to invest the time to switch over to CSS.
copied from
the biggest advantage tigertree would see from tableless layouts is that a full site redesign could be accomplished just by changing 1 file (the CSS file for the site).
milodesc
NJ
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milodesc wrote the biggest advantage tigertree would see from tableless layouts is that a full site redesign could be accomplished just by changing 1 file (the CSS file for the site).
a terrific example of this advantage can be seen at the CSS zen garden site.
the point of the site is that a bunch of designers each use the same HTML code but style it differently using CSS.
th0m
Beechwold
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remember to use tables for.... wait for it.... data / text that you want to lay out in a table! ;p like anything that you have to give rows and columns to, and make row and column headings... same with ordered and unordered lists. the HTML is meant to markup data in a general way, and layout was always kind of tacked on it it before CSS became so powerful.
othere than that, the supernerd way is all CSS all the time, and its pretty cool. i highly recommend seeing the web as primarily CSS if you can help it, but don't be afraid to use html tags the way they were meant to be used, either, but anything fonty, paragraphy, colorish, or position-like, think CSS! ;p
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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Bear wrote I'm afraid we're throwing a drowning man an anchor, here.What, exactly, do you want the website to do? That'll go a long way toward determining how sophisticated it has to be.
Haha. Exactly. I want to have a landing page with four links, one of which is a shop link. You can shop by men or women, there will be subcategories for each of those like top, bottom, accessory. I am thinking I will use shopify or something like it for the shopping cart. I am still trying to figure out inventory control so we can sell the same inventory we have on the floor. I am thinking of making a "purchase request" so you put your number in but there is no "swipe" of your card until we pull the item to avoid double selling. I doubt it will happen frequently, but we'll have a form letter to the tune of "we're sorry but given the nature of our business the item you requested is no longer available..." I don't know how hard it would be to set that sort of system up though.
th0m
Beechwold
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one could design a site such that you could shop and everything would do paypal or something...
... but for the most part an online store is unfortunately something you can't just up and do, i mean you can, but it takes some time, you'll run into:
1. what is the typical flow a user would take through the system, what happens when things don't go right, etc
2. how is the money transferred securely
3. how do you maintain the site's content, change prices, etc
4. how do you account for your sales
.... it goes on..... there is software to do this for you, as well as myriad online services that provide you a package deal on doing this all for you for a fee... you could also pick today as the day you learn some javascript and a server-side language like php....
or you could just slum it and find a freebie storefront somewhere, take the red pill and do the paypal store way of things, or maybe just do an ebay storefront, but regardless, you'll want to know some html/css at the least... even with packaged software tools that build storefronts.
Bear
The woods
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Tigertree wrote I will use shopify or something like it for the shopping cart. I am still trying to figure out inventory control so we can sell the same inventory we have on the floor.
I believe shopping cart software generally has to handle inventory too, for this reason. We use ZenCart, which has its limitations, but it's free... and I do know that in addition to price of each item etc., you need to let it know how many of them you have, so that people can't buy nonexistent ones.
th0m
Beechwold
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also important to note that if you're going to DIY, you ought to have a merchant account, and know what API they talk... for the hook up into a product like zencart... but seems like it also has paypal support? i dunno... paypal is okay, but they can piss a lot of people off somehow sometimes, but i've never had any particular gripe.
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