The website I'm currently working on is supposed to be in multiple languages (4 in this case).
What's the "best" way to achieve this?
It seems like most people use a php table for it. Is this the "best" way right now?
Alas I only know some HTML and CSS, so my idea was to simply copy the whole website tree and make a seperate html tree for each language starting with index.html as the default language and three other trees starting with index_lang2.html, index_lang3.html, index_4.html.
On the index site you could switch the language and go down each seperate html tree.
Is this solution acceptable? I seems quite easy to generate but hard to maintain.
it depends on how much pages you have! There is no reason in making a language system if you only have 10 plain html pages and have no clue about php. And such systems are "only for" UI Elements and not for the real content if you plan to post information there...
If that are static pages, then using no such system is a nice solution!
But if you have more, then there are several solutions:
Take an existing Framework with language support
Write your own language class with vars on the different places
... there are for sure more possibilities, but nothing which comes in my mind :)
As already stated, I think as long as your site only has limited static HTML webpages then it's not worth trying to implement a fancy PHP solution (especially if you have to learn PHP to do so!)
Related
As far as I know, it is considered a good practice in program development to move the strings to the separate files. It allows translators and copyrighters to easily work with them, without needing to touch files with code, and it simplifies implementing different languages in a program. I know it's possible to do so in web development with templates and some website engine. But is there a way to do it keeping the site static, as you can do with CSS and Javascript?
HTML is a markup language--the ML in HTML. In order to be useful, it needs to be wrapped around the content it is marking up so, no, you cannot separate the two.
I am pretty new to developing softwares and am intrigued by the huge world out there!! I have working knowledge of C/C++ and Java.. I was thinking of making an application that would convert a webpage to a pdf document.. I know there are many solutions available -- both online and offline..But I want to develop my own.. I googled but couldn't find anything that would help me get started..
I want to know how do we go about a conversion process?? How to get started?? What languages and technologies are pre-requisites for making a converter like this??
Thank You
So at least you need to get to the bottom to following specifications:
HTML specification
CSS specification
JavaScript specification
PDF specification
Moreover here are a lot of minor stuff such as Fonts, Decription/Encription algorithms and many many other minor but still necessary things.
I think you can imagine that this is quite a long way to get all this working. In fact, the complexity of such software is the reason why so many companies make money in this field.
Anyway, I'd suggest you to start from the simple things and grow your software gradually. Start with converting HTML to Image, because it is a bit simpler. Take and parse HTML, its CSS, its JavaScript. Clean HTML. Build DOM of the HTML document. Apply styles. Go thru the DOM and draw elements to the image.
Good luck!
I need to create a very simple webpage for my friend. But I'm a little bit out of the stream, I don't know what kind of technologies are best right now.
So here is my question - what CMS/framework/etc should I use to build such a webpage:
a webpage of
It will contain some simple informations, news page and few galleries. It is almost all that I need.
I may be forced to create few language versions of this page (probably 2 versions: polish and english).
CMS must be as simple as possible. My friend's internet skills are not so good ;)
It should allow me to create custom, good-looking page
I considered such tools as joomla, drupal or wordpress. Which one you think would be best for me? Or maybe some other?
Wordpress, without a shadow of a doubt. It supports internationalisation almost out of the box and is very easy to use - Drupal and Joomla require a lot more effort on the part of content creators to understand and work with. It's also extremely easy to customise and enjoys probably the best documentation of any of its peers.
You can also give websitebaker a try. It offers very good usability and easy template creation.
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For design websites is it better to do it your self by learning HTML/CSS or using web design programs? and why?
I've bounced back and forth between hand coding and Dreamweaver in my history as a web developer.
I originally started out hand coding HTML. This was back in the day when table layout was king, and editing nested tables became a real headache. Couple this with a lack of good tools for visualizing hidden elements and this quickly became a nightmare.
I started using Dreamweaver primarily to speed up my table design workflow. Soon, however, Dreamweaver's templating system became a godsent when I started producing static websites that had no server backend. Being able to update one template and have it propagate across the entire static site cut down my cross-page inconsistencies to nearly zero.
More recently, the whole web 2.0 push has got me, and almost everyone else, back into the hand coding game. I found Dreamweaver wasn't really suitable for the compliant designs, since it was heavily table-centric. I find that most of the HTML I write these days is so straightforward and simple there's little need for an editor. Additionally, all my development is now dynamic once again, so there's no need for a static html generating template system anymore.
Learn for yourself so you can figure out how to do things exactly how you want them to be done, and not have to rely on some sort of program to figure it out for you.
Like anything else in technology, learn the core concepts first, and then use a tool to automate the things you have mastered. By doing so, you will gain a better understanding of how everything works together, and you be able to easily tell when something goes wrong. In this way you will not be bound to any one design tool, and can use whatever works best because you understand the core concepts.
In the words of Richard Feynman,
"That which I cannot create, I do not
understand."
They really serve two purposes, and either one is "better" for it's purpose.
If you learn to do it by hand, you will:
Have more control over exactly what is happening
Have less extraneous code
Be able to maintain your code more easily
If you use a program, you will:
Be able to design visually
Possibly be able to design more quickly
Not have to learn to write CSS by hand
It really depends on what your goal is.
I prefer HTML/CSS by hand because you have the most control over the code. Most design programs will add additional markup that is not required. Even simple WYSIWYG JavaScript editors add extra markup. Although, not a huge difference in file size, the additional markup will add up over time. I would also argue that its easier to maintain code when you know what went into its creation.
Additionally, you'll learn a lot more by taking the time to do it by hand.
Personally, I always edit my HTML/CSS by hand using editors with auto-completion if I can, because that always makes life easier. You should definitely always learn a language as much as you can before you start relying on any program to generate code for you, because most of the time you end up fixing what they gave you.
I tend to do it all by hand.
Doesn't matter what IDE or
server-side language I'm using.
Mark up is markup. Being able to do
it rapidly by hand is valuable.
More often then not, you'll have to
edit some markup manually. By
writing it from scratch, you're
already very familiar with the structure of the markup.
You don't have to spend any time
orienting yourself to the
designer-generated markup.
Although not necessarily a rule,
those who live in the designer I've
found to be less sharp in their
markup and code craftsmanship.
I prefer the by hand approach. That way you know exactly what you're getting. Plus I haven't found an editor that produces HTML/CSS that doesn't need some tweaking especially if you are targeting multiple browsers.
Doing it by hand. Using design programs tends to insert a lot of extra markup you don't really need, which will just complicate your ability to learn.
If you do it by hand you at least know what was inserted where, and why. Plus there are a lot of good websites out there that can walk you through the basics.
IMO you will still learn using web design programs like Dreamweaver, since you have to look at the source and make it fit your exact desires,and its quicker. But doing it by hand will give you the more you write the more you learn type of thing that I agree with 100%
This is a bit vague.
I think that "better" (qualitatively) depends greatly on (1) the competency of the designer, and (2) the sophistication of the application.
Regarding "better" (as in "advisable"): using an application can be a crutch that may fail to save you in all cases. Knowing how to "raw code" html and css is valuable in understanding the limitations of the application and working around those limitations. For that reason alone I suggest knowing how to do it by hand and then keep a sharp eye on the output generated by the application, should you choose to use one.
The absolute best is when you understand what you are doing - you can only do this by coding by hand.
If you don't know HTML or CSS and you use a WYSIWYG editor then how can you be sure everything is right? You can't!
If you have a good understanding of HTML and CSS why would you use a WYSIWYG editor? They make things harder because you can't see the code and extra tags and rules get inserted without you knowing.
Coding by hand is always the best.
Why should you know about xhtml/css ?
Here is some reasons:
Respect semantics meaning
DOM compliant (you know the javascript mess)
Easier to maintain
Search Engine Optimization
You still think it takes a longer time to design/integrate a website ?
Think of use vi, eclipse, quanta, and probably some others...
By hand is the obvious answer, because your website/application will be, well, better. (And also because, if you use JavaScript, it's good to traverse through the DOM of a document you've written yourself, versus a generated one that you have to examine beforehand.) But that's mostly only because the visual tools that exist today really suck (I'm thinking of Dreamweaver). It's definitely possible to create a good visual editing (WYSIWYG) program that actually generates good HTML/CSS/JavaScript, but nothing even close has come up yet, so right now hand-coding is much, much better.
I'm not going to read the responses, so its quite possible someone has already said this, but oh well.
First and foremost, you should always write out your HTML / CSS by hand. The reason for this is that no matter how advanced an HTML editor is, it will never be as good as it could / should be. For "good" html / css, you will actually end up writing your page in a different order than what you see.
For example, a page that is displayed like:
________________
|logo |
|----menu------|
|..............|
|...content....|
|..............|
|....footer....|
----------------
"should" actually flow as follows:
<h1>title of site</h1>
<div id="content">.....</div>
<ul id="menu">....</ul>
<div id="footer">...</div>
which an HTML editor would simply throw a hissy fit if you did it through the nice pretty gui. What may be advantageous is to use Web Expression 2 or Visual Studio for its intellisense. It may help speed up (or maybe slow down) your learning curb.
I really recommend Transcending CSS Design if you are already familiar with HTML / CSS. Otherwise grab a CSS book first even over an HTML book. Styling through CSS will teach you proper semantic HTML (or should,anyway).
I like to code by hand because i can keep my code clean and tidy that way. HTML is not very hard anyway.
If you decide to code by hand you will need an editor that supports syntax highlight, and you will need to validate your code as often as possible to avoid errors (this is good practice anyway). This extension for Firefox will ease your work a lot: users.skynet.be/mgueury/mozilla/
Although I've done programming, I'm not a programmer. I've recently agreed to coordinate getting a Website up for a club. The resources are--me, who has done Web content maintenance (putting content into HTML and ColdFusion templates via a gatekeeper to the site itself; doing simple HTML and XML coding); a serious Web developer who does database programming, ColdFusion, etc., and talks way over the heads of the rest of us; two designers who use Dreamweaver; the guy who created the original (and now badly broken) site in Front Page and wants to use Expression Web; and assorted other club members who are even less technically inclined.
What we need up first is some text and graphics (a gorgeous design has been created in Dreamweaver), some links (including to existing PDF newsletters for download), and maybe hooking up an existing Blogspot blog. Later (or earlier if it's not hard), we may add mouseover menus to the links, a gallery, a calendar, a few Mapquest hotlinks, and so on.
My question--First, is there any real problem with sticking with HTML and jpegs for the initial site? Second, for the "later" part of the site development, what's the simplest we can go with? Third, are there costs in doing this the simple way that will make us regret it down the road? Also, is there a good site/resource where I can learn more about this from a newbie perspective?
If you don't require any dynamic content, heck, if you don't plan on editing the content more than once a week, I'd say stick to basic HTML.
Later, you'd probably want a basic, no-fuss and easily installable CMS. The brand really depends on the platform (most likely PHP/Rails/ASP), but most of them can be found by typing " CMS" into Google. Try prefixing it with "free" or "open source" if you want.
I'm pretty sure you can do all this for absolutely free. Most PHP and Ruby CMS's are free and web hosting is free/extremely cheap if you're not demanding.
And last/best tip: Find someone who has done this before, preferably more than once. He'll probably set you up so you never have to look at anything more complicated than a WYSIWYG editor.
Plain old HTML is fine, just as long as you don't use tags like blink and marquee.
I personally love tools like CityDesk.
And I'm not just plugging Joel. (There are others out there in this class I'm sure.) The point is they make making a static website very easy:
The structure is just a filesystem structure
pages have templates to consolidate formatting
all resources are contained in one file
easy and fast Preview and Publish functions
For a dynamic collaborative site, I would just install one of many open source CMSs available on shared hosting sites.
If you're familiar with html/javascript basics I'd look into a CMS - wordpress, drupal, joomla, nuke, etc. All of these are free. Very often your web hosting company will install one of these by default which takes all of the hard part out of your hands. Next is just learning to customize the system and there's tons of docs out there for any of those systems.
All that being said there is noting wrong with good old fashioned html.
In addition to some of the great content management systems already mentioned, consider cms made simple.
It makes it very easy to turn a static site into a content managed site (which sounds like exactly what you might need to do in the future), and the admin area is very easy to use. Our clients have found it much simpler to use than the likes of Joomla.
It's also free and open source.
Good luck!
There's no reason to not go with plain old HTML and JPGs if you don't know any server side scripting languages. Also, once you want to get more advanced, most cheap hosting services have tools that can be installed with one click, and provide things like blogs, photo galleries, bulletin boards (PHPBB), and even content management tools like Joomla.
I had the same problem myself, I was just looking for something really easy to smash together a website quickly. First I went with just plain old HTML, but then I realised a simple CMS would be better.
I went for Wordpress. Wordpress is mostly known as a blogging platform, but in my opinion it is really great as a deadly simple CMS as well.
why not simply use Google pages?
Here is an example of a website I did, takes about 2 hours, easy to maintain (not that I do (-: ) and FREE.
I think that suggesting you mess with HTML for what you need is crazy!
Plain HTML is great, gives you the most control. If you want to make updating a bit easier though, you could use SSI. Most servers have this enabled. It basically let's you attach one file to many pages.
For example, you could have your menu in navigation.html and every page would include this file. That way you wouldn't have to update this one file on every page each time you need to update.
<!--#include virtual="navigation.html" -->
I agree with the other commenters that a CMS might be useful to you, however as I see it, probably a solution like Webby might do it for you. It generates plain HTML pages based on Templates. Think about it as a "webpage preprocessor" which outputs plain HTML files. It has most of the advantages of using a server-based CMS, but without a lot of load on the server, and making it easy for you to change stuff on any of the templates you might use.
It's fine
Rails (or purchase / use a CMS)
Not unless you start becoming crazy-popular
It really depends on what you go with for 2. Rails has a plethora of tutorials on the net and any product you go with will have its own community etc.
To be perfectly honest though, if the dynamic part is someone elses blog and you move the gallery out into flikr you may find that you can actually live with large parts of it being static HTML for a very long time.
If a to Implement a website With User Profiles/Logins, Extensions, Gallery's etc s a Newbi then a CMS like Joomla, Etc are good , but Else if you presently have only Static Content then Its good to go with Good Old HTML, About JPEG , I though Presently Its better to use PNG or GIF as its Less Bulky.
Also About you Query About Shifting to Server Scripts , When you have Database Driven Material or When you have Other Things that Require Advanced Prog Languages , Just use PHP Scripts inside PHP , and Rename teh File as a PHP, Thats IT, No Loss to you HTML Data.....
Do Go Ahead and Launch you Site ......
Dude, you're talking about HTML, obviously you'll be styling your content with CSS. Wait till you run into IE issues and god forbid your client wants ie6 compatibility.
Go with the HTML for now, I'm sure you guys will hack it through. Our prayers are with you.
Personally, I'd never use JPEG images on a website, mainly because of three reasons:
JPEGs often contains artifacts.
Quality is often proportional
with filesize.
Does not support
alpha transparency.
That said, I'd recommend you to use PNGs for images since it's lossless and a 24-bit palette (meaning full colors + alpha transparency). The only quirk is that IE6 and below does not support native alpha for PNGs, however this could be resolved by running a javascript which would fix this issue.
As for designing a website, there's both pros and cons for this. I suggest you read through:
37 Signal's Why We Skip Photoshop
Jeff Croft's Why We Don't Skip Photoshop
As for newbie resources, I'd recommend you flip through the pages at W3 Schools.