Using Multimedia in Web Design is not that "Simple"

So having spent a lot of time today tippedy tapping, reading through resources and playing around with code in my html doc I have come to realise that using sounds and videos in your web content is not as simple as I had thought.

Web browsers firstly can be drastically different when using multimedia and what works lovely in Internet Explorer does not seem to work in Chrome or Firefox for example. 

Secondly I have been forced to learn a bit about "Plug ins".  Basically ye old HTML is fabulous for using text, images and links for example, but when it comes to using more fancy interactive stuff like videos in your web pages you may need some extra software called a Plug in to be able to view it.   For example you can download and install Adode Flash player for use on sites with videos or games.

I understand that the web industry is doing some work on updating the age old Plug ins and are doing some work to integrate this sort of software into web browsers.  Plug ins can be a security risk also as they work independently from your browser and are often out of date so do not contain the latest security fixes. 

So given what I have learned today I may put my Multimedia content on hold just for now. 

In a bit :)

Making some real progress!

Well it's raining outside and I have the week off from my 9-5 job so thought I take the opportunity to update my blog and let you know how it's been going seems it's been a while.

Since my last post I have been playing around in the background trying to create the template for my web pages in CSS and although it's been frustrating at times and I have felt like giving up, I have persevered and now find myself at a point where I am starting to see some real results and feel pretty satisfied at what I have learned and created. 

So now I have created the template to keep the design of my web pages consistent, I have been spending most of my time creating the contents to go in it.  It's not been easy!

I have always been taught that a good site is all about it's contents and seems I am trying to help other novices get started in the world of web design I am desperately trying to relay the information I have gathered in the simplest terms possible for potential users.  I have spent days writing stuff up, confusing myself and then deleting and re-writing stuff again, but think I am finally starting to make some real progress.

Well my website wont write its self so off I go tippedy tapping away...

In a bit :)

Mission one complete & my new found love of CSS !

"Well I finally find myself at a point (bar a few tweaks here & there) where I have pretty much completed everything I wanted to do to get my site - simpleeggdesign.com up and running !"

"Being brutally honest I have alway been taught that uploading a site whilst still under construction is not good web practice, however I was kind of hoping to get away with it, seems its a bit of a learning excercise n all :)

So what exactly have I been up to?

• Well First thing's first and I needed an idea of what to make my website about.  It's a bit hard if you dont already have a business or something you want to sell perhaps as you want people to visit your site for a reason and not make a load of rubbish that no-one ever looks at becouse let's face it, it's a bit of a waste of time.

• Second on the Iist was I needed a Web Domain and Host, so found myself a good little deal on "hostroute" for around £15 for a year that gives me a reasonable amount of space to host one website with the added bonus of having my own email adress  - bargain!  I found I had to be a bit flexible with my Domain Name seems most of the ones I would have liked had already been used, but hey I quite like my name and think it get's the message across, I also get to design cute logo's of eggs so cant be bad.

• Third on the list was to put some text together for my welcome page using notepad and saved it as a .txt file (you should only ever use pure text for websites) and then put a logo together using photoshop with a little help from my graphic design friend!

• Fourth on the list I "marked up" my text in a HTML file I created in Dreamweaver, adding HTML tags for the heading and paragraps and inserted my image/logo.  I hand coded all of my HMTL tags in "code view" rather than using design view and letting my WYSIWIG (What you see is what you get) editor do all the work for me!  Althought there is a time and a place for using the features of this type of design software, a true web desinger should always use, know and unsertand the code behind it.

Info....Info...Info...

At this point I briefly just want to note that I have been lucky enough to have access to the likes of Adobe Dreamweaver at no cost (this a a pricy bit of software) , however there are some really good free versions you can dowload from the web like "Kompozer".  You of course dont have to use a WYSIWIG editor at all - a .txt file saved as a .htm file is just fine if you know a bit of HTML.


As far as it goes with the Photoshop, again I am lucky to have access to this "Graphic Software" for my image needs for no cost.  However a "Web Designer" is about designing websites and understanding and writing the code.   A "Graphic Designer" is about creating the images.  You do need to know a bit about image file sizes and positioning images fundamentaly, when it comes to web design.  however it does also help to have some graphic skills if you are into the front end web development stuff or want to create your own site and need a good logo like me.  "Picassa" on my pc is a great tool for editing images and is free, you can also download image editors on the web for litle or no cost but I wouldnt focus too much on images just yet - designing websites really isnt about images...it's about the code.

• Ok so then number Five on the list has been the biggest hurdle for me and also my new found love - welcome to my life "CSS" (cascading style sheets).  This is the bit where I got both very excited and completely stressed out!

Info....Info...Info...

A "Style Sheet" or .css file is something that you can attach to your HTML file to effectively "Style" your page content, or more amazingly your whole website from one single file!  You can style backgrounds, images & text to sit wherever you want it to go on your page and display it in whatever format you like.  You really need to know some HTML to get to grips with CSS code as effectively that's what your styling.  You can also, to be honest, do the same kind of things using just HTML by creating tables as layouts etc, however the more I have read up on CSS and the more I have had a play around with it, I realise why using CSS is currently the favoured way for web deigners to style a website.  I really am quite AMAZED at what you can do with CSS syntax!

• Number Six on the list is probably the most important one - "Upload" your site/web files to your web host/server and "TEST IT IN MULTIPLE BROWSERS". 

This is where I was dumbfounded for day's.  I got my content uploaded via Dreamwever (you need to dowload an FTP or "file transfer protocol" to upload files otherwise), and my page looked lovely on my Laptop, Firefox & IE where playing ball (bar some bolded text) but when it came to viewing it on my blackberry phone I could only see half of the page and to be honest looked totally rubbish!
 

This is where I was thrown into the realms of the unknown of CSS and to be honest is another story....The lesson really was, learn a bit about "Screen Resolutions"...and "Dont  just use "Fixed Positions" if you want to view your site on small screens. i.e. a "MOBILE PHONE"."


So that's it...It's simple really! ;)

Next I am going to delve deeper  into the realms of CSS and attempt to make a template to style the layout for the rest of my site, and also concentrate on getting some text and images together for my next page (wish me luck).


In a bit,

Simple Egg

Welcome!

Welcome to my Blogg!

Hello everybody welcome to my Blog, and also to my journey into creating my first web site - simpleeggdesign.com.

After getting into Web Design over a year ago I have finally decided to get stuck in and start trying to desipher all the information I have gathered and start putting it onto practice.

As well as a little project for me, I aim to create my site to help other budding Web Designers get to grips with some of the fundamental basics of web design in the simplest terms possible and add lots of useful resources to go with it!

I will keep you updated on my progress via my blog and post up anything I think may be of interest as I go along.

Well my first page is nearly complete so I best get on with that and I will be back to show you what I have been up to!

Back soon,

Simple Egg