Avalon

Quite simply, Paintshop Pro, Adobe Photoshop and GIMP are all graphics programs, MSPaint is not. All these three have a very important feature essential for any graphics program, the ability to work in layers. If you don't understand what this means, read any graphics tutorial on these forums and you will start to understand. Using layers allows you to make changes to different components of a graphic rather than the whole image, once you start experimenting with graphics you will come to realise just how important this is. As for the various programs, how they rate and what they cost, here is my opinion for what it's worth. GIMP Cost = free Rates fairly well, a good choice for a person beginning in graphic design. With this program you can learn the fundamentals. A lot of filters and brushes used with this program are compatible with Photoshop and Paintshop which you will probably progress to later on. Brushes and filters allow you to do some amazing things, the best way to find out what you can do is to experiment. Paintshop Pro Cost = Reasonable for what it can do Rates similar to GIMP, perhaps a little higher. I personally used to use this program for all my graphic work because I like it's ease of use. This could be just because I had used it for a long time and had become familiar with it. Once again, brushes and filters used with this program are generally compatible with Photoshop and GIMP. Photoshop Cost = Expensive Rates very high for it's power to create and manipulate stunning graphics. This program is used by professional graphic designers and is generally considered to be the 'Industry Standard' program. Yes it is expensive, but it has the power to do almost anything you can think of in the world of graphic design. If you're serious about designing graphics, this is the program you should use. (This coming from a former avid Paintshop user) Do not waste your time with MSPaint, if you want to view a screenshot, you can do that in MS Word. If you want to create graphics, use a graphics program, not a toy.

I don't think there is such a thing as a 'free' WYSIWYG web editor. However, you might want to search through the various file archives available such as: Tucows or Download.com Hope that helps.

I thought I was fairly good with PHP, by no means an expert but knew enough to get by. I learnt something from the tutorial, I wasn't aware of '===' until now. Thanks! Excellent tutorial Spectre, you obviously spent a lot of time putting it together, well done! I hope you decide to complete the "To be continued..." section soon. P.S. While it is true you cannot just preview a PHP script in action in your browser like you can HTML, you can set up your own personal web server with PHP running and test scripts that way. That's what I do, you just need to remember to change the server parameters (if any) in the script, such as connection parameters for a mysql database, when you finally upload to an online server.

I agree with this, all the CMS generated type sites I have seen seem to have a 'mass produced' feel to them. If you create something yourself from scratch it is your design, not someone elses design you have modified. Doing it from scratch is also the best way to learn, don't be afraid of mistakes, learn from them and don't be afraid to experiment. By learning to code this way you will also develop your own 'style' as you learn and it will evolve with the more you learn. To me, creating a web site is not unlike creating a work of art, not everyone will like your design ideas and that's what makes us all different. To have someone critisize your design is a good thing, it means they have taken the time to form an opinion on what you have created. Even if you don't agree with everything they say, there might be some points you hadn't considered. Don't be afraid to ask for other people's opinions and help. Kinda went off on a tangent there, sorry about that.

Is it just me, or do other people think it is a little rude to advertise one forum in another? Unless of course this other forum is somehow connected with Xisto.Maybe it's just me.

No matter what feature it has, it's still a handheld PC which is limited in what you can do with it by its size. Honestly, I see these things as nothing more than a glorified appointment book. Sure it can play movies, and a host of applications. But when you come down to it, can you seriously use it for browsing the internet or writing a serious project in word, making serious graphics?As DogEater008 pointed out, for the money you have spent you could have bought a decent desktop unit that would allow you to do all these things and more.

Welcome to Xisto, xaetos. Being that the thing to know about you is that you swim, and your avatar is a fish, I'm wondering if perhaps you are a fish too? j/kOnce again, welcome!

I also recommend Coppermine, especially if you want to allow visitors/members to make comment on and rank entries in the gallery. The interface is easy for visitors to use while still giving you a fair amount of flexibility to configure the gallery the way you want it.I don't know much about Gallery, I know I tried it but that was quite a while ago. For flexibility in skins and integration in other content management systems, Coppermine comes out on top for me.

Well actually no, posting replies to this post will NOT earn you credits as this a "No Post Count" topic as mentioned in my original post. People are not posting here just to earn credits, they are posting because they have something to say. To post here for any other reason is fruitless. A moderator will have to answer your questions, I don't know the answers.

Why oh why do people do this? Please the very first sentence of the requirements in this post. http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ That post is pinned at the very top of this forum, how could you miss it?

Is this something like what you had in mind?

How about this, using a spotlight filter on the text? P.S. You made a typo in your banners

devildude93 there is search function for a reason, please use it. People have had their warn level raised for less. As snlildude87 has shown, there are many tutorials for sigs here, all you have to do is look.

Thanks to all those that voted. YAY! Don't worry hulunes, I've been there too. As snlildude87 has said, practice will get you there.

Hey now there's a thought, they could be useful for spies. No more Mission Impossible stuff like "This disk will self-destruct in 10 seconds", spies could eat their mission disks! I wonder if they come in different flavours? I'm quite fond of chocolate myself.

Simple question, why? What possible purpose would there be behind eating a CD? Is the thought perhaps to feed starving nations with old Britney Spears CDs or something? I guess it put's a whole meaning to getting into your music! That is just too ridiculous for words.

What I was tring to get was the effect of the demon bursting out of a firey background in a menacing manner. Actually that sig has 9 layers of brushing, with the brush color alternated between black and white on each layer. Each brush layer also has some variation between 'overlay' and 'soft light' for the brush mode. In addition there are also 5 color balance layers with the cloud filter used on each one. These are techniques I have learnt from the various tutorials posted here and they have improved my resulting sigs, but obviously I still need more practice. I must say though, it does get somewhat confusing with totally different suggestions coming from people for the various sigs I have made. e.g. add a drop shadow, remove the drop shadow. Everyone has their opinion of what they like I guess. Personally I like the original sig better because it puts some emphasis on the demon.

I changed the color of the demon instead of the background, the deep red was a little too much. I was trying to make a firey background but know I think it looks a little monochromatic.

We all have our 'inner demons' to face, is this yours? All comments appreciated as usual.

Hey careful now Cool_Freaker, don't you start dissing on Melbourne's weather. Queensland actually gets more rain than Melbourne, the difference being that Queensland get's it all at once so you actually have more sunny days. I lived in Queensland for a few years and got a little bored with the weather, at least in Melbourne you get some variety, 4 seasons in 1 day if you're lucky!

What's happening here folks, only 2 votes for SOTW #8?? While I am happy they are both for my sig, surely more people can vote to make this a real competition.

Here's my entry. I'm not sure what this creature is, but I think he's been eating too many pretzels!

Aside from the animation in the header/banner I no reason for making the whole site in Flash. Even if you wanted rollover effects on your buttons, I think you will still be better using javascript or CSS for the button effects. If you're going to make a Flash site, use Flash effectively with lots of animation and effects, otherwise there really is no point. Here is an example of Flash being used effectively in a site, http://www.eye4u.com/ While you don't need to make your site as elaborate, the point is to have plenty of animation and sound, that is what Flash is all about. Remember also that as snlildude87 pointed out, Flash sites do not perform well with search engine spiders. Based on the flash content, I'd rate it as a 7/10.

Your problem is your SELECT statement. To SELECT the rows, you need to remove the COUNT() parameter like this. $sql = "SELECT * FROM messages WHERE _parent={$row['_id']}"; Then to return the actual rows and the count of the rows you need statements something like this, assuming you have 3 fields in each row. <table><?php $result = mysql_query($sql); $numrows = mysql_num_rows($result); while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){echo "<tr><td>$row[field1]</td><td>$row[field2]</td><td>$row[field3]</td></tr>";} ?></table> The variable '$numrows' will return the count of rows returned by your SELECT statement. Hope that helps.

Looking at the Imageshack site, this is the way you could do it for your site. Set up a function in between the <head> </head> tags of your page like this. <script language="JavaScript"> function highlight(field) { field.focus(); field.select();}</script> And then for each field that you want to select all the text in when clicked, add this 'onClick' action. <input type="text" name="bbcode" size="81" value="[IMG=<?php echo $url; ?>]" onClick='highlight(this);'> Hope that helps.