Web Site Design Question

Well thanks to Xisto my web site is up and running again. I have most everything put back, just need to do a fair amount of fine tuning. I have questions on a couple topics before I do much more on it. Which is best for links on your site that leave your web site, to have them open in a new browser window or just go direct to the site? I heard somewhere that they should open in a new window, as you don't want people to leave your site, but do you all find the new windows to be annoying?And which looks best, text that scrolls and the background doesn't move, or to just have the whole page, background and all move? I kinda the text moving over the stationary background, think it looks cool. But I don't want to annoy anybody. And one more dumb question. I just got Front Page 03, I had 2000, and boy is it different! I'm slowly figuring it out. (although in all honesty, I wasn't very good at FP to start with) One thing I haven't found is the tool that allows you to remove the white background in your graphics. Is it still there or did they leave it out of the newer version?

Which is best for links on your site that leave your web site, to have them open in a new browser window or just go direct to the site? I heard somewhere that they should open in a new window, as you don't want people to leave your site, but do you all find the new windows to be annoying?

Personally, I don't want people leaving my site never to return because they got caught up at another site. I use the new window method so they don't lose my site in the shuffle. As to the annoying extra windows, I believe it is the pop-up or pop-under ones that people don't ask for that are the annoying ones.

 

And which looks best, text that scrolls and the background doesn't move, or to just have the whole page, background and all move? I kinda the text moving over the stationary background, think it looks cool. But I don't want to annoy anybody.

This question can be answered best depending on what the background actually is. If it is something that cannot be repeated throughout the overall page, such as a muted graphic, then the text scroll is probably your best bet. If your background is something that repeats, in a pleasant non-interfering way, then go with the whole page scroll.

 

And one more dumb question. I just got Front Page 03, I had 2000, and boy is it different! I'm slowly figuring it out. (although in all honesty, I wasn't very good at FP to start with) One thing I haven't found is the tool that allows you to remove the white background in your graphics. Is it still there or did they leave it out of the newer version?

Sorry, I can't help with this one. Somebody who uses Front Page will have to help out here.

Graphics must be used with graphics editing tool, unless the website building program specifically states picture editing choice.However, there's good chance that you can do that with FrontPage. You have to open the picture tool and delete the background. Save it as GIF or PNG for all other file type will not save it as transparent background. There are online tools to convert your picture as transparent background. Search google or search our forums. I know we covered many graphics questions in GFX forum. Xisto features master guru graphics crew. Post a question or read one of their tutorials

Mich pretty much answered your first two questions, now for your third one you would need a gfx program such as adobe or gimp; I will tell you how to do it the adobe way since it is the only one I used. First you want to make a copy of the image you want to remove the background which is simple enough, however, the next is rather long and tedious because removing the background can become difficult depending on the background's color and how the image looks. for a quick background removal you want to use the magic wand tool to delete the background; however, this cane become difficult due to the fact that if the image your cutting and the background are mixing in that particular color then you will be deleting parts of that as well. That is where you being changing the percentages to make the magic wand tool take less as you delete the background, and you also want to zoom in so you can use the ctrl key to select different parts and then delete them in all one shot.If you want I can do the background removale stuff since I have some experience in doing it back in my hey day of being a gfx nut, just pm me the image and I can work on it for you.

Ah....magic wand, that's what that little icon was! ( I thought it was a pencil, lol) I don't find it in FP 03, but it was in 2000. The only graphics program I have is Microsoft Photodraw, which of course, is serously outdated, but it's all I got. I have yet to figure out how to do pm's but if I can't figure out how to do this on my own, I may take you up on the offer, which I do appreciate.Thanks to all, I have more to dig through and learn now.

Which is best for links on your site that leave your web site, to have them open in a new browser window or just go direct to the site? I heard somewhere that they should open in a new window, as you don't want people to leave your site, but do you all find the new windows to be annoying?

Let your users decide which window they want it in. Don't open things up in new windows, or in the case of today tabs.

And which looks best, text that scrolls and the background doesn't move, or to just have the whole page, background and all move? I kinda the text moving over the stationary background, think it looks cool. But I don't want to annoy anybody.

Stationary backgrounds are okay, but don't be a myspace user - tilt it to the left of the main text(NO TILING) and make sure to make the main site text background color opaque(no background showing through) so everything is visible if your background is garish.

And one more dumb question. I just got Front Page 03, I had 2000, and boy is it different! I'm slowly figuring it out. (although in all honesty, I wasn't very good at FP to start with) One thing I haven't found is the tool that allows you to remove the white background in your graphics. Is it still there or did they leave it out of the newer version?

Frontpage is a terrible program for creating web pages. Its code is IE specific, bloated, and sometimes requiring the use of extensions not every host wants to waste time buying. Most pages I've seen created with it are substandard and rather poor quality compared to even 100% dreamweaver created websites.

"Frontpage is a terrible program"LOL, I have said that many many times! I hate to think of all the cuss words I have said when trying to deal with it. I have been working with it for several years now, and honestly I still don't know how to do a lot of things. Since I have had to struggle so hard getting the basic grip on FP, the thought of even trying to learn another program scares the c--- out of me. I just don't have the time to do that. I have read the how to's, even got the FP for dummies and the video professor cd, and I am still at a loss for a lot of things. Biggest problem has been getting things layed out evenly on the page. They tend to lay to the left and leave open empty space on the right side of the page. And what really drives me crazy is that something will be visible on my site, but when I go into FP, it's not there! Nowhere to be seen. I had a double row of google ads on the bottom of a page I was trying to fix last night, they were all the way to the left and I was trying to center them, I got one moved over, but when I was on the web actually looking at the page, there is still the top row there and all the way left. Since I can't see it in FP I can't fix it. Makes me nuts. I think the background is faded out enough to read the text ok. If you want to take a peek at it, it's http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

From two other posts, i have noticed that you have recieved two different answers for whether or not you should open a new window when a link leaves your site. The best answer is that you should have it open in the same window as your site. I do web design for a living and this is what should always be done. Users hate new windows and tabs unless they specificly ask for them. The is that, no one likes to have 500 windows open on their screen. If your site is good enough for people to remember they will come back either way. Otherwise, when your window still is there and they see it, they just will close it.As for frontpage being a bad program, it is a half truth. Front page is good program for people who have no clue how to program a website and like designing a site using pictures and dont care what the code looks like. It is the same thing as dreamweaver except dreamweaver allows people to write code too. Use what you are the most comfortable with and if you want to learn to code, start with notepad and then find a good editor like eclipse or coffeecup, etc.

"i have noticed that you have recieved two different answers for whether or not you should open a new window when a link leaves your site."LOL, yes, I noticed that too. Was hoping for more input from more folks and then just go by the majority rules kinda thing. Since I have no intentions of being a web site builder as a profession, I will just be happy to learn to deal with FP, since it has allready taken me so long to figure out how to do what little I can manage with the program. I do enjoy tinkering with the graphics and such, and someday want to do live vidieo, but I am a long way from that point yet. Right now I just need to sell pups! I would still rather be playing with my pups than messing with these silly computers anyway.

"Frontpage is a terrible program"LOL, I have said that many many times! I hate to think of all the cuss words I have said when trying to deal with it. I have been working with it for several years now, and honestly I still don't know how to do a lot of things. Since I have had to struggle so hard getting the basic grip on FP, the thought of even trying to learn another program scares the c--- out of me. I just don't have the time to do that.
I have read the how to's, even got the FP for dummies and the video professor cd, and I am still at a loss for a lot of things. Biggest problem has been getting things layed out evenly on the page. They tend to lay to the left and leave open empty space on the right side of the page. And what really drives me crazy is that something will be visible on my site, but when I go into FP, it's not there! Nowhere to be seen. I had a double row of google ads on the bottom of a page I was trying to fix last night, they were all the way to the left and I was trying to center them, I got one moved over, but when I was on the web actually looking at the page, there is still the top row there and all the way left. Since I can't see it in FP I can't fix it. Makes me nuts.

I think the background is faded out enough to read the text ok. If you want to take a peek at it, it's http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Thank you for confarming that i really felt bad when using frontpage but another challenge that comes to me is the use of dream weaver and flash truely i am not advance in using all thse programes and that why i am looking for help
can any one aalest help me with designs? why i am asking this qustion is that i am planing to design a proffessional web site for a radio network in my localilty and they are depending on me. left for me i dont knwo actually what to do but i want to design because i love designing but waht i put out at last dosent look proffessionalise it is very boring and dull, i dont have the experince of photo shop, and i dont have it please can any of you help me i have posted for three time regarding the issue of web designs because thats what is bothering me alot
i really thank you all for being their for me
joshua
Edited October 1, 2007 by registra6 (see edit history)

I will agree to the fact that frontpage is a terrible program fro web designins not to think of gfx designing. I remember an instace where I created a pagein frontpage and only IE could display the web pages correctly whereas Opera and the Mozilla browsers where all distorting the tables and cells in the pages.Since then, I have switched from FrontPage to Dreamweaver CS3 and my pages now look much better then before.One more thing I would wanna add to your GFX question is this: Consider using the Lasso tool in Adobe Photoshop to remove specific backgrounds that you dont want. Simply crop out the background and press delete on your keyboard to remove it and leave the image of parts of the image background as transparent.