The layout of the site is easy. The screen is divided in two frames. The left frame gives mostly the links to other parts of the site; the right frame is used to display the text and pictures. Only the parts made by the Pro-Gen database use a three frame system and is using the two left frames for indexes. The use of frames gives the opportunity to switch quickly between parts of this site. It gives a lot of html files but a good result.
Hyper Text Mark-up Language (version 4) is the code witch mainly is used for the pages of this site. Cascading Style Sheets are used for things as type, size and colour of characters, colour of background etc. Several pages are using the same layout, therefore the use the same stylesheet. Making a chance in style for those pages is therefore much easier. A problem is that some browsers won't accept CCS-1. I also use a few bits of JavaScript. It's ideal for using thumbnail pictures and popup the normal picture by mouse click. There is also a bit of JavaScript in the button section. Bit by bit I'm putting all HTML code in html 4.01 'frameset' code. This means putting all code in lowercase characters. The present-day browsers accept tags in upper and lowercase, predictions are that the next generation (X)HTML will be a lot more strictly.
When do you have a brouwser problem? For instance: when the left frame is without colour.
In that case don't support your browser Cascading Style Sheets.
In such a case it's possible that some information on this site will not be displayed.
You get most times some other type and/or size of characters. Sometimes a browser won't accept frames.
Of course you may load files separately, but that's troublesome.
In case of problems it's the best to see if there are newer versions of your brouwser.
On this page there is a link to Tucows for searching and downloading of newer versions.
A lot of browsers have an own site with upgrade possibilities.
When you look trough the roll down-menu's (File t/m Help) there is a good chance you will find
information about a site with updates. Have a look at Microsoft Internet under Help/Info.
You will find the version number and a link to the Microsoft site.
The AceHTML editor I use has under Help/About the same information.
When you find problems with this site, please send an e-mail stating your problem.
Please tell also your operating system (Type of Windows etc.) the type and version of brouwser.
With your help I can try to make these pages as good working as possible.
Several persons asked me how difficult it is to make your own web pages. I always answer NO. With a few books about HTML (4.0) you can make a good working site. It's the special details that can give a bit of trouble. Placing the right 'tag' to give a line extra spacing or to make shure the next sentence starts at a new line. In short, there is more perspiration in testing and optimizing of the web pages then there is in creating of them.
An other question is about the cost of editors and so more.
There are some beautiful and expensive programs for making web pages.
But if you like to use your own brain then you don't need those.
At the Web (http:www.tucows.com) you can find a lot of free editors like HTMLeditor 1.53 and AceHTML(5).
The first I use sometimes because I can see my HTML text at full screen width. But I like AceHTML more.
This program can do a check to see if the HTML code is correct.
You can also open a lot of files at the same time and copy parts from one file to another.
Because I use HTML with Frames I often have to chance several files together.
When you have learned to write tags in uppercase like me, you can change those in lowercase for future
XHTML use with a search and replace option for all open files!
You can use special made programs (WYSIWYG) that show you direct how your page will look.
Those programs often use templates and that can make the pages all look a bit the same.
Some other problem can be the fact that those programs make a lot more HTML code as is really necessary
for your page. I'm using Microsoft Word this moment because I need the spelling-control part!
I will save this file as .txt and place the HTML tags using AceHTML.
Once I made a test file using Word and after I made the test page with word I removed in AceHTML all
the unnecessary tags. The file made by Word had a size five times that of the AceHTML file.
In MS/Internet Explorer they both looked the same!
It's the templates and so on used by this kind of programs that are build with all possible -but
mostly unused- options that carelessly use the amount of space given to you by your provider
for putting your site in. Did you know that it's even possible to use MS/Notepad to write your pages?
Some books will even tell you so. You write your text with HTML tags in it with notepad and write
this text to your disk. After that you open your brouwser
(i.e. Internet Explorer of Netscape Navigator) and get a look at your page.
Make a note about things to change, switch back to Notepad, make those changes,
write them to disk, switch to your browser and let it refresh the page and so on. Really, it's simple.
Books, they cost a amount of money. But you don't always need new books and often not the newest books.
Look at second hand bookstores with a computer department.
In the Netherlands and Belgium there are the 'Jan de Slechte' bookstores with new and second-hand books
for low(er) prices. You can use a library to find your information.
There are computer dump markets where you can find cheap hard and software and cheap books.
Don't forget: HTML 4.0 exists about 5 years, books written at that time are now 'old' and a lot cheaper.
Important! Never buy a book because someone has said it's good or because it has a nice cover!
If you think a book looks like it's a good book for you, take your time to read several parts of it.
If you find it gives you the information you are wanting and the style and information is clear for you,
then decide if this book is the book you want to buy.
But if possible have a good look through several books about the same subject.
I will give you some book titles of books I use:
Easy Computing Gids HTML 4, aut. Ralph Steyer, publ. Data Becker.
In Dutch, compact and to the point. Handy format and with a reasonable price.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to creating an HTML Web Page, aut. Paul McFedries, publ. Que Corporation.
Playful, good examples and easy to read. In the Netherlands only in second-hand shops.
See 'links' for a link to the site about this book.
I used this book to make the first version of my site.
HTML Goodies, aut. Joe Burns, publ. QUE (site see 'links').
I found this book at a market new for about 8 euro,
when it arrived in the bookshops the price was nearly 20 US dollar.
Possible you can find something in the '? for dummies' books. Look around and take your time!
If you have some HTML experience and you like 'programming HTML' you can find some books with wider
information. I bought 'HTML 4 bible' by Bryan Pfaffenberger en Bill Karow, publ. IDG books Worldwide,
Inc. It gives detailed information about rules, tags and so on. A bit difficult for most starters.
A pity is that all the examples use tags in uppercase,
new rules state that HTML tags always must be in lowercase.
The XHTML part of this book even say so!
But even it was expensive I bought this book because off the good detailed descriptions.
A program you need is a FTP program. You use this program to transfer your files to the internet provider's computer. Look at https://filehippo.com/ for such a program. I use WS-FTP. In some HTML books you find how this program works, in mostly all HTML books you find some instructions about FTP programs.
Two other sites from my hand: Sites named in the above text:
Wijnhandel H.I.C. (dutch)
Filehippo site
HTML goodies
Boeks site of Paul McFedries
Academic Service books (dutch?)