There has to be one compared to what I do. I use text editor to create each page. Of course, mostly I change the image name, rename the page and save. Is there any other efficient way?
Or am on the right track!
I use a text editor too. Once the page template is created (which requires some time and effort), changing page content is pretty simple.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on July 11, 2006 at 10:36 AM
Here is the philosophy I took. Start with a very basic template. Buttons on top for navigation. For text only pages, I typed what I needed below. For image galleries, I start with the above, and then added a table for thumbnails. This became the basis of all of the thumbnail pages. A second page was created for displaying a larger image. This same page was used for all of the larger images. Changes will need to be made on every page for links, descriptions, keywords, etc, but there is no way around this, no matter what you do.
Especially if you are working with a text editor only, keep it simple at first. Once the basics are set up, you can come back at a later time and start fancying things up.
Keep the file sizes under control. A lot of people still work with dialup, including me. Quite honestly, I never look at my website from home because it takes too long to bring up on a modem. That should be a hint I have more work to do
For software, I used Frontpage, but have some experience with Dreamweaver, which I prefer. The main reason for the choice was economics: I would be paying full price for Dreamweaver, but was able to get a second-hand copy of Frontpage 98 in exchange for dinner.
Either jump to a php application like Gallery or Coppermine, or other CMS software; or use software that understands and uses templates, such as GoLive or Dreamweaver.
The PHP gallery engine or CMS (Content Management Software) builds the pages and galleries on the fly, you just complete a form and upload the images. It does the rest. Gallery can do a full folder of images automatically. A blog is a very simple version of CMS.
Using Dreamweaver or GoLive you can create templates of your most used pages, and then using the WYSIWYG editor in either program, you just relink the images and text. It will then track changes and updates and allows you to work visually rather than buried in code. Both programs give you full access to the code too if you want to have a slit screen.
Either way is much more efficient than coding by hand.
I used to have a static site filled with hundreds of html pages that I created mostly by hand. I created a template, then modified as needed. Ugh.
Then I switched to a PHP-driven site and life is much simpler. Now I just create the web images in photoshop and update the database. All done. Granted, it was a lot of work to get the site off the ground -- I hand-coded the couple dozen PHP/MySQL pages, rather than using canned software. A canned software would have probably been easier in the long run, but it would have cost money.
Check out www.gallerywebhost.com. They are already created websites with different designs and uploading and changing pics is a piece of cake. Can also set it up to take Paypal. I just bought a site earlier this year. Charlie
Discussion
5 repliesOr am on the right track!
Especially if you are working with a text editor only, keep it simple at first. Once the basics are set up, you can come back at a later time and start fancying things up.
Keep the file sizes under control. A lot of people still work with dialup, including me. Quite honestly, I never look at my website from home because it takes too long to bring up on a modem. That should be a hint I have more work to do
For software, I used Frontpage, but have some experience with Dreamweaver, which I prefer. The main reason for the choice was economics: I would be paying full price for Dreamweaver, but was able to get a second-hand copy of Frontpage 98 in exchange for dinner.
The PHP gallery engine or CMS (Content Management Software) builds the pages and galleries on the fly, you just complete a form and upload the images. It does the rest. Gallery can do a full folder of images automatically. A blog is a very simple version of CMS.
Using Dreamweaver or GoLive you can create templates of your most used pages, and then using the WYSIWYG editor in either program, you just relink the images and text. It will then track changes and updates and allows you to work visually rather than buried in code. Both programs give you full access to the code too if you want to have a slit screen.
Either way is much more efficient than coding by hand.
Then I switched to a PHP-driven site and life is much simpler. Now I just create the web images in photoshop and update the database. All done. Granted, it was a lot of work to get the site off the ground -- I hand-coded the couple dozen PHP/MySQL pages, rather than using canned software. A canned software would have probably been easier in the long run, but it would have cost money.
Martin