For some files on a Freepages site I’m in the process of developing, I would like to restrict the size of the page window to a fraction of the normal size. The problem is whether this is possible and, if so, how to accomplish it.

Barry Carlson, a frequent contributor to the list, proposed the following with examples.

• The popup Window version – Click on a Link to see it working
• A CSS Pseudo Window version – Click on a Link to see it working

The Pseudo Window is totally generated using CSS, and though more complex to get going is faster and doesn’t need a call to the server each time a link is clicked.   Both versions use JavaScript, but those familiar with commerce on the internet will know that you can’t do anything without JavaScript enabled.  Both versions work down to and including IE5.01, while Firefox 3.5, Safari 4 and Chrome 2 will show rounded corners for the Pseudo Window version. ~Barry ~

You can also make your Rootsweb guestbook accessible by following the tutorial Making the Guest Book Accessible.

I get this one a lot and it’s surprisingly difficult to answer. The problem is that the question doesn’t include the persons background, which will in many ways determine the best course of action.

• Are you literally just getting started in web design? As in, you have never designed a website before?
• Have you designed web sites before, but never with CSS? As in, you are coming from a table-based mindset?
• Have you designed sites (graphically) before, but never done the actual coding?

My favorite analogy is that learning web design is like learning to play the guitar.

Read the entire article How Would You Recommend a Novice Get Started Using CSS?

He suggests jumping right in and getting started by going out and get yourself a domain name (from NameCheap or the like) and get yourself some cheap hosting. I would suggest a 1and1 account on their Linux servers. Then you get yourself a template. I offer a number of free ones on Expression Web Tips, Tutorials, and Templates as well as Genealogy Web Creations. You can also Google for CSS Templates. One word of advice is before you start to use the template, make sure it validates. Mine do.

Chris further states: “Now you have the ultimate learning environment. Start poking through that code and making changes and seeing what happens.”

Those of you with genealogy websites that are currently using the free servers on RootsWeb, you can also use the free templates to learn CSS. As you are aware, Rootsweb will add banners to the top of your page. All of my templates are written using an XHTML doctype which will NOT validate on the Rootsweb servers as is. Read RootsWeb FreePages Banners and XHTML Doctype.

Chris ends with: “That is how you learn CSS. Experimentation. THEN, you go buy a book about CSS. That book will make 10x more sense now that you have something to relate it to.”

By Jana Lloyd

Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 11 June 2008, Vol. 11, No. 16

I have added notes/comments to this article originally written by Jana Lloyd. Hyperlinks have also been added for your convenience. My notes appear in red.

I suspect there are many of you out there who also have very little or no knowledge of HTML or how to create Web pages. This article is for you.

This very basic guide will get you familiar with the resources on RootsWeb that can help you build your own Web page. It will not help you create the page of your dreams—yet. I will write several follow-up articles on this topic over the upcoming months that go into more depth.

Getting Started: What You Need to Build a Website
To build a website you need 1) space on a server where you can host your site; 2) software to help you create the site.

The great thing about RootsWeb is that it provides both of these things—it offers free space on its servers, and it has a very basic HTML editor to help you create your site. (It also has a basic WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor so you can create a page without having to know HTML, but as of this writing it is broken. I’ll let you know when it is working again.) NOTE: I tried the WYSIWYG Editor tonight 6/17 and it was working but it appears to have problems off and on. Whatever you enter into the editor in WYSIWYG mode uses lowercase letters for tags. You will need to manually add the title tag as well as the doctype statement. Free WYSIWYG editors you might want to try can be found listed at Genealogy Web Creations in the right side bar.

I’m going to walk you through these first two steps. First we’re going to request free server space for your site on RootsWeb. Then we’re going to use the RootsWeb HTML editor to make a basic Web page. It’s not going be a very pretty page—just a page. We will go into more about designing an attractive page in the follow-up articles.

Step One: Requesting Free Server Space on RootsWeb
1. Go to the RootsWeb homepage (www.RootsWeb.com).
2. Click the Web Sites tab on the main toolbar.
3. Click the “Request Free Web Space” link on the upper left-hand side of the page.

Note: You can only request space for one individual freepage on RootsWeb, although there is no limit to the number you can request for historical societies or other genealogical groups.

4. Click the “Freepages” link.

Note: Freepages are for pages created by individuals; if you want to create a page for your historical society, click “Genealogical/Historical Society Accounts.”

5. Read the terms of agreement and click I agree at the bottom of the page.
6. Provide your name, e-mail address, and an account name, as directed. Write down your account name. You will need it for Step Two. NOTE: Think about the name you choose. Once you request it, you can NOT change it.
7. Click the Submit button.

In three to five days you will receive an e-mail stating that your request has been received. You will be given the URL for your Web page and a password, which you need for Step Two. You will also be signed up for the Freepages Mailing List at RootsWeb (FREEPAGES-HELP_L@rootsweb.com), where you can participate in useful discussions with other people working on their freepages.

Note: You cannot complete Step Two until you have received this e-mail.

Step Two: Creating Your Website Using the RootsWeb HTML Editor
Once you have received an e-mail from RootsWeb giving you the password for your new Web page, you can use the RootsWeb HTML editor to create a basic Web page.

1. Go to the File Manager at RootsWeb: http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/fileman.
2. Enter your account name and password from Step One. Click Log in.
3. You will be prompted to select a “community.” Select “Genealogy” from the drop-down list.

4. Click the Enter File Manager button.
5. Scroll down to the “HTML Editing Controls” box. Press the Create New HTML File button.

6. A field will appear with “Enter the name of the file” above it. Type “index” in the field, making sure to use only lowercase letters. Press Create and Edit.
7. Copy and paste the following in the box that appears. This is the basic HTML structure behind any Web page.

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> </TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY> </BODY>
</HTML>
NOTE: I would suggest you also add a valid doctype statement to you page as well as using all lowercase letters to type your code. You can read more about doctype statement from the links at the end of this article.

8. Think of a title for your Web page and type it between the <Title> </Title> tags. This title will not appear on your Web page anywhere; it will appear on the title bar of your Web browser. NOTE: The title of your page should reflect what your page is about, not My Home Page, or Welcome to My Home Page.
9. Type something simple, such as “This is my first Web page,” between the <Body> </Body> tags. This text will appear on your Web page. Anything on your Web page goes between these two <Body> tags.

Your document should look similar to this:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>My Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>This is my first Web page</BODY>
</HTML>

10. Click Save. You will be taken back to the main File Manager page, where you can see the file, titled “index.html.”

Congratulations. You have now created your first Web page. You should be able to visit it by opening your Web browser and typing in the URL that was sent to you in Step One. It should look something like this (your account name will be behind the ~ in your URL):

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jlloyd

Note that whatever you put between the <Title> </Title> tags is in the title bar of your Web browser; whatever you typed between the <Body> </Body> tags is on the actual Web page.

Next time we’ll explore some ways to create a more dynamic, interesting page with images, formatting, and links to other pages.

By the way, if you have more experience with building Web pages, feel free to write in. I would love to get a dialog going. Send in neat tips—like how you added a guestbook to your freepage, where you found easy-to-use freeware online, or some tricks you’ve learned about using the RootsWeb freepage tools.

In the meantime, check out some tutorials written by RootsWeb users on HTML and creating your own freepage:

Pat Asher’s “Web Tutorials”.
Pat Geary’s “Website Design for the Genealogist”.

End of original article.

==================

Additional Resources:

• DOCTYPE – DTD – Document Type Declaration
• Character Encoding
• The HTML Document Structure
• Lower Case HTML Tags and HTML Tag Attributes
• W3Schools Online Web Tutorials
• Learn HTML Basics E-Book

If on the other hand, if your account is hosted on the FreePages server and you are using the XHTML doctype, your pages will no longer validate because of the bottom banner. Goods News, there is a “fix.”To change the banner code so that it will validate if you are using the XHTML doctype create a file named “banner_select” containing only the text:

XHTMLNeutral

and nothing else. The file should be a plain text file and the file name must not include a file extension, i.e. do NOT name it banner_select.txt or banner_select.html

Upload the file to your misc_html directory.

If you are using the FreePages File Manager -

1. Sign in to your FreePages account with FileManager
2. Enter your username and password
3. Select the misc_html directory
   
4. Click Enter File Manager
5. Scroll down to File Upload Utility
6. Browse to the banner_select file on your computer > Select It
7. Click Send Files

This will change the banner code for your entire Freepages account, e.g. family_html, genealogy_html, military_html, etc. as well as misc_html.

If your system will not allow you to save or upload a file without a file extension, upload the file with the extension as required by your system, then rename the file on the server. File Manager can be used to rename the file without the file extension or your ftp program.

If you have already used the banner_select file to change from the default gray banner to the green one, you will have to make a choice as to which one you want to use. At this time, the banner_select file can only include one or the other.
BasicGreen
XHTMLNeutral

Example: My grandmother’s pedigree formatted as part of my WorldConnect database.

From Pat Asher: http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~pasher/pedsamp.htm

From Nick Reddan: http://members.iinet.net.au/~nickred/birthbrief/a1.htm

From Elaine Johnson: http://www.ida.net/users/elaine/pedigre2.HTM

I also found one you can download from Microsoft which is an Excel Template. You could then print it to a pdf file and  post it on your site.

One frequent question on the various RootsWeb Mailing lists, is how an I make changes to my wesite as I have forgotten my username and password. A recent article from the Rootsweb Newsroom tells you how.

If you have forgotten your user name or password for My Account, please use the “Forgot your user name or password?” link on the My Account login page. Enter your email address and click on “Send Email.” This will send you a link to a “change” page where whatever you enter as a password will become your new password, for that specific account. Read How To Get Your User Name Or Password From My Account

“Google supports frames to the extent that it can. Frames can cause problems for search engines because they don’t correspond to the conceptual model of the web. In this model, one page displays only one URL. Pages that use frames display several URLs (one for each frame) within a single page. If Google determines that a user’s query matches the page as a whole, it will return the entire frame set. However, if the user’s query matches an individual frame within the larger frame set, Google returns only the relevant frame. In this case, the entire frame set of the page will not appear.” Read more . . . .

How Search Engines Read Web Sites Created Using Frames by S. R. Emerson

A special thank you to Jean McCarthy for allowing me to use her site in this tutorial and for Cricket Walker for her SEO Training Class and E-book with a lesson on framed web sites that inspired me to write this tutorial.

Most often, the genealogy web sites I have seen that are using frames, are using them for the side navigation. As you can also see by this example, the RootsWeb banner will appear on both parts of the page.

Site using Frames – click image for larger screenshot

A change in the layout of your page can give you a frame-like look, allow you use the same navigation on all pages and the search engines will more easily read your page.

Same Site Without Frames – Click image for larger screenshot

I knew that Jean was using FrontPage 2003 as her editor so created the site with Expression Web which is the successor to FrontPage. Any files I created she would still be able to use. I decided to use design time includes for the left side navigation and footer. You could just as easily us server side includes (SSI) if you are using a different editor or Note Pad.

Continue reading step-by-step instructions on moving from a framed web site . . . .

http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/web1/background_colors.htm

I have my default browser, Firefox, set to show a pink color background when no background is specified so when I visit this page on James site, I see

If I visit his site and he has set the background color, then I see it as he wants it seen.

Rule of thumb: Remember to set the background color and color in your body element.

When was the last time YOU backed up YOUR website? A MUST-READ for everyone who works on their site live or has no backup copy of your website.

I cannot stress the importance of regularly backing up the files on your computer. Your operating system and programs can be reinstalled but if your data is lost, it may be gone forever.

Two excellent articles by S. R. Emerson can be found here -

http://www.basiccomputerinformation.ca/backing-up-files/

http://www.webpagemistakes.ca/backing-up-your-website/

If you have Windows XP or the new Windows Vista on your computer, there is Backup program you can use already available to you.

Windows XP Backup Made Easy

How to Use the Backup Utility to Back Up Files and Folders in Windows XP Home Edition

Windows Vista Backup and Restore