More web design questions

[mjs1973]

I'm in the process of redesigning my site but I have come across a few issues. Let me start off by saying I'm building the site with Dreamweaver MX and I know absolutly NOTHING about witing code. I don't know the differance between HTML and Java or any other web terms so please feel free do dumb down any advice you may have. My site is still a work in progress so I don't feel comfortable posting the link to it just yet, but if seeing it would be of use, then please PM me and I'll send you the link.

1. When I view my sight on a Mac using Safari, some of the text is jumbled around. This has affected both linked text, and non linked text. When I view my sight on the same Mac using IE, the text looks fine. The text is set up like this:

| Home | About | Galleries | Services |

Is Safari reading those verticle lines as some sort of code and applying it to my text? Just an uneducated guess on my part.

2. Thumbnail images. When I placed images on my page, I used images that are sized at 600x400 pxls @ 72dpi. Then I selected the images, and grabbed a corner and reduced the image size to 190X140 pxls to create a thumbnail image. My question is, when I open the web page, what size are those thumbnail images the computer is downloading? They seem to take longer than they should, but that could be caused by the number of images on the page. (that will be changed tho) Would I be better off to create smaller images in PS to use as thumbnails or is the way I'm doing it giving me the same result?

3. Protecting images. Is there a simple way to prevent people from right clicking on an image, and copying it? I know this can be done, I just don't know how difficult it is to do. I know there are simple ways around it if that function is taken away, but I'm currious as to how to do this.

[mjs1973]

I just looked at my site on a dif. Mac and the text looks fine in both Safari and IE...

[SmartWombat]

Welcome to the Wacky World of Web debugging

[Asylum Steve]

Welcome to the Wacky World of Web debugging

First thing about being a webmaster is that you must quickly lose the notion that there is a DIFINITIVE version of your site(s). Get used to the fact that it will often look different on different monitors in different web browsers running different OS's at different resolutions.

The best we can hope for is that it looks DECENT, or heaven forbid, even GOOD, or at least NOT TOO BAD on any of them...

Unless you don't care (and trust me, there are those who don't), it's best to view your site on as many different systems as is practical. I make it a point to drop in at my local library and look at all my work on some of their PCs. I'm sure they make no effort to calibrate monitors, or configure screens or browsers for that matter, so it's a real random mish-mosh of desktops. Good for getting a bit of a "range" of viewing experiences...

Still, there are some tricks to getting results that will be more predictable across platforms. One is to lock text in tables instead of simply positioning it on a page in a web design program.

In fact, most of my pages consist of one large table, then smaller tables placed in the cells of the large table. Sometimes my stacks of tables go four or five deep, which can get confusing if you don't keep track of things. But it makes locking text and image elements much easier...

[mtbbrian]

3. Protecting images. Is there a simple way to prevent people from right clicking on an image, and copying it? I know this can be done, I just don't know how difficult it is to do. I know there are simple ways around it if that function is taken away, but I'm currious as to how to do this.

Yes, or maybe, depending on your level of understanding of HTML. Which sounds a lot like mine, because I haven't been able to figure out either..
But do a search for "Anti Right Click Scripting" and you'll find some ways to prevent viewers from right clicking to save your photograph.
Most are cut and paste into your coding.
I have tried a few and have yet to get them to work!
User errror I am sure!
Good Luck!
Brian

[mjs1973]

Thanks for the info guys. Steve, I view my site on 3 different systems today at work. 2 Macs and one PC. The site looked pretty much the way I wanted it to all all systems and all browsers, with the exception of the jumbled text that I mentioned in the first post. The text wasn't just jumbled tho, it was completley differnet letters, not just my text switched around. I looked at my site later today on that same computer, with the same browser, and the text looked fine...

[Asylum Steve]

But do a search for "Anti Right Click Scripting" and you'll find some ways to prevent viewers from right clicking to save your photograph...

Yeah, this is an option. Personally, I hate when someone disables right click options (including save as) on their site. There are many times I want to save someone else's web image to my HD to use as a reference for style or color or composition or a photo idea, and I certainly have no intention of distributing or using the pic commercially.

One trick I've learned and have recently begun using on my site to help protect my images is the background image (I use GoLive). In a table, instead of filling a cell with an image jpeg, I designate the image to be used as the "backgound" of the cell, and instead fill the cell with a BLANK GIF the same size as the image.

To the viewer, the page looks identical, but when you right click on the pick, and save the file to your HD, what you actually download is the blank gif. Sure, one can still copy my pics if they really want to, but it's a lot more difficult, as there are several more steps they have to do. For many, that is more bother than it's worth...

[Peter_AUS]

Interesting Tip Steve.

As Steve said, the best way to keep the text displaying as you want is to design in tables, in Dreamweaver you have many tools in there and I would suggest that you play with each of them on a dummy page and watch what happens.

When I get a chance over the next few days, I will look at Dreamweaver and maybe post some screen captures with arrows to show where to start, bit tired tonight and need to have a sleep.

[mjs1973]

I am going to put my text in a table, but the text staying in it's place isn't the problem I was having. The text was right where I wanted it to be, it just wasn't THE text I wanted it to be. It was almost like it was a foreign language. When I looked at it later, on that same computer it was fine. There was another site I looked at that had the same issue that morning. I'm thinking it must have been something goofy with that computer, because I haven't seen that issue since.

Time to get back to Dreamweaver and making some tables.

[Peter_AUS]

It might be that the fonts weren't installed correctly on the computer you were using at the time. A screen shot would have been helpful, next time.