Banner Links on Rocket Websites

[tquigg]

Hello All:

A question for all of you computer techno-wizards out there who maintain your club's websites....

I'm in the process of revamping our club's website (Blue Mountain Rocketeers www.bmr615.org) I'll be using Microsoft Front Page 2003. I am aware of the banner link for website use to link to Flyrockets.com, using the HTML cut and paste method from that website. Is anyone aware of any other banner links on any other websites that I can use on our new website?

I know diddly-squat about HTML coding, so WYSIWYG is my only option at this point.

Any and all help greatly appreciated!

Best Regards

 

[Countdown Hobbies]

not 100% sure what you mean PM me if you want I do some website design on the side and I might be able to help.

 

[tquigg]

Sorry, guess I wasn't that clear, eh?

If one goes to www.flyrockets.com, you find a "link to us" icon. Tapping on that brings you to a page that has several different banner links, icons and other such things with the HTML code already typed out for you. All one has to do is "copy and paste" it into your own club's website, and you end up with a pretty banner link to that website on your own. I believe that EMRR also has such an option.

I was just curious if anyone else out there knows of any other rocketry-related websites that provide these ready links for folks to use, saving me the effort of tracking down all of these on my own.... and yes, I am inherently lazy!

Best Regards

 

[troj]

Originally posted by tquigg
I'm in the process of revamping our club's website (Blue Mountain Rocketeers www.bmr615.org) I'll be using Microsoft Front Page 2003.

I know diddly-squat about HTML coding, so WYSIWYG is my only option at this point.

Save yourself now... Run far, far, FAR away from FrontPage, if at all possible.

Get your mits on a copy of Dreamweaver and use that, or Adobe GoLive. Just not FrontPage.

-Kevin

 

[tquigg]

Oh! Our website host, who just happens to work for Microsoft, donated a free, licensed copy of Front Page 2003 to the club for us to use. Do I dare ask what the problems is/are with Front Page? I have no prior experience with it, so please, clue me in Kevin! You can PM me off list if you desire

 

[Nerull]

I'd say just learn to use the link and image tags...they aren't that hard, look at the banner links you have, and you should be able to figure it out in the time it takes to find a website that gives you premade ones...

<a href="https://whatever.com"><img src="https://whatever.com/image.jpg" /></a>

 

[troj]

Originally posted by tquigg
Oh! Our website host, who just happens to work for Microsoft, donated a free, licensed copy of Front Page 2003 to the club for us to use. Do I dare ask what the problems is/are with Front Page? I have no prior experience with it, so please, clue me in Kevin! You can PM me off list if you desire

"Free" is hard to argue with.

My problems with FrontPage? In a nutshell, I've had to fix too many things it has messed up, because it tried to be "smart". Newer versions aren't as bad as old, but I still cannot stand it.

I once created a site for someone, who then just opened it in FrontPage. FP took that as license to change all the HTML and add tags it thought should be there. Took me over 2 hours to clean up the mess, and it was a small site.

When I took over the TRA site, I fought with the FrontPage-isms in the old content for weeks.

I'll avoid my tirade about the server extensions....

If you haven't guessed, I've had numerous bad experiences with it. That said, I know folks who use it and are happy with it. I hate, loathe and despise it, personally.

-Kevin

 

[rstaff3]

ROL has a HTML banner link to their logo. I have EMRR's on my site but it's just a locally hosted image.

 

[tquigg]

Thanks for the input folks! I really appreciate it! I agree that free is hard to argue with, but the "cost" farther down the road remains to be seen.

 

[m85476585]

I don't like Frontpage either. It makes bad code that doesn't always do what you want. I have been using Dreamweaver in my Website Design class when everyone else is using Frontpage. When I don't know how to do something I look at the HTML made by someone else using Frontpage and it is never simple or efficient. To make a marquee it adds a big Javascript file when all you need is a simple HTML tag. Another problem is the interface. All the strange menus about sites and pages and how it does the titles. It tries to do too much for you.

Frontpage is slightly easier for a complete beginner, but if you take the time to learn Dreamweaver you will probably find it better.

I also got a free copy of Frontpage from my web host, but I have never installed it. I wanted to get Frontpage for a long time, but someone gave me a copy of Macromedia Studio. When I finally did get a copy of Frontpage I didn't even want it. I probably would have never bought Dreamweaver because it is far too expensive!

As someone mentioned above the HTML is very simple to make a bannar link. It is worth learning at least a little HTML to make websites, even if you don't have to use it. You should be able to make bannars in Frontpage (if you insist on using it) you can do something like insert image, then select the image, then make it a hyperlink.

If you have a question about HTML or Dreamweaver you can PM me.

 

[m85476585]

<marquee>This is an example of a marquee!</marquee>

The above text should be scrolling.

Here is the code:

<marquee>This is an example of a marquee!</marquee>

 

[troj]

Originally posted by m85476585
To make a marquee it adds a big Javascript file when all you need is a simple HTML tag.

This is one case where I agree with FrontPage -- the Marquee tag isn't standard HTML, it's something Microsoft added in IE. Some browsers support it, but not all do. For more cross-browser support, you need to use JavaScript and DHTML.

-Kevin

 

[m85476585]

Originally posted by troj
This is one case where I agree with FrontPage -- the Marquee tag isn't standard HTML, it's something Microsoft added in IE. Some browsers support it, but not all do. For more cross-browser support, you need to use JavaScript and DHTML.

I probably wouldn't use it for a real website anyways, even if it was standard code, but it is kind of fun sometimes. See this thread:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=256542

It works in Firefox.
... And Opera
... And IE
I don't have any other browsers installed right now.

 

[jerryb]

if your new to website design, Frontpage is all you will need.

if, as you say your host is a Microsoft emp. then the tech support if you get in trouble should be quick in coming.

Frontpage is FINE if you design the site from the beginning in it, and only edit it in frontpage.

There are issues, but most that I have seen have come from someone mucking about in the code that Frontpage creates and trying to edit it.

I manage the district website for a school district and support 19 school websites all done in frontpage. If you use the K.I.S.S principle, you wont have any troubles.

later
Jerryb

Originally posted by tquigg
Oh! Our website host, who just happens to work for Microsoft, donated a free, licensed copy of Front Page 2003 to the club for us to use. Do I dare ask what the problems is/are with Front Page? I have no prior experience with it, so please, clue me in Kevin! You can PM me off list if you desire

 

[Nerull]

Marquee should be banned...but not before blink

My old highschool radio station once used blink on their website...only they forgot to close the tag...the ENTIRE WEBSITE was blinking! AARRRGGH!

 

[PGerringer]

tquigg,

I've added the code for linking to TRF on our links page if you are interested. Just click on the "links" link at the bottom of the page or here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/misc.php?s=&action=links

 

[Pat Butler]

I use Frontpage for my website (www.appraisalservices.com) and really like the program. There are a lot of FP features that I don't use- I mostly use features that are standard HTML type features rather than things that are unique to FP. I can't remember the name but FP has a whole feature set that ties all of the pages together and automatically builds a content page and a menu/directory and such. That's the bad stuff that's unique to FP and if you mess up one page then it propogates throughout your site. If you stick to standard HTML editing then you'll be fine.

I also like that there are all sorts of plug ins (bots) available that make difficult coding tasks into a WYSIWYG environment. I created a password protected section of my site for clients and found a $20 plug in that automated all of the coding and maintenace of the site.

I'm not a programming guru and that's probably why I like FP. For sure, most experienced programmers don't like FP and Dreamweaver is usually more higher rated for the pros. But for us mortals, FP isn't too bad. The server extensions allow you to do things much easier in FP that would otherwise take a lot of hand coding. Even if the coding is not 'elegant' it still works!

 

[m85476585]

This page does say that marquees, blink, background sound, and embed are not standard. It strongly recommends against the first 3, even their alternatives because they are not good for website design.
https://www.mozilla.org/docs/web-developer/upgrade_2.html#Other_Excluded

 

[tquigg]

Wow! Thanks for all of the GREAT help folks! I've spoke with a few of you off-list, and the input has been overwhelming!

Thanks much for everything folks. You guys rock!

Best Regards

 

[loopy]

I use either Visual Interdev or Notepad...

 

[stevem]

My 2 cents (I do web sites as part of my job)
there is not a thing wrong with FrontPage. Early on professional web developers disliked it and I admit it was a poor piece of software when it first came out.
However the newer versions are excellent.
IMHO, the continued disdain for FrontPage involves more of the typical 'HATE MICROSOFT' syndrome than anything else as the software has evolved into a very respectable offering.
Like everything else in this world it is all about what you learned on and what you are used to. FrontPage users swear by it and those that don't use it crab about it.
Of course you can teach yourself HTML pretty easily. With a good HTML reference book and a text editor you can do most anything.
Check out this web site - lots and lots of good tutorials

OK you FrontPage haters, I have my kevlar vest on so start shooting...

 

[tquigg]

Indeed Steve! A very good website! Thanks for sharing!

Best Regards

 

[troj]

Originally posted by stevem
My 2 cents (I do web sites as part of my job)
there is not a thing wrong with FrontPage. Early on professional web developers disliked it and I admit it was a poor piece of software when it first came out.
However the newer versions are excellent.
IMHO, the continued disdain for FrontPage involves more of the typical 'HATE MICROSOFT' syndrome than anything else as the software has evolved into a very respectable offering.
Like everything else in this world it is all about what you learned on and what you are used to. FrontPage users swear by it and those that don't use it crab about it.

I'd have to disagree with you, based on my experience with both current and past versions. Newer versions are indeed better behaved than the older ones, but the problems I encounter which are FrontPage-specific continue my trend of disliking the products.

I've spent far too many hours fixing problems with the bloody server extensions, for starters. When they go wrong, they have a tendency to really go wrong.

That said, I've made my living off of Microsoft products, for the most part, so it's not an anti-Microsoft thing.

Also, something to keep in mind is that Microsoft has used the product very little on their own sites...

-Kevin

 

[stevem]

I figured that would get me in trouble

I stand by my statements which are based on my experience.
I have been running and managing a web server with FP Extensions for 5 years with little trouble.

maybe it's luck?

 

[Pat Butler]

Are both you talking about problems on the server side? That's something that a FP user who pays a modest fee to a hosting company usually doesn't have to worry about. I can understand if you ARE the hosting company

 

[KermieD]

From my experience, extension issues are server side as much as FP side and for a local club with relatively inexperienced designers, Dreamweaver is a poor choice because of the learning curve and that it's simply overkill for that sort of an application. Notepad is great for the roll-your-own crowd, but for a project of any complexity whatsoever, I have better things to do with my time than design a site like tquigg's using Notepad.

 

[troj]

Originally posted by Pat Butler
Are both you talking about problems on the server side? That's something that a FP user who pays a modest fee to a hosting company usually doesn't have to worry about. I can understand if you ARE the hosting company

Server extensions can cause problems on both sides. Sometimes getting them to run, if they get horked up, can be a nightmare for the server admin.

They can also muck up the display/behavior of pages, which is a problem on the site designer's side.

The most time-consuming problems I've dealt with have been with the server extensions on the server side. The most annoying problems I've dealt with have been within FrontPage itself, where it makes a mess of the HTML and breaks things.

-Kevin

 

[troj]

Originally posted by KermieD
Notepad is great for the roll-your-own crowd, but for a project of any complexity whatsoever, I have better things to do with my time than design a site like tquigg's using Notepad.

Notepad, Textpad, or any other text editor is great if you have the inclination, and want to learn HTML. I'll admit, that's how I do most of my work.

For the average person? No. A WYSIWYHTG editor makes much more sense.

-Kevin