************************************************************
Here and ThereWhen it comes to the task of problem resolution, we will so often find that
it breaks into ninety percent identification and ten percent solution.
In
other words, once the problem has been properly diagnosed, its resolution is
often a relatively simple matter.
This is certainly true when it comes to
the art of web page design.
Here at HTML Goodies, we get tons of questions coming in all the time.
Sometimes these questions are about fairly difficult coding techniques,
sometimes they
’
re about where to find something on the Goodies site, but
many times they are about attempts to solve problems that the questioner
doesn
’
t have
—
let me explain.
When it comes to diagnosing problems on web pages, the first thing to think
about is where the problem is happening.
Is it here, or there?
In other
words, is the problem originating in the server, or is it because of
something in the client?
The red
"
X
"
s I spoke about a couple of weeks ago are an example of a problem
originating in the server.
The picture file is not in the right place, or
the code in the page doesn
’
t correctly reference the place where it is.
That all has to do with the server.
A Java applet not running could easily be the result of a client problem.
If it runs OK when you look at it but it won
’
t run on your friends
computer, does your friend have Java installed?
A lack of it would
certainly be a client problem, and nothing you could do to your page could
fix it (unless you took out your applet altogether, but that
’
s not really a
"
fix
"
, is it?)
Web pages originate in the server, but are sent down to the client to be
viewed.
When they get there, there are a lot of things that are beyond the
control of the web page designer, such as the browser in use and all its
optional settings.
Of course, a good web page designer will make every
effort to ensure that the page will look right in all the most popular
browsers, with the standard settings, but there are things that they can do
nothing about.
Taking time to make sure all things are nicely proportioned is great, but
the client can choose to have massive fonts, or tiny ones.
They can also
choose to change their default colors.
Telling them to use
"
view source
"
for some reason is all well and good, except they can choose which program
(if any) will be used for that view.
"
Scrabble
"
, while not a good choice,
is a possible choice.
They also have control over their ability to print things from your page.
If I want a client to print something, my preference is to offer a PDF, if
that
’
s at all possible.
Their print of a form could take on all sorts of
strange appearances, even though it prints perfectly on your PC.
If a site visitor tells you something about your site is not working
properly, think first
"
is it here or there?
"
If it
’
s there, perhaps the SEP
principle applies (Somebody Else
’
s Problem
—
thanks, Douglas Adams!)
Thanks for Reading!
–
Vince Barnes
************************************************************
Q
&
A Goodies
***********************************
Questions are taken from submissions to our Community
Mentors. You can ask a Mentor a question by going to
I downloaded the following script and I am somewhat at my wit
’
s end in
trying to figure out how to modify it to suit my needs:
<
script language=
"
JavaScript
"
>
<
!
–
function addDays(myDate,days) {
return new Date(myDate.getTime() + days*24*60*60*1000);
}
document.write(addDays(new Date(),10));
//
–
>
<
/script
>
The script outputs the date and time x-number of days in advance of the
current date and time.
I would like to alter it so that it only outputs the
date and not the time.
Sounds simple enough, doesn
’
t it?
I
’
ve been trying
to figure this thing out for about three hours on my own.
A.Here is a slight modification of the script that will write out the date
only in mm/dd/yyyy format.
<
html
>
<
head
>
<
title
>
Date and Time Print
<
/title
>
<
/head
>
<
body
>
<
script language=
"
JavaScript
"
>
<
!
–
function addDays(myDate,days) {
return new Date(myDate.getTime() + days*24*60*60*1000);
}
new_date=addDays(new Date(),10)
year=new_date.getFullYear()
month=new_date.getMonth()
day=new_date.getDate()
document.write(month+
"
/
"
+day+
"
/
"
+year);
//
–
>
<
/script
>
<
/body
>
<
/html
>
How is SHTML related to HTML?
A.The .shtml extension means that server side includes (SSI) code is being
used with the html code. Here is a link describing it:
Q. Is there any way (such as using the "repeat-y" function) to get the
background to border down the right as opposed to the left side? also, is
there a way to get it to tile down both sides? I am essentially interested
in getting the look of a border on both the left and right side of the page,
but I want it to appear correctly on all screen resolutions, so of course,
making a very long image with the desired left and right backgrounds simply
on opposite sides or the image would be impractical.
I have one way for this to work; however, it doesn
’
t work in IE 5.5 (I
don
’
t currently have access to IE 6 at the moment, but can check later). It
does work in NN 6 and above, Mozilla, and Opera.
Add two divs to the bottom of your HTML file:
<
div id=
"
left
"
>
<
/div
>
<
div id=
"
right
"
>
<
/div
>
Then add the following CSS:
#left {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left: 0;
width: 100px;
height: 100%;
border: 1px solid red;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
background: url(ava.gif) repeat-y top left fixed; }
#right {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
right: 0;
width: 100px;
height: 100%;
border: 1px solid red;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
background: url(ava.gif) repeat-y top right fixed; }
This will set backgrounds for the two extra divs in your HTML, and should
tile the length of the page. IE 5.5 doesn
’
t recognize the
"
fixed
"
property
for anything other than background images for the BODY tag, so the extra
divs scroll with the page.
Q. I’ve just started experimenting with frames for a redesign to my website
(hand coded and I’m self taught with HTML!) I want to use an image behind
links for the side frame on my page. I just don’t know how to code a
background image so that it will remain "fixed" (I think that’s the right
word) instead of tiling itself across the page.
I think you
’
re looking for this CSS property:
background { url(image.gif) no-repeat; }
You could also add
"
fixed
"
as another property, which will hold the
background in place (no scrolling). The
"
no-repeat
"
will add the image just
one time.
I made a small
"
form
"
type page with 3 boxes in which to type data.
I
am trying to figure out how to make that page open with the cursor already
located in box #1, instead of having to hit Tab 2 or 3 times.
The form is
written in HTML, but I
’
m assuming that I will need to use Javascript to
accomplish this.
A.You could use the onLoad event in the body tag to place focus on the
first
box this way:
<
body onLoad=
"
document.form_name.field_name.focus()
"
>
"
form_name
"
would be the name you gave your form in the form tag and
"
field_name
"
would be the name you gave the first box in your
"
<
,input
>
"
tag.
If your form and field do not have a name associated with them then you can
use this format: document.forms
[
0
]
.elements
[
0
]
.focus()
The above refers to the first form and the first element in that form.
News Goodies***********************************
Small Devices, Big Risks[
August 16, 2005
]
Businesses are overlooking security risks posed by their
workers
’
USB memory sticks, iPods and PDAs, a software maker says.
Read the article:
[
August 16, 2005
]
The broadband provider will give subscribers three
applications from security specialist McAfee.
Read the article:
[
August 16, 2005
]
FTC imposes a $950,000 fine and requires consumer
restitution.
Read the article:
[
August 16, 2005
]
Amid a string of college security breaches, the company
teams with a nonprofit to offer digital certificate services to schools.
Read the article:
[
August 16, 2005
]
The company adds functionality from other developers to
expand the reach of its commercial-grade security appliances.
Read the article:
[
August 16, 2005
]
Open source vendor standardizes migration path away from
competing, commercial app server vendors.
Read the article:
[
August 15, 2005
]
Latest beta release of design tool aims at application
UIs.
Read the article:
[
August 15, 2005
]
Big Blue gives the Mozilla Foundation accessibility code
to improve feature-rich pages.
Read the article:
[
August 15, 2005
]
Early run on visa pool prompts tech calls for increased
allocations.
Read the article:
[
August 15, 2005
]
The suite of services brings AOL to the palm of your
hand.
Read the article:
***********************************
Did you ever wish your newsletter was an easy two way communications
medium?
Ploof! It now is!
If you would like to comment on the newsletter or expand/improve on
something you have seen in here, you can now send your input to:
nlfeedback@htmlgoodies.com
We already receive a lot of email every day.
This address helps us sort out
those relating specifically to this newsletter from all the rest.
When you
send email to this address it may wind up being included in this section of
the newsletter, to be shared with your fellow readers.
Please don
’
t send
your questions to this address.
They should be sent to our mentors: see
Thanks for all your feedback!
***********************************
Streamlining Your Data Access Layer with Helper MethodsThis article focuses on how to streamline the data access layer through
encapsulating common functionality with the aid of simple helper methods.
The helper methods we
’
ll examine in this article are ones that I have
created and used in many of my consulting projects over the past several
years, and have helped me to greatly trim down my data access layers. Read
on to learn more!
This works just like our Database Sort sample except that it adds the
ability to sort by multiple fields just by clicking on the field headings.
The script will sort on as many fields as you want but it does remove
duplicates to keep things logical.
In the second part of his series on SQL Server 2005
’
s new XML support, Alex
Homer looks at extracting data from XML columns, comparing traditional XML
data access approaches with XQuery, and combining XQuery and XSL-T.
***********************************
On this day in
…
1977"
The King
"
Died
On August 16, 1977 Elvis Presley died at Graceland, his mansion in Memphis,
Tennessee.
He was 42 years old.
Elvis, The King of Rock and Roll, paid $4
for the privilege of recording a few songs for his mother.
The studio owner
liked what he heard
…
..
Elvis had been discovered.
In 1955 he gathered a
good following of fans in the South, and in 1956 became a national sensation
with the release of
"
Heartbreak Hotel
"
.
He served in the US Army as a jeep
driver from 1958 to 1960, after which his style became more of the romantic
ballad genre.
His career turned largely to film making with 27 musicals
being released in the 1960
’
s.
In the seventies, Elvis gained a lot of
weight by eating junk food, and became addicted to prescription drugs.
His
physical and mental health declined.
The doctors ruled that he died of a
heart attack, but there are many who believe he committed suicide.
(There
are also those who believe he
’
s still alive, but they are probably also
members of the
"
Flat Earth
"
society!)
He is buried in the grounds of
Graceland.
Today was also the day that in:
1829Siamese twins Chang and Eng
Bunker arrived in Boston to be exhibited;
1863the Emancipation
Proclamation was signed (US);
1896gold was discovered in the
Klondike;
1898the Roller Coaster was patented;
1934US
explorer William Beebe descended 3,028
′
(1922 m)in is Bathysphere;
1955Fiat ordered the first privately owned nuclear reactor;
1960Cyprus
gained independence from Britain;
1960the Republic of the Congo
(Zaire) was formed;
1963The Dominican Republic regained
independence;
1984a Los Angeles jury acquitted auto make John
DeLorean of cocaine charges;
1985Madonna married actor Sean Penn;
IBM introduced its Artificial Intelligence software;
Born today were: in
1897circus master Robert Ringling;
1899actor Glenn Strange;
1902English novelist Georgette Heyer;
1910actress Mae Clarke;
1913Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin;
actress Fess Parker;
1930actor Robert Culp;
1930English poet laureate Ted Hughes;
1932singer Eydie Gorme;
1935actress Julie Newmar;
1936actress Anita Gillette;
1936actor Gary Clarke;
1938actress Ketty Lester;
1939English
actress Carol Shelly;
1946actress Lesley Ann Warren;
1953musician James Taylor;
1953TV personality Kathy Lee Gifford;
1957musician Tim Farriss;
1958singer and actress Madonna (Ciccone);
actor Timothy Hutton;
The original home of HTML tutorials. HTMLGoodies is a website dedicated to publishing tutorials that cover every aspect of being a web developer. We cover programming and web development tutorials on languages and technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. In addition, our articles cover web frameworks like Angular and React.JS, as well as popular Content Management Systems (CMS) that include WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. Website development platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix are also featured. Topics related to solid web design and Internet Marketing also find a home on HTMLGoodies, as we discuss UX/UI Design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and web dev best practices.
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