Web design
Some call it web design, some call it web authoring and there is that grand term of being a webmaster. It all started for me back in early 2005 when a friend of mine said that she needed a website and I said that I could do it. I had no clue of course but quickly learned how to use visual web authoring tools. I lost interest again at the end of 2005 and thought it was the end of my short web design career, but then I started again in early 2006. I had a really bad cold and sat in front of the computer for a couple of weeks and read beginners guides on programming. I was hooked. I continued reading and studying and eventually realised that it was much better to write the code by hand. Even though that meant learning the actual code itself it did give greater contol and it was easier to see when something was wrong.
My interest continues to grow and I'm discovering the joys of databases and scripting languages. From 2007 I'm going to start my own business selling websites and web services to yoga teachers and therapists. It's called Arup Designs and at the moment there is only one page with information on what I do and how I do it.
The Arup Designs site can be found by clicking here
This part is for webmasters and techies in general, just to give you a few details on what I've done and save you having to look at the source code. You'll probably look at the source code anyway as I always do when I look at a site. The mark up is in html and about as semantic as I can make it. I'll have a go at xhtml at some point. I have put in all my alt tags for images and have tested in quite a few browsers to check my css. I always start work on the mac as the most compliant browsers are there and then test on pc. Mac (osx) browsers used include Firefox 1.5, Camino 1.0, Internet Explorer 5.2 and Safari 2.0. PC (Win 2000) includes Internet Exlporer 6.0 and Firefox 1.5. I looked at the stats on my server and made my list from there. There linux browsers etc and good old Netscape, but I'm just going for the big guns. So sorry if it doesn't work. The css is full of hacks and filters, so it's in no way stardards compliant. And there aren't any access keys either. There is a print style sheet and at some point I'll get round to doing a hand held stylesheet as well as I am able to test on my pda. There are about 4 main templates and a few odd pages, such as the homepage that is not governed by a template.
There is a minimal amount of javascript, mainly as I don't know much, but also to keep the page light. As you can see from the screenshot I do use Dreamweaver because you have all these tools in one package. I use code view nearly always and I just love the syntax colouring. The design view is hopeless and gives no clue about browser compatibility, so I hit F12 fairly regularly. Yes, I have disabled widgets, but I hate them anyway.
If you have any queries about the site please get in touch, especially if something isn't working. If you spot spelling mistakes etc. Just put your comments in the little form below. Don't forget to include your e–mail address if you want a reply.