Newbie Navigation questions

[DaKitty]

I work in Dreamweaver.
What is the best way to handle navigation bars when making a website? Mainly
so it doesn't have to be updated on each page individually if something
changes?
I hear Frames are not the best way to go?

Do I make a template? With templates I find that there is often something I
forgot to make into an editable region, and ultimately goof myself up and
wind up detaching pages from the template... Probably chalk it up to
inexperience???

Can you make a navigation bar as a server side include? I dabbled with it a
little bit the other day, and can't get it to work right. It shows up in
dreamweaver, but not on the testing server, apache cased... using <!--
include... (or whatever the syntax is, I don't know it yet without looking
it up.)

Some other way? Any good tutorials/tips and tricks on this?

Thanks a bunch

 

[Sybren Stuvel]

DaKitty enlightened us with:

What is the best way to handle navigation bars when making a
website? Mainly so it doesn't have to be updated on each page
individually if something changes?

I found Smarty (built in PHP) a very good choice.

I hear Frames are not the best way to go?

Nope.

Sybren

 

[DaKitty]

I work in Dreamweaver.
What is the best way to handle navigation bars when making a website? Mainly
so it doesn't have to be updated on each page individually if something
changes?
I hear Frames are not the best way to go?

Do I make a template? With templates I find that there is often something I
forgot to make into an editable region, and ultimately goof myself up and
wind up detaching pages from the template... Probably chalk it up to
inexperience???

Can you make a navigation bar as a server side include? I dabbled with it a
little bit the other day, and can't get it to work right. It shows up in
dreamweaver, but not on the testing server, apache cased... using <!--
include... (or whatever the syntax is, I don't know it yet without looking
it up.)

Some other way? Any good tutorials/tips and tricks on this?

Thanks a bunch

okay, so I found the Ask Leo tutorial about SSI's...
I have a really stupid question!

the line: <!--#include FILE="b.inc" -->
Is my file extension going to be .inc? or is it .htm in case of html file?
If I include the html file, I take it I only need the body part, not the
entire page?
If that page has some JSP in it in order to function, do I need to do
anything special to them?

here's a link to the page I was trying to use as a SSI to another page:
http://www.mastersmvnswim.org/images/buttons1/buttons1.htm

Can I put an SSI into a dreamweaver layer or is that not a good idea?

 

[brucie]

In alt.html DaKitty said:

What is the best way to handle navigation bars when making a website? Mainly
so it doesn't have to be updated on each page individually if something
changes?

http://allmyfaqs.com/faq.pl?Include_one_file_in_another

 

[Travis Newbury]

I work in Dreamweaver.
What is the best way to handle navigation bars when making a website? Mainly
so it doesn't have to be updated on each page individually if something
changes?
I hear Frames are not the best way to go?

I prefer links, just plain ol links.

 

[Leonard Blaisdell]

okay, so I found the Ask Leo tutorial about SSI's...
I have a really stupid question!

I don't even remember writing it ;-) There could be more than one person
calling themselves leo I suppose.

the line: <!--#include FILE="b.inc" -->
Is my file extension going to be .inc? or is it .htm in case of html file?
If I include the html file, I take it I only need the body part, not the
entire page?

A famous error is writing a complete HTML file and doing an include on it.
Then you get two heads and/or two bodies, etc in the file you are
including in. Give thought to the included file so that it makes
structural sense in the including document.

Can I put an SSI into a dreamweaver layer or is that not a good idea?

No idea.

leo

 

[Neredbojias]

Without quill or qualm, DaKitty quothed:

okay, so I found the Ask Leo tutorial about SSI's...
I have a really stupid question!

the line: <!--#include FILE="b.inc" -->
Is my file extension going to be .inc? or is it .htm in case of html file?
If I include the html file, I take it I only need the body part, not the
entire page?

The file you include into the html document is just a text file -
comprised of the same text that you'd otherwise enter by hand. The
extension can be .txt or .doc or anything not otherwise mimed.

If that page has some JSP in it in order to function, do I need to do
anything special to them?

here's a link to the page I was trying to use as a SSI to another page:
http://www.mastersmvnswim.org/images/buttons1/buttons1.htm

Can I put an SSI into a dreamweaver layer or is that not a good idea?

Code by hand. Slower (maybe) but better.

 

[Big Bill]

I prefer links, just plain ol links.

Frames are bad news.

BB
-
http://www.kruse.co.uk (e-mail address removed)
home of SEO that's shiny!

 

[DaKitty]

I don't even remember writing it ;-) There could be more than one person
calling themselves leo I suppose.


A famous error is writing a complete HTML file and doing an include on it.

Ah! I discovered that the hard way yesterday!

Then you get two heads and/or two bodies, etc in the file you are
including in. Give thought to the included file so that it makes
structural sense in the including document.

It works in dreamweaver, but when I upload thing to the website, or just
test it in IE locally, nothing is showing up.
I have pages that other people created, with the include, and when I test
them, they work, on the server and locally... So, it must be me doing
something wrong, and I haven't figured out what it is yet!
Frustrating!
Well, I just scrapped what I did yesterday, and going to try it from
scratch, see what happens.

Thank You for the Help

 

[DaKitty]

Without quill or qualm, DaKitty quothed:


The file you include into the html document is just a text file -
comprised of the same text that you'd otherwise enter by hand. The
extension can be .txt or .doc or anything not otherwise mimed.

Yea, that's what I'm starting to gather.
Still can't get it to show up in IE :-\ [scratching head]

Code by hand. Slower (maybe) but better.

I wish! I'm still too green for that.
I do have the code window open in dreamweaver. Learning as I go. I can make
some edits in code, but can't assemble the whole page yet.

 

[DaKitty]

In alt.html DaKitty said:


http://allmyfaqs.com/faq.pl?Include_one_file_in_another

Thank You!
(I'm still having issues making it work though)

 

[DaKitty]

Finally, it worked!
[wipes forehead]

Inside a layer too!
http://www.socalolympians.org/navtest.asp

 

[Neal]

Inside a layer too!

Layer? I don't even know 'er.

 

[Mark Parnell]

Inside a layer too!

http://dorward.me.uk/www/layers/

 

[Sybren Stuvel]

DaKitty enlightened us with:

Finally, it worked! [wipes forehead]

Inside a layer too! http://www.socalolympians.org/navtest.asp

It has quite a few errors:
http://validator.w3.org/check?url=http://www.socalolympians.org/navtest.asp

Sybren

 

[Neredbojias]

Without quill or qualm, DaKitty quothed:

I wish! I'm still too green for that.
I do have the code window open in dreamweaver. Learning as I go. I can make
some edits in code, but can't assemble the whole page yet.

It takes time. Nobody learns it in a day. As far as not getting the SSI
in IE, I think it's less to do with IE as a bad browser than something
regarding the code or server. Not all servers do SSI.

 

[DaKitty]

Without quill or qualm, DaKitty quothed:


It takes time. Nobody learns it in a day. As far as not getting the SSI
in IE, I think it's less to do with IE as a bad browser than something
regarding the code or server. Not all servers do SSI.

I ended up making it work last night... Started from scratch and did it all
over again, and this time it worked.
I hate it when I don't know what went wrong the first time...
Chalk it up to user error! Hmmpfh!

 

[DaKitty]

Layer? I don't even know 'er.well, ask for her name before you do!

Well, darn, ask for her name before you do, will ya!
Sheesh, the Manners!

 

[DaKitty]

DaKitty enlightened us with:

Finally, it worked! [wipes forehead]

Inside a layer too! http://www.socalolympians.org/navtest.asp

It has quite a few errors:
http://validator.w3.org/check?url=http://www.socalolympians.org/navtest.asp

Thanks!
Though, most of what is there is still over my head...
I guess I'll fix it as I go/learn. Might be a while.

 

[DaKitty]

http://dorward.me.uk/www/layers/

Ah!
Thanks for the info!