scriptygoddess

I'm just kidding. Well… not really ;O)

I'm not a CSS pro – I'd like to be one. I've been trying to follow the CSS-progression from the sidelines, sometimes getting my hands a little dirty, but unfortunately, it's not enough. Up until very recently, the company I worked for was required to support Netscape 4.x. Now that that support has been dropped, CSS based layouts are just around the corner. In fact one major department is already heading in that direction. (Do you hear that noise? That's me shaking in my boots!!!)

I'm doing "The Right Thing"™ and recommending the same move – but the fact of the matter is that I'm not up to the task. I have a LONG ways to go before I can do such an undertaking.

Probably one of my biggest problems to overcome is "Where do I begin?!" – I understand HOW to do a lot of CSS stuff (font styling, positioning – although I'm a little lost on the relative, absolute, and static differences) – but if I'm starting out with a design in photoshop – What is my next step? How do I break it down into CSS code? What's the best/right way to group and nest layers?

In a Table-Design world – this used to start with me printing out my design and drawing a grid right on top of the printout. Grouping off certain areas for one table – or another. In the beginning – it took me several printouts to get the right grid. Now? I can see a layout and do the grids in my head.

I am SO FAR from doing that with CSS it's scary. Really it is. This is my job. I'm supposed to know this stuff. So in an effort to save my job learn more about CSS – I'll be posting links that either have some interesting CSS discussion (like why this is important) and explain some more advanced layout techniques, and hacks. (disclaimer: I may add to this post over the next couple of days – but feel free to post some links, words of advice… encouragement 😉 in the comments)

The Price of CSS
Web ReDesign (perhaps something I should get?)
Tables vs. CSS
Quirksmode CSS Hacks
Centricle – will the browser display the rule?
Stopdesign – a design process revealed
*This article looked at first like it would be perfect – but jumped from photoshop/illustrator comp directly to CSS – and it's the step in between that I'm having the most trouble with.

I have trouble with CSS (cascading style sheets) all of the time. I would love to be an expert, but I haven't gotten there yet. When in doubt, find the experts and hang onto every word they say.

I have found one CSS article that I refer to often: Mezzoblue's CSS Crib Sheet. Don't forget to read the comments for further insight!

Discovered recently that I could no longer view my .htaccess files. This is a mystery as I've had no problems viewing such files in the past, so I went looking for a solution. Found the following: To view hidden files, set remote mask to -a. In WS_FTP. This is done by going to the Startup tab in the Connect dialog box.

Info found at:
http://www.efficienthosting.co.uk/support/wsftp.html

I've been looking around for "users currently online" type scripts. So, tonight, I hacked together two great scripts. The first comes from Spoono – this script uses php and mySQL to keep track of how many users are on your site. Then tonight I saw Lynda's script – which uses php, a flat file and makes use of MT's cookies to actually display WHO is on your site (they would have had to leave a comment on the site to show up in this list)

So I combined the two…
Read the rest of this entry »

(Post updated and time stamp adjusted)
I wanted to adjust this post and move it to the current time, because this script is just too cool but specifically relevant to my original post…

Lynda has a script that will not only display how many users are online, but using the MT cookie information, display WHO is online.

—————-Original Post—————-
Another one that's been around for awhile – but I wanted to bookmark it because I plan on adding it to one of my sites the next time I'm bored.

Show the number of users online

[via Jenni – as well as many people, I'm sure – but when I went looking for it this morning, I knew Jenni used it and had a cheat sheat of all the scripts she uses, so I knew it'd be easy to track down on her site]
(that was the longest credit line ever)

updates (I'll add to this list as I find more)
I just noticed that Melissa uses nerdsonsite

Just saving this link for later.. it had a few solutions (actually one solution was using javascript) to do as the title described.

Experts-exchange (redirecto to https) [Viewing solutions requires free registration]

Now that I'm over my shock – I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped with this site….

First, those who have guest authored a post on this blog… You help keep the content going and I greatly appreciate your help – here's a list of everyone who has been published at least once here (If I left anyone out, PLEASE let me know!!!)
Deltus – scratchingtheitch.com
Doc – seadoc.net
Donna – deliriouscool.org
emily – emilystarr.com
Jake Ortman – utterlyboring.com
James – them.ws
James Robinson – The Robinson House
Jason – trommetter.com/tech/
Jayant Kumar Gandhi – wirez.f2o.org/coffee-house/
Jenni – bloggiebroad.com
Kevin – Wizbangblog.com
Kevin Donahue – blog.kevindonahue.com
kitykity – kitykity.com
Lisa – lisa-jill.com
Lloyd Dalton – daltonlp.com
Mark Woodward – cowpi.com/journal/
Michelle – usr-bin-mom.com
Mike Brittain – http://www.embimedia.com
Natalie – lunardreams.net
Patricia – lunanina.com/musings/
Promoguy – promoguy.net
Rapunzell – rapunzellstower.com
Rayne – wifetalks.com
Rayne – wifetalks.com
Rich Blinne – blinne.org
Shawn Allison – shawnallison.com
Sphinx – pixelsphinx.com
Stuart Robertson – designmeme.com
Taran – knowprose.com/mtentries/
Theresa – dandelionwine.org
Zon Nero – www.localecho.com

I'd also like to thank Christine for the wonderful hosting she provides through Blogomania. If you're looking for a host provider – look no further!! She's the hostess with the mostess. 😉

I'd also like to thank Raena – who, although the redesign actually happened after the bloggies, I am just loving this design that would have otherwise had very scary code if it was not for the amazing job she did with the CSS.

As well, Movabletype and it's creators. This is a great blogging application. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us in ver. 3.0!!

As well, although this is mentioned in my sidebar – my icons were designed by Chris. So a thank you is in order to him as well.

A thank you should also be directed to everyone who comments here and helps out with questions others ask. For this, there are just too many to keep track of. I guess I can ask you to stand up and be counted in the comments

And last but not least, the ones who sponsored the categories that Scriptygoddess won in:
Rogers Cadenhead , of Radio UserLand Kick Start who sponsored "Best programming of a weblog site" and Adam of HeathNet Consulting who sponsored "Best Web Development Weblog".

Phew! I think that covers everyone. If I left anyone out – please let me know, and I will modify this post.

Update: I DID forget someone. Sorry about that… so adding one more:
Matt – photomatt.nett

I don't normally use this site for this type of thing – but I'm making an exception… A friend of mine helps run a grief website and the previous webmaster will not be able to help them out anymore. Basically what is needed is someone who can add/update pages and links, add chat rooms as neccessary (there's documentation from the previous webmaster on how to do everything). They're not a demanding group – they just need someone to help them out.

If you're interested in helping them out – please contact Debbi. (remove the "=NOSPAM=" from the email address)

In this post I grabbed this bit of code so that I would be emailed whenever someone hit a 404 page on my site. However, I found out that my 404 page was visited quite often… usually for the same three files.

So I modified the script a bit – so that it would keep a list of missing files. If a NEW page was requested (that didn't exist) it would email me THEN (only once) – and add that new page to the list.

So here's the revised code.
Read the rest of this entry »

I've noticed on another site I run (that has some extensive user tracking) that users are ending up quite often on 404 pages. They're not telling me what link on my site is bringing them there – so I started looking for ways to get that information (without the need to bug the particular user(s) that are getting the 404)

(so far I have just one link – if this does the trick then I won't add more – otherwise I'll add to this post as I find more)

Here's a 404 Handler I found from webmasterengine.com (This script emails you the details of the 404)
(got this to work after I fixed a problem with the way my .htaccess was written – see comments of this post for details)