HTML Help

~*~HTML Help~*~

**Please note**
I create my websites using my own handcoding in plain ol' Notepad that comes with Windows, although I'm learning how to use HTML-Kit. Most of what I learned came from HTML Goodies. I am not familiar at all with FrontPage, Dreamweaver or any of the other editors out there, so I won't be able to help you with questions when it comes to that.

1. To keep a blue border from showing up around the graphics, be sure you include the border="0" tag with the width and height information in your image source tag line. Be sure to include that information so that the browsers can load the graphics more quickly.

2. If your guestbook graphics are looking separated and not as one graphic, make sure that the images are back to back with no line breaks in your text editor.

3. For those using AOL - be sure you have chosen to never have your graphics compressed. If you go to save an image and you get an .art extension, your controls are set to AOL's default "always compress graphics". To change that, on AOL's toolbar click Settings>Internet (Web) Options>. You should get a window (Browser Settings) where you can change the options under Web Graphics. Put the dot at "never compress graphics", click Save and you're set. This is for AOL Version 9.0. Some earlier versions of AOL you will need to go to Preferences and just look for Internet Options from there.

4. Here is a great copywrite javascript code that will change to the new year automatically on your pages - no need to go back and change it year after year. Put this first part somewhere in the section and change the year (mine is 2004) to whatever year you wish. Put the second part at the bottom of your page and change the website name to your website's name, of course. Click here to get the code.

5. Have a graphic not showing up at all when all the others are? Double and triple check your spelling, closing tags, .jpg or .gif, etc. I can't tell you how many times I would look and look only to find I'd left off an apostrophe, left out a letter or saw it was a .jpg instead of a .gif or forgot the extension altogether!

6. If you have a midi playing on your site, please be sure to have a way for your visitor to turn it off! Not everyone likes to listen to music while viewing webpages or like in my case, I usually have my own CD playing and I'll invariably surf into a site that will play music with no way to turn it off. Talk about a fast exit from the site! lol

7. Want a scrolling marquee for special messages or notices? Choose where you want your message on your page and put the messages between these tags: <marquee> </marquee>

8. Want to let someone click on a link on your site but not leave your site? Add target blank to your link tag: <a target="_blank" href="http://whatever_the_website_name_is.com"> . If you want all your links to open up into a new window, put <BASE target="_blank"> in the <Head> section of your coding. The new page will open up but your site will still be opened up under the linked page.