h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi all!

I know nothing about programming whatsoever - put I frequently pester my h2g2 friends with 'could anyone have a look at my site to see if it works?'

...so I was thinking if there might be a sub-section or whatever to call it, called 'Web design'?

Maybe a separate entry, linked to from this one, where people could start conversations titled something like: 'Testing Titania's photo site' (yes, of *course* I have a site I want tested, why do you think I started this conversation?) that people using different browswers and different resolutions could respond to, commenting on how it looks to them

The entry might have a list of researchers who'd be willing to help out, listing which browsers and maybe resolutions they'd test it in?

Or are programming and web designing so completely different areas that it'd be better to have the Web Design entry completely separate?

If so, then let me know - but hopefully I'll have attracted some attention to it by posting this question here first!

There's a degree of "overlap" between Programming and Web Design, but there's more of an overlap with artistic disciplines... Your average programmer would probably be able to tell you that a menu system didn't work in a specific browser, while neglecting to mention that all the buttons on it used subtly different colours and fonts... (That's not a reference to a particular site, just a generalisation. )

You need feedback from both programmers and artists when designing a site. I'd suggest that you start a new "Web Designers" group, and try to attract a little of each.

You could have a lot of fun with the group's "home page"; have a contest to design the most outrageous page that's still readable in all skins, for instance...

A web designers group sounds !

There is always the Website Developers Forum though: A623666

CK

Oh - missed that one - thanks CK!

Maybe it ought to be a sub-section to the Website Developers Forum then?

I'll post my question over there too!

A good start would be to try it in several browsers yourself -- for starters IE, Mozilla, Netscape and Opera...

I'm on Linux so I can't test in IE, which is a bit of a pain... I generally try Opera and Mozilla then get someone else to check that IE doesn't completely fudge my work

I do try it myself - but at home I've only got a crappy dial-up connection and IE and Opera - and definitely no room for more browsers on an antique (well, when it comes to computers, it is, isn't it?) PC built by my brother in 1995 or possibly 1995

To see it on ancient browsers, go to http://www.dejavu.org/emulator.htm

'...or possibly 1996' is what I meant to say...

OK, I've created the entry - feel free to join up as a tester, or submit a site for testing: A1052551

* to check out Peet's link*

Apparently, you should also be able to download a free WebTV emulator from http://developer.msntv.com/ but I can't reach the site at the moment.

(Moderators: There's a very good chance this is just a transient glitch, and the site will be back after the weekend. Please don't kill my link! )

Thanks a lot, Peet - I've added them to my 'external links' section!


By the way... will we ever see any more of your Paranoia Post entries? I've enjoyed the ones I've come across hugely!

You might also like http://www.anybrowser.com/siteviewer.html


"Paranoia Post"? I think you've got me confused with another paranoid person...?

There was once a very slick shareware emulator called "Browserola", but sadly it was discontinued at the turn of the century. It took a lot of searching, but I managed to locate a copy of the original installer here:

http://ftp.k2.net/win/win95/browser/brola101.exe

*Don't* install it till you really need it, though. It will only run 25 times, then it will die trying to contact its (now non-existent) website for registration information. Keep it bookmarked for when you've finished a really important project, or build a spare PC just for site testing, then reformat and reinstall every time the software expires...

It's compatible with any 32-bit version of Windows (95, 98, ME, XP, NT, 2000 etc.) and needs at least one modern frames-compatible browser installed as a "front end". Enjoy.