BAYKO - Geek's Corner

Several people have asked me about the technical aspects of the site itself - as distinct from the BAYKO related bits - so I thought I'd add this page to try and help!

For the record, I don't allocate myself full 'BAYKO Geek' status - I'm just not sufficiently technically adept!

The object of the exercise here is to explain what I've done, in terms of the approach to various site standards and the software tools involved in carrying it out.

I thought it was important to standardise most features of the appearance and layout of the site as part of my attempt to make the site easy and comfortable to explore for regulars and new visitors alike - done properly, it actually makes life easier for the webmaster too!

I currently use DREAMWEAVER MX for all web pages and use the site-wide 'find and replace' facility to ensure consistency of spelling and / or presentation with words like post-war or 'Oak'.

DREAMWEAVER MX also has, as standard, a 'Clean up html' feature which I use religiously to streamline the html code as much as possible.

I've used Cascading Style Sheets [C.S.S.] to impose standard fonts, colours, text sizes, etc. for headings, sub-headings, labels, quotations, links, emphasis, etc. - using straightforward English descriptions for each style to simplify the process. I also used them to add a standard BAYKO Brick Pattern background on each page, using different colours for different sections.

Every link, including email links, which is embodied in the main text area has an explanatory description which pops up when the visitor's mouse passes over it. This is done using DMXZone Advanced ToolTip software with consistent formats for different types of links : -

"Link to BAYKO Information"

or

"email link to Robin Throp"

Each email link also carries unique identification in the form of the email TITLE and first line of MESSAGE text by adding something like the following [between the " " below] additions to the link : -

"mailto:pete@baykoman.com?subject=TITLE&body=MESSAGE"

Every image on the site carries a label describing it, which appears whenever the cursor moves over it. This is also provided using DMXZone Advanced ToolTips.

I currently use PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS for initial work on images [tidying up, cropping, etc.] and for most home produced artwork. It's perhaps worth pointing out that some of the images, mainly those on poor quality newsprint or other cheap paper, have taken me as much as 8 hours - yes, 8 hours - to tidy up ready for the site!!!

I currently use FIREWORKS MX to make the images ready for the web [batch processing, sizing, slide shows, transparency, etc.].

In a similar manner to the links described above, every image and piece of artwork has an explanatory description [Alt Text] which gives specialist software a script to read to the visually challenged. Adding Alt Text is a standard feature of DREAMWEAVER MX.

A few images on the site change when the visitor's mouse passes over them - this is a standard feature available in DREAMWEAVER.

Just about every image on the site - well over 2,000 anyway - will display a larger version [generally restricted to a maximum length or width of 600 pixels]. I do this using a DREAMWEAVER extension provided by JustSo PictureWindow 3, which has much better features than the DREAMWEAVER standard equivalent.

I make particular use of three key features - the addition of a close button, automatic closure after two and a half minutes and of a background brick pattern matching the one on the page from which it was launched.

I then further modified two aspects of the Pop-Up Window caption functionality by using DREAMWEAVER to edit, directly, each page's JustSo PictureWindow 3 generated C.S.S. to change the Caption Background to 'Transparent' [see between the " " below] : -

"background-color: Transparent;"

and the Caption font weight to 'Bold' [see between the " " below] : -

"font-weight: bold;"

You should be aware that JustSo PictureWindow 3 seems to dislike these modifications in its links with DREAMWEAVER. I therefore only keep the fully modified C.S.S. on the web, and use the C.S.S., without these modifications, locally, for all developmental purposes.

Finally, you can keep control of the 'type setting' of the captions by adding the following to force the script onto a new line [see between the " " below] : -

"<BR>"

Although web cognoscenti advise against it, I've organised my site using 'Frames'. This really simplified the developmental work from my perspective. However, it meant that, given the way GOOGLE and the like index individual pages, those pages could be reached without the supporting Frame [i.e. the top banner and the side navigation links]. It's too long to add here, but I'm very pleased with the solution I've been able to implement which completely overcomes this problem.

Another one in the eye for the purists, I'm afraid, but I've used Tables with zero-width [hence invisible] borders to create the layout for every page.

Given the substantial size of the site, I felt that an internal search engine would be a valuable feature. I chose, and am extremely happy with, software by ZOOM. Apart from the excellent functionality, the use of an html template file means that the appearance of the search engine can be fully matched to the site.

Last, but by no means least, I added a BAYKO by BAYKOMAN Bulletin Board or Forum to the site. Customising the appearance has proved to be beyond me, non-the-less I'm very pleased with the software by PHPBB and thoroughly recommend it.

For the record, my I.S.P. is FREEOLA, who's fees are not too bad and who host baykoman.com. They have now delivered me a pretty good level of service for several years.

Not everybody likes it - but I do!!! I've added different page reveals to different sections of the site, similar to those used in POWERPOINT presentations.

This is simply done by adding one of several alternative single lines [e.g. between the " " below] at the top of the head section of the page, to take advantage of a standard web feature.

"<META http-equiv="Page-Enter" CONTENT="RevealTrans(Duration=4,Transition=3)">"

This feature is ignored in several browsers such as FIREFOX.

That's probably not its correct title, but I've added a message scroller which puts basic page related information along the grey scroll bar towards the bottom of the screen. Whether or not this works for you is dependent on your browser and its settings.

Please click here if you can suggest any improvements to the BAYKOMAN site...
...or if you just want to know more about what I've done.

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