GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives
Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2004-02 > 1077645735
From: <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Web page templates
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 12:12:16 -0600
References: <403A9B6E.23447.1ED6EB0@localhost>
Dennis
I picked up a few points from your message, see below. I'm also going to
reply here to some points raised by others.
----- Original Message -----
From: <>
..
> ... I looked at available templates
> but they all had a string attached. I finally klutzed
> something together, but it is still crude.
I think you have hit it on the head here. The problem is not always that
folks mght not have an HTML editor already, or a way to write & publish a
web page (though some don't), but that they don't know what content
(information) to include in a page design (or set of pages, take it as read
that where I say page it could turn out to be 'pages' in the plural). They
look at a lot of web pages, pick up a lot of ideas about how it might look
but in the end many probably feel like they have writer's block when it
comes to actually producing their own pages. (I know this is true often
true of me when I set about to design a new site).
So what I am suggesting is not a tutorial on how to write HTML (although
some hints would be useful). Instead it is a layout (or series of layouts),
so that anyone who wants to create some pages can nothing can find a
pre-existing layout, concentrate on worrying about *their* content and not
on how to lay out an introduction or contact information or links to other
sites etc. Instead, to get going, they 'fill in the blanks', press the
button and save generated pages to their PC so they can tweak them (if they
wish, using whatever editor they might like, and upload to wherever they
might like). Soon they might evolve past the basic layouts we could provide
and they might want or prefer to roll their own. But at least they can look
at a set of layouts knowing that many eyes and brains have looked and fed
input into those layouts - that might provide some confidence to actually
take the first step, dip toe in water and get some new pages up. Those of
you who are familiar with the idea of content management systems probably
know exactly where I'm going with this.
There are a zillion different tools and utilities to write/publish HTML, I
have many of my own favorites on my PC right now and I can't remember all
the ones I've tried and deleted over the years. We cannot be in the business
of telling folks what tools they 'should' use or where they 'should' host
their site, but we can make suggestions. One thing to bear in mind always
is that there is *NO* typical user. And web pages should work on any
browser and not just Netscape, or not just Internet Explorer etc (sorry to
start a sentence with 'and', it's not really in my nature). We never should
assume what the surfer uses to look at our pages - I have 3 browsers on my
PC and I know that some of the users of my other sites use other browsers
that I don't have. The internet is a big place. (There is another big
benefit from using a set of templates to handle page generation - get the
pages to work on many browsers just once - when developing the template -
and for ever after you dont have to worry about it unless you want to start
tweaking the generated pages, in which case you can take responsibility for
the results :) ).
> Make a template, put it online and ask for
> suggestions/critiques, I'm sure you'll get plenty.
Probably the best way to get going, I agree.
> One other point though, someone just starting
> needs some minimal guidance on web hosts,
> uploading files, etc. What kind of software is
> needed for the basic editing. How to get the
> templates from your web site to a file on their
> computer, really very basic stuff. Probably a
> one page suggestion / how to guide as part of
> your template page(s).
Yes, I agree with this. We shouln't tell folks what they 'should' use but
some pointers to the great HTML tutorials out there etc would be good.
Elsewhere Janet Crain wrote:
> If a "newbie" wants to display their project's results on a web page,
> a good place to sign up for a web page would be FreePages at
> Rootsweb.
>
> http://freepages.rootsweb.com/
>
> The way it used to work was that you would be put on a mailing list
> .. Even if you had to ask someone to do your tables for a fee or a
> favor, it would be helpful if you could do the rest of it.
Yes Janet I agree with this and we should point folk to those resources. I
imagine that most users would evolve past any templates we could provide,
I'm just thinking of kick-starting them past the mental blocks that come
when starting out.
Elsewhere Malcolm Dodd wrote:
> Surely the commercial organisations who make their money from
> providing DNA tests to people interested in genealogy have the
> marketing spend and the impetus to provide the information to
> "newbies". Put simply, that is what they are in business to do, and
> it is better the professionals than us amateurs.
Yes they need to put out the technical information and make it digestible to
newbies and to those who will never want to know all the gory technical
details. What we have to do is to persuade our guinea pigs to take the
tests, and to do that we need (I think) to anticipate questions, know where
to find the answers, and keep ourselves up-to-date so that we can encourage
our relatives to take the tests and participate in the surname projects etc.
I started the page listing links I saw on this list purely for my own
benefit initially - I bookmarked a load of links but soon realised that
wasn't a good way for me to keep track of things but that instead I wanted a
searchable web page. The beauty of this mailing list is that we get new
technical input and references all the time from list contributors, a
constantly updating resource on topics far and wide. Yes we can search the
list archives or use google, but th archives are clunky and google can lead
us astray. Personally, I many many times can remember that I saw a paper or
page through a link I came across in this mailing list, but my brain can't
tell me exactly where or when. So I find a searchable categorised
repository a tremendous help, but o-one else has to use it.
Ernest Hurst wrote elsewhere:
> Many people who have been on other Rootsweb lists would disregard
> the initial message as "more of the same" and, based on that, I believe
> a similar message should be posted on a regular basis, monthly or maybe
> even weekly, so these new subscribers would see it.
I believe that a monthly FAQ or Meta-FAQ (pointer to a FAQ) posted to the
list would be of tremendous value. It would help new list members find
their feet and act as a refresher for the rest of us. I second and third
that suggestion.
Crysal wrote elsewhere:
> Netscape has a free webpage editor that's not too
> difficult. It's called Composer and you get it when
> you download Netscape for free.
Yes that is true and we might want to mention that on a web page somewhere,
also Richard in Tucson mentioned Word and Wordperfect. There is also
OpenOffice, the alternative to MS Office, along with other editors. However
the templates I am suggesting wouldnt depend on any particular tools.
Sue
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