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Home > Archive > General Discussion > February 2002 > They killed my baby!
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They killed my baby!
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| Nicole 2002-02-19, 12:25 pm |
| Can I just vent for a minute?
"Someone" decided that instead of fixing our old, sad web page with all the broken links, it would be "easier" to get a new domain and create a new web page from scratch. (Huh? Gimmee the FTP passworsd, I said.) One of the executives decided it would be "fun" to do the page himself. At home. In his spare time. From an Frontpage template. It took me a good 3 minutes to figure out where to click on the page to get to anywhere else. It was awful.
Needless to say, the Prez comes to me for "help." The Prez tells me that said web-happy exec needed lots and LOTS of help (true), and could I please do the page and sent it to the Exec in question.
So I did the web page. It's not my first web page, but I'm no web expert. I kept it simple, very easy to navigate and very clean. Professional looking, if not super-wizardy. I made it look just like our (professionally designed) brochures that we paid huge amounts of money for. I dutifully burned it all on CD and sent it down for the meeting a couple of weeks ago at which they were going to discuss the web page.
Lo and behold, I check our new domain today and my beautiful files from CD have been ported into the middle of this crappy template... it's truly awful. My clickable real estate maps don't work; theypoint to the CD drive. Pages have been renamed "new_page_1.htm." Bright yellow bullets on a dark background that match the font have had their color changed to black per the stupid template, and now look like a mistake. It's a DISASTER. It's worse than having a web page where none of the graphic links work.
How the hell am I gonna put this on my resume now? And what kind of idiot does a web page for a multi-billion dollar company at home on the weekend because we're too cheap to spend $5k for a web designer? | |
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| Nicole 2002-02-19, 1:10 pm |
| I kept all the files, of course. A practice I highly recommend for anyone who does any kind of development. Eventually you'll want to remember how you did that neat thingy once when you worked for x 4 years ago...
Ironically, I had to do it on my laptop because I owned all the necessary software and the company doesn't!
Hmmm. We have a nice color printer here. Maybe I WILL print it all out... | |
| eric1971 2002-02-19, 2:48 pm |
| Nicole-
What software did you use to create the web page? We are thinking about bringing our web site in-house at the company I work at but neither my boss nor I (the entire IT department) have much experience with web development. Any other tips/suggestions would be appreciated. | |
| Nicole 2002-02-19, 3:16 pm |
| Because I was in a hurry and didn't need anything great, I used FrontPage. It writes very dirty code, though, and slow-loading pages. When I'm not in a hurry, I tend to use FrontPage because it's fast to use (once you get used to it), and then I clean up the code in Notepad. Then I add bits and pieces with some software programs I use that really only do one thing. For graphics, I go Adobe all the way, more out of habit than any attempt to compare competing products. (Actually, I always liked Freehand better than Illustrator. But I don't use Illustrator much.)
I horribly miss "Visual Page" by Symantec. It was (and still is, I think) the ONLY really true WYSIWYG web editor. Somewhere along the line I misplaced my copy and they haven't sold it for years.
For fancier development, there are several excellent Macromedia packages. I'll bet there are at least a few dozen people on this forum who can give you better advice in that department than I. Anyone?
Development ALWAYS gets costlier and fancier. Budget for more software than you think you will need 
Are you talking about bringing just the development in house, or having your own web server? Development won't be too tough, because you have a site to start with and just need to make changes. As you make changes, you'll learn. Unless your web page usage is very high, bringing your server in house is likely to cause more headaches and cost more money than it will solve. It's generally much more cost effective to house your server (co-location or shared) with a dedicated provider, especially when you are faced with the risk of a potential costly security breach. | |
| eric1971 2002-02-19, 3:48 pm |
| Thanks for the info. | |
| algerp131 2002-02-19, 3:52 pm |
| I've only done a couple of web pages, but to help me learn, I used a site called eversoft.com and downloaded a free editor that has different browsers to view the pages. Also, anglefire.lycos.com has some free tool you can download. BidBird.com and MatrixVault.com also has some free training.Homesite 4.5 is suppose to be the best, but I found that it has a long learning curve, and it's not free. | |
| algerp131 2002-02-19, 3:57 pm |
| Nicole, sorry to hear that happened. It happened to me when I was in college. I built a web site for a small town and they chopped it up and added it to another making it horrible. I did burn my work on a CD though so I can always prove that my work was good. My dad always taught me to cover your bu!!. | |
| The Ghost 2002-02-19, 4:27 pm |
| Hey nicole, whats the url?
This is exactly what happens when people don't hire proper web designers.
This type of stuff makes me feel good...  I am glad I am working on some nice projects right now.
http://www.cdanswer.com
oh by the way, guys please test out my ecart application i am working on (just use a dummy credit card number and stuff):
E-cart web application | |
| Nicole 2002-02-19, 5:22 pm |
| quote:
Hey nicole, whats the url?
Oh, no, I'm too embarrassed.  Besides, no dishing in public, not when you kinda need to keep your job at the moment. | |
| The Ghost 2002-02-19, 6:03 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Nicole
Oh, no, I'm too embarrassed. Besides, no dishing in public, not when you kinda need to keep your job at the moment.
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| mrfixit 2002-02-19, 7:36 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by The Ghost
Hey nicole, whats the url?
This is exactly what happens when people don't hire proper web designers.
This type of stuff makes me feel good... I am glad I am working on some nice projects right now.
http://www.cdanswer.com
oh by the way, guys please test out my ecart application i am working on (just use a dummy credit card number and stuff):
E-cart web application
Hey Ghost! Nice site! | |
| Nicole 2002-02-19, 9:14 pm |
| quote:
Hey Ghost! Nice site!
I agree. Very nice look. My only complaint is the loading speed. | |
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| quote:
Originally posted by Nicole
Because I was in a hurry and didn't need anything great, I used FrontPage.
Have you tried HoTMetaL Pro? Excellent text editor, superb 'tag view', solid site management.
quote:
For graphics, I go Adobe all the way, more out of habit than any attempt to compare competing products.
Yes! ImageReady is cool for slice & dice, Photoshop for the original layout & layers.
You might also gift the 'exec' with a copy of David Siegel's "Creating Killer Web Sites", ISBN 1-56830-289-4. Another great choice (although a bit deeper) is "Interface Culture: How New Technology Transforms The We Create And Communicate" by Steven Johnson, ISBN 0-06-251482-2. | |
| Daviet 2002-02-19, 9:50 pm |
| "They killed my baby!"
Well, At least the Dingo didn't eat your baby.. Dumb joke I know
Im no Web designer myself, But about 4 months ago I did a page out of boredom, and wanted to just be plain Ol nice for a local Flooring installer, It took me about a week or so, I tried to make it as professional as I could. So I told the guy to go to angelfire or where ever so he didn't have to pay for the page to be up.. Well, What do ya know, He had another "friend" change a few links and now at the bottom of the page, It states "This Page was created by Steven xxxxx" Minus the x's of course, but im not going to bash the guy to much.. but I tell ya, thats the last time Im doing that.. I cant even change the page because this steve fellow changed the password. I tried to contact him and his professional response was "Hope you learnt your lesson"
Some people  | |
| Drummer 2002-02-20, 2:04 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by algerp131
I've only done a couple of web pages, but to help me learn, I used a site called eversoft.com and downloaded a free editor that has different browsers to view the pages.
Actually it's http://www.evrsoft.com and the program is called 1st Page. It's just like Homesite and it's completely free. Gotta love it! |
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