Techno Page

By Harendra Alwis

Make your own website 

I will not promise a complete lesson on web-development, but let this be a starting point. If you come across any problems in building your site, do write in to the Techno Page for help.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the language of the Web, the code that governs every Web site. But while learning HTML is useful, using a basic WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor is an easier way to create a simple Web site. (If you cannot speak the language of the web, then hire a translator.) 

You enter text just as you would with a word processor, drop in images, and add links. The software creates the HTML automatically in the background.

Before you sit down at your PC, design your site on paper. Make a list of the elements - site name, headings, data, graphics, links, and so on that you want on your site. 

You'll also need a host for your Web site. Some Internet service providers make limited space for a Web page available to every registered user (contact your ISP for details) or you can opt for one of the many free Web hosts such as GeoCities. Then again you could register your own domain name, but that may cost you anything up to $90 (or more) per year.

In Ms FrontPage and many other WYSIWYG HTML editors you get a wizard to guide you through the initial stage. They even have ready-to-use java-script and applets that you can add to your website at will, and puts many such high-end tools at your fingertips. Then you could add Flash, Shockwave 3D or QuickTime Virtual Reality(tm) content.

The whole process of making a website cannot be explained here, but I can tell you that it is a very simple thing. You need to keep the file size small so that the pages will load up faster. 

For example, when you insert pictures, resizing them will not make any difference to their file size. You need to resample them. This can be done with most picture-editing software in only one button click. Always use tables to organize the information and their layout and make sure all the links are working.

Loading up your website onto a server has been made simple by the Microsoft 'web publishing wizard' that can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/

So explore the world of web development and write in to the Techno Page about your failures and discoveries. 

New headaches with IE 6 

Why? The new rendering engine changes the rules for writing style sheets so that some things that were permitted in the past are now illegal. In our example, there are three specific rules that we've violated. These minor errors were forgiven by older versions of Internet Explorer and by IE 6 when it uses its classic rendering engine, but the new rendering engine isn't so generous. 

This switch between the new and classic rendering engines is triggered by a single line of HTML code known as your Document Type Definition, or DTD. 

Officially, every one of your Web pages should begin with a DOCTYPE tag. This tells the browser exactly which version of the HTML standards to use when interpreting your page. The DOCTYPE tag is one of the more arcane parts of the HTML language. Understanding exactly how to write a DOCTYPE can be a real chore. 

In practice, you can build a Web page without specifying a DOCTYPE tag. However, many conscientious HTML coders include it, and many HTML editors will automatically insert it into your pages. 

IE 6 uses the DOCTYPE tag to decide which rendering engine to use. If your page doesn't use a DOCTYPE, then IE 6 will use its classic engine. Also, if you use a DOCTYPE that includes the words "Transitional," then IE 6 will usually use the classic engine. That's the way Page 1 is written, using this DOCTYPE tag: 

However, if your DOCTYPE tag includes the words "Transitional" and gives a URL where the DTD can be found, then IE 6 will instead switch to the new rendering engine. So this version of the tag will use the new engine: 

"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> 

Likewise, if your DOCTYPE doesn't include the word "Transitional" or includes the word "Strict," then IE 6 will use the new rendering engine. So either of these DOCTYPE tags will trigger the new rendering engine: 

Are you confused yet? You should be - the rules for the DOCTYPE switch are complex. To see a full explanation of them, check Microsoft's site for details. 

By now you may be asking why in the world Microsoft decided to introduce such a complex feature. Why introduce something that will undoubtedly break a lot of Web sites? 

In truth, with the introduction of its dual rendering engines, Microsoft is trying to play by the rules, and do so in a way that minimizes the disruption to Webmasters. 

With the introduction of IE 6, Microsoft is likewise trying to move closer to standards compliance. The main difference is that Microsoft has made the change with an eye toward backward compatibility. By allowing you to use the DOCTYPE tag, you can control whether the browser works the old way or the new way. 

Problems like this illustrate why you need to test your pages using all major browser and computer types. Just because you've fixed the problem under one browser doesn't mean you're safe. 

Sent in by Priyanga T. Kumarasiri