Sum - web page questions

[sirstude]

Sum,  we had an intranet site created for us here at work and it seems like an inordinate amount of work to keep up.  Almost anything we need seems to have to go out to the vendor and get the whole site redone.  I was wondering what you use for your setup.  If you are managing it via dial-up it can't possibly be as bad as what we have here.  

Another question, when I was showing your page to some here at work we were looking at your house build, Steve wanted to know what CAD program you used.  He is getting ready to build again, 6000 sq ft shop and attached living quarters, and is looking for a program.

Thanks
Doug

[Rex Schimmer]

Doug,
I don't know Steve but he can't be married, a 6000 sq foot shop with an attached living quarter. My and I am sure a lot of other guy's dream shop!

Keep us informed.

Rex

[1FATGMC]

Sum,  we had an intranet site created for us here at work and it seems like an inordinate amount of work to keep up.  Almost anything we need seems to have to go out to the vendor and get the whole site redone.  I was wondering what you use for your setup.  If you are managing it via dial-up it can't possibly be as bad as what we have here.  

Another question, when I was showing your page to some here at work we were looking at your house build, Steve wanted to know what CAD program you used.  He is getting ready to build again, 6000 sq ft shop and attached living quarters, and is looking for a program.

Thanks
Doug

Well I don't have anything exotic or expensive of course.  For my web pages I use Symantec Visual Page that came free with Norton a number of years ago.  I don't think you can still get it.  It is fast for me to use, but not real sophisticated which I think is good since I don't get carried away with pages that take forever to load for us poor souls still on dial-up.

Almost anything we need seems to have to go out to the vendor and get the whole site redone.

How else are they going to make a living   I also can't believe how unfriendly some of the professionally designed sites can be.  I like to do daily checks on the Dakar Rally this time of the year.  Their site this year is so wide it doesnt fit on my screen and it won't allow me to scroll over to the buttons to pick where I want to go.  I can see the edge of the button, but not the heading.  How stupid :? .

I also don't have much to tell you about the cad program I used and it also is probably not still available.  I think it was about $30.00 and is Instant Engineer.  It isn't that good and I really wouldn't recommend it.  It did the floor plane and the elevations ok for me to get a building permit, so I was happy.   To layout stuff for the mill I download a free one called CadStd and like it and it looks like it would have also probably worked fine for my house plans.  The house plans don't have to be as good if you are doing the work.  If you are handing them over to a contractor you had better make sure they are clear.

I probably haven't been much help, but if you have any questions feel free to ask,

Sum

[sirstude]

Sum, thanks and it helps quite a bit.  Probably will have more questions later on, after I digest things.

Rex, yes Steve is married and his wife makes him buy cars.  The current shop is in 4 sections, 32x60 is the main one, with a 19x40 addition for storage.  Then he added a 6 car concrete garage and then put a wood shop up on top of that.  He is seeing dollar signs on everything and trying to sell while the getting is good.

Doug

[Carnut]

How else are they going to make a living   I also can't believe how unfriendly some of the professionally designed sites can be.  I like to do daily checks on the Dakar Rally this time of the year.  Their site this year is so wide it doesnt fit on my screen and it won't allow me to scroll over to the buttons to pick where I want to go.  I can see the edge of the button, but not the heading.  How stupid :? .

You mean like some folks who create their websites that require the latest in whizbang downloads, that 95% of the surfers don't have or don't want or don't know how to get, just to view their site?

And then they wonder why their site isn't getting any hits?

And then say they need to use the next neato whizbang download to redesign the site so they can drum up interest, err showoff their meager skills?

[1FATGMC]

How else are they going to make a living   I also can't believe how unfriendly some of the professionally designed sites can be.  I like to do daily checks on the Dakar Rally this time of the year.  Their site this year is so wide it doesnt fit on my screen and it won't allow me to scroll over to the buttons to pick where I want to go.  I can see the edge of the button, but not the heading.  How stupid :? .

You mean like some folks who create their websites that require the latest in whizbang downloads, that 95% of the surfers don't have or don't want or don't know how to get, just to view their site?

And then they wonder why their site isn't getting any hits?

And then say they need to use the next neato whizbang download to redesign the site so they can drum up interest, err showoff their meager skills?

Yep you got it right George .  It seems like the bigger the corporation or business the worst it gets.  I'll bet when they show the "big guys" the site they are on the highest speed network available.  If I was one of the "big guys" I would say ok let's all sit around the "board table" with dial up connections and see how "Joe Average" sees our site.

I use to go to NASCAR.com everyday.  It now takes about 3-5 minutes to load their main page.  I haven't been there in months.  I e-mailed them and didn't even get a computer generated thanks.

c ya,

Sum

[Carnut]

Yep you got it right George .  It seems like the bigger the corporation or business the worst it gets.  I'll bet when they show the "big guys" the site they are on the highest speed network available.  If I was one of the "big guys" I would say ok let's all sit around the "board table" with dial up connections and see how "Joe Average" sees our site.

I use to go to NASCAR.com everyday.  It now takes about 3-5 minutes to load their main page.  I haven't been there in months.  I e-mailed them and didn't even get a computer generated thanks.

c ya,

Sum

Now there's another interesting point, how long do we hold on to the concept of programming for the lowest common denominator?

Or how much are we willing to give up to move into the newer capablities?

Friad I'm on a Full T1 connection now, so I'm probably not seeing the net like a lot of folks still do.

I have been museing on how much stuff to put on a page, do I keep the number if images down so to keep the dialup folks happy and then make everyone page thru several screens/pages to see all the pics or can I start putting more thumbnails per page to help reduce the number of pages.

It does appear to be a bit of a conundrum.

I still haven't increased the size of my full size images, even though it does appear a lot of folks are getting larger screens and higher resolutions. I still see several folks with the capablities of high resolution on their equipment yet still keep their setting to the old VGA 640x480.

Must say I haven't optomized my site for 640x480 but I have tried to keep it legible on 800x600, even though I'm programing and testing at 1024x768.

I guess I'll rely on you Sum to let me know when I can increase content per page/screen and image sizes for higher resolutions, ok?

[1FATGMC]

Now there's another interesting point, how long do we hold on to the concept of programming for the lowest common denominator?

Or how much are we willing to give up to move into the newer capabilities?

Friad I'm on a Full T1 connection now, so I'm probably not seeing the net like a lot of folks still do.

I have been museing on how much stuff to put on a page, do I keep the number if images down so to keep the dialup folks happy and then make everyone page thru several screens/pages to see all the pics or can I start putting more thumbnails per page to help reduce the number of pages.

It does appear to be a bit of a conundrum.

I still haven't increased the size of my full size images, even though it does appear a lot of folks are getting larger screens and higher resolutions. I still see several folks with the capabilities of high resolution on their equipment yet still keep their setting to the old VGA 640x480.

Must say I haven't optimized my site for 640x480 but I have tried to keep it legible on 800x600, even though I'm programing and testing at 1024x768.

I guess I'll rely on you Sum to let me know when I can increase content per page/screen and image sizes for higher resolutions, ok?

Your site works fine for me.  The smaller pictures come up fast enough that they keep coming up while I'm looking at them and they are large enough for me to make a decission if I want to see it large.  The large are a little slow, but ok if I'm interested to see the car in more detail.

I think you can have a picture that looks good on the Internet, but doesn't have to be that large file size.  I think you were the one that helped me a lot when I first started, and I haven't forgotten, Thanks!!.   So if a picture looks good I wouldn't make it a larger file size just since more people are on DSL.  Just think how fast it will load for them.  I hope to get on DSL myself, but I'm going to try and keep doing my site the same.

BTW I just added your site to my  "links page"  since some guys might be looking for a new body style to go land speed racing with.

c ya,

Sum

[Carnut]

BTW I just added your site to my  "links page"  since some guys might be looking for a new body style to go land speed racing with.

c ya,

Sum

Oh gee, you want folks to come to my site and grab my beautifully prepared pics that I work so hard to get posted online and just cut them up in Photoshop and make LSR's out of them?

[1FATGMC]

BTW I just added your site to my  "links page"  since some guys might be looking for a new body style to go land speed racing with.

c ya,

Sum

Oh gee, you want folks to come to my site and grab my beautifully prepared pics that I work so hard to get posted online and just cut them up in Photoshop and make LSR's out of them?

And maybe they will send the results back and then you will have to post those also ,

Sum

[Carnut]

Ya know, two of my biggest turnoffs when surfing websites?

Hitting a front/home page that is only a 'flash' screen with no exit or bypass.

Anyone ever think that some folks don't particularly like 'flash' or have the proper setup to suitably enjoy the 'experience'?

Any chance these 'webmasters' could have the consideration of providing a normal front/home page with an obvious link to the 'flash' coded pages?

Used to be one could be called 'a flash in the pan' an old firearms term, now a days it's 'All flash and no content', with the 'flash' actually being a literal.

My other biggest gripe is webpages with embedded 'muzak' to heighten ones 'experience' on a web site. Guess none of these 'webmasters' ever frequented one of these sites while at work and have the sound suddenly blaring from their computer/cubicle so all their coworkers could jump up and see what you were doing surfing 'at work'.

Again where's the consideration? Why not make the 'muzak' experience optional with a link of somesort for folks who want to enjoy the 'experience' and who happen to be in a proper environment for it.