I want to thank everybody for there help in my inquiries regarding SBI, and as for not needing to buy an anti-virus, this is a bonus!

Hi Podlod! This is what I told you you would need to do for the thumbnails linking to a larger image....

Well, I started doing this on my site...I resized a picture to thumbnail, then uploaded both sizes to the graphics library, then put the thumbnail on my page and set up the large graphic on its own page, and linked the thumbnail to the large graphic. Of course, as with doing anything else, the first time I did it it was a huge pain! But it worked! I did one as a test...and then was going to go ask some questions in the SBI forum about this...and then I found a post there that showed me a much easier way to do this...AND you don't have to create a separate page for each large graphic..although the large graphic will open in its own window when the visitor clicks on the thumbnail.

I think to explain how to do it now in the block builder is complicated when you aren't yet familiar with it...but when you are ready I will give you the exact instructions. You can post here...or if for some reason I miss your request, just go to my contact form and ask there.

Now, once again, since you have so many pictures to upload, you may want to find out what the limits are for uploading to the graphics library because you may end up having your pictures hosted at another site and linking to them there anyway. I am not sure about that.


I am SO excited about this!


And now, for anybody who might be listening, I was wondering if you would let me know what you think about the graphic sizes I chose...is the thumbnail too small, or is it good for a thumbnail? Is the larger graphic too big? Just right? I don't know what a good rule of thumb is for sizes. It is the picture on the page "How To Make A Charcoal Chimney." The one with the can and the can opener. I have a few more to add there in the same way and I just want to know if the sizes could have been better or they are okay before I put all the time and energy into adding them.

Thanks!

__________________
Jewel

http://www.your-camping-guidebook.com

"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to always be right by having no ideas at all."
-- Edward De Bono

Hi Jewel, I am not at the stage to place any photos as of yet, maybe slightly later as I have to go to hospital for awhile.
I have seen your website and I might say it really is impressive, and I hope mine comes out looking as good as yours!!!

Jewel,

There's no hard and fast rule for picture sizes. A lot depends on what is in the picture and how it fits into the context.

In the can picture you mention, there are some changes I would make. First, since it is the focus of the discussion (not just decorative, for example) I think it could be a little larger perhaps but not necessarily since it is a simple enough content to be easily understood. However, there is clearly too much space below it, especially in view of the small space above. Also, if you want a picture that size I would not leave so much space on the two sides. I would float the picture to one side and have text beside it.

__________________
Good Success!

James
Douglas County Master Gardeners
"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."

Thanks for the compliment Podlod! Take care of yourself and whenever you are ready just ask.

__________________
Jewel

http://www.your-camping-guidebook.com

"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to always be right by having no ideas at all."
-- Edward De Bono

Hi James,

I just came to answer Podlod and saw your reply!

Since you looked at that page I have actually added three more pictures. What an ordeal! Remember, I am using the blockbuilder and I am slowly, inch by inch, learning html as I go along. (for anybody thinking about sbi...you don't have to do any of what I mention below with SBI...this is my choice to go a little advanced and out of the box)

I found an sbi article which talked about image galleries and had some html code to place the pictures in a horizontal view. It had code for three pictures (just replace the "variable code" with your own particular site names) and text below them. I copied and replaced....then somehow reached into the recesses of my mind from learning Cobol and Fortran many many many years ago to look at the code. Even though the specific commands are different, the basic concept of writing code still remains the same which you probably already now..anyway I am getting off track. So I was able to figure out sort of what the meanings of the codes were (I have also been visiting the w3 school site to learn some code.)

I deleted a bunch of bells and whistles in the template code and narrowed it to two pictures on each line. I also found the code to make the image clickable to the larger image. I didn't put the text under the picture because the copy on that page is so simple.

Do you think I should still make those thumbnails larger? Does it look more balanced now?

I have been trying to figure out how to make it say "Click here for larger image" when the mouse is hovered over the picture. I got it to do it...but then when clicked it brought me back to the home page instead of the larger image of that thumbnail, so I deleted what I had put in there and I need to figure out how to do it right.

Overall I think it looks good..but I am exhausted by this process of trial and error AND I am not happy with the way I am learning. It is too haphazard.

Can you recommend a good HTML and/or CSS book I can use while I am doing this? I would like a book to sit in front of me while I am doing it...rather than having to flip back and forth constantly between windows on the computer!

__________________
Jewel

http://www.your-camping-guidebook.com

"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to always be right by having no ideas at all."
-- Edward De Bono

Jewel,

There are several basic books on html and css but you have to be careful. Most books and the vast majority of online stuff is terribly dated, not standards compliant at all.

Sitepoint's book, Build Your Site the Right Way with html and css is really good. I haven't used htmldog dot com's book but I'm sure it is excellent based on the web site. Any of these I would order from Amazon for a much better price.

But I have used another that I really like a lot and would probably recommend most because it is fun to read as well as good in content. It is called Head First html with css and xhtml by Elizabeth and Eric Freeman. It is very colorful and graphical with such things as "pencil" drawn arrows pointing out examples and notes "hand" written in the margins pointing out important details. It also seems to focus well on stuff you will really need to do.

__________________
Good Success!

James
Douglas County Master Gardeners
"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."

Hi, I have studied HTML to a certain extent but my god to me it is so involved, and I know I could handle HTML but it seems easier for me to purchase SBI which you do not need, and once I have got my website on the roll, maybe I will start getting down to serious studying on HTML, but please explain to me why it is so involved???

Podlod

Perhaps you have been reading the wrong tutors? A lot of the stuff, especially the confusing stuff, is deprecated (destined to be dropped), anyway and is a waste of time. Try going to htmldog.com or getting one of the books I mentioned a couple of posts back in this entry.

Try taking your time. If you read and absorb just a little each day it is easier to remember and before you know it you have the basics of html and css down.

If you want to have any control over your site or fix things that don't work right you will have to learn these a bit anyway. Just be patient and soon it will start to click.

__________________
Good Success!

James
Douglas County Master Gardeners
"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."

Hi, I want to thank everybody for their help and will be purchasing SBI this weekend, but there is just 2 more questions I would like to ask, first being is, if my PC crashes after a week hypothetically and needs to be repaired, is it a prob to return to SBI and to continue with my building of a website? and second question is , I still cannot find out how many photos I can place on my site, as I will have approx 60 to 80 photos and each photo will be on a different page?
After this info it will just about wrap it up!