My LBT Website Updates

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #20 on:** June 15, 2009, 06:06:38 PM

You mean you want streaming? If so why not just use the SWF file I have embedded in my server code? It's not like it's copyrighted or anything. So long as you've got a SWF and an FLV file you can embed streaming video into any website.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #21 on:** June 15, 2009, 06:12:58 PM

Quote from: landbeforetimelover,Jun 15 2009 on 04:06 PM

You mean you want streaming? If so why not just use the SWF file I have embedded in my server code? It's not like it's copyrighted or anything. So long as you've got a SWF and an FLV file you can embed streaming video into any website.

Wow! Really? That's all it takes? I didn't know that! Thanks for the tip!

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #22 on:** June 15, 2009, 06:33:01 PM

If you want to do the streaming, you should use this custom code I made. It works 100% and it's pretty short (unlike so many other one's you can find online). Now you can't embed the actual videos in the page because this is such a lite code, but you can link to a separate page. Here's how you do it. First off, make a new HTML document and put this in it:

Code: on
<html> <head><title>Video Streaming From www.lbtserver.2myip.net</title></head> <body> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Resources/javascript.js"></script> <div id="player">If you can see this text, you need to download Adobe Flash Player to see the video.</div> <script type="text/javascript"> var so = new SWFObject('http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Resources/player.swf','mpl','240','180','9'); so.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so.addParam('allowfullscreen','true'); so.addParam('flashvars','&file=http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Flashes/EscapeFromTheMysteriousBeyond.flv&backcolor=FFFFFF&controlbar=over&autostart=false'); so.write('player') </script> </body> </html>

Don't touch anything except for the .flv file at the end of the code. You can also edit the values '240' and '180' to adjust the video size. Simply replace the .flv file with the one that's in your flashes page.

Next you need to upload the HTML page to my server and link to it via the following code:

Code: on
<a href="" onclick="window.open('http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Pages/EscapeFromTheMysteriousBeyond.html', 'StatusBar', 'toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,width=260,height=200,left=0,top=0');" title="tool tip"></a>

Simply replace the .html file with the one you uploaded and adjust the width and height attributes to whatever you wish. This will be the size of the popup window.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #23 on:** June 15, 2009, 06:46:42 PM

Quote from: landbeforetimelover,Jun 15 2009 on 04:33 PM

If you want to do the streaming, you should use this custom code I made. It works 100% and it's pretty short (unlike so many other one's you can find online). Now you can't embed the actual videos in the page because this is such a lite code, but you can link to a separate page. Here's how you do it. First off, make a new HTML document and put this in it:

Code: on
<html> <head><title>Video Streaming From www.lbtserver.2myip.net</title></head> <body> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Resources/javascript.js"></script> <div id="player">If you can see this text, you need to download Adobe Flash Player to see the video.</div> <script type="text/javascript"> var so = new SWFObject('http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Resources/player.swf','mpl','240','180','9'); so.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so.addParam('allowfullscreen','true'); so.addParam('flashvars','&file=http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Flashes/EscapeFromTheMysteriousBeyond.flv&backcolor=FFFFFF&controlbar=over&autostart=false'); so.write('player') </script> </body> </html>

Don't touch anything except for the .flv file at the end of the code. You can also edit the values '240' and '180' to adjust the video size. Simply replace the .flv file with the one that's in your flashes page.

Next you need to upload the HTML page to my server and link to it via the following code:

Code: on
<a href="" onclick="window.open('http://lbtserver.2myip.net/TVEPS/Pages/EscapeFromTheMysteriousBeyond.html', 'StatusBar', 'toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,width=260,height=200,left=0,top=0');" title="tool tip"></a>

Simply replace the .html file with the one you uploaded and adjust the width and height attributes to whatever you wish. This will be the size of the popup window.

Gee! Quite a nice amount of instructions.

Then again, I didn't expect much less. I understand the coding can get quite big for ANYTHING you put into a website. (I bet even a picture has a good amount of HTTP coding on it.)

This is going to be fun. :^.^:

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #24 on:** June 15, 2009, 06:52:10 PM

Quote

(I bet even a picture has a good amount of HTTP coding on it.)

Naw. That's one of the things in HTML that doesn't require a lot of code (thank god).

Code: on
<img src="urlofimagegoeshere.jpg" border="0">

Of course if you want to align the image and place it in a certain place there's a lot more code.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #25 on:** June 16, 2009, 01:28:54 PM

Okay, I'm busy downloading a little video tutorial (It's actually one hour long to be honest.) on how to turn my PSD photoshop file into an HMTL for the web, and while watching it earlier, (I'm downloading it in case I need to relearn anything.) it told me how important it was to know CSS.

Okay, fair enough on that. However, as I recall from another topic that landbeforetimelover made, CSS will eventually die and we'll have to move on to CSS2 and CSS3.

Tell me, how different is the coding on them from the original CSS? And how much of an impact will it make on the site at hand if I DON'T make the change?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #26 on:** June 16, 2009, 07:09:17 PM

Quote

However, as I recall from another topic that landbeforetimelover made, CSS will eventually die and we'll have to move on to CSS2 and CSS3.

No you've got it all wrong. CSS2 is what is commonly used in ALL websites. The difference between CSS, CSS2, and CSS3 is that more elements and abilities have been added the the CSS programming language. If you learned CSS2 now, the information wouldn't become obsolete. You'd just have to familiarize yourself with the new elements once CSS3 has come out. For example, CSS3 has the ability to add an image background to a table or image border and it has the ability to stretch the background of a web page. CSS2 can't do that. So if you wanted to be able to do that later on, you'd have to learn the syntax, which is:

Code: on
.body{ background-url{'image.jpg'); background-size: 100%; }

The 'background-size' element is new, but the other stuff existed in CSS2.

Quote

how much of an impact will it make on the site at hand if I DON'T make the change?

If you want to make a website with nothing but HTML, be prepared for A LOT of coding and unless you're an HTML master....it's gonna look like crap. Styling with straight HTML is very difficult and takes years of practice. CSS is different. If you know CSS, it gets applied to every page automatically. For example, if you wanted all of your

Code: on
<h1>

tags to be blue, instead of writing the HTML:

Code: on
<h1 color="blue">

on every single heading in the HTML document, you can just add the following to your CSS style sheet:

Code: on
.h1{ color: blue; }

and it will apply a blue color to ALL heading 1 tags within your HTML document.

Quote

on how to turn my PSD photoshop file into an HMTL for the web

Do you honestly think you'll be able to edit a generated HTML file like that? Good luck man.

: There are no shortcuts. Either learn how to code from scratch or go with a company like Freewebs if you want a functional website.

_________________________________

My official recommendation for someone like you that's just starting out is to go find a free website template and start screwing around with it. It doesn't hurt to try. Check this website out:

http://freewebtemplates.com/templates/metallic

Take a look at this nice template. I'm sure you could edit this to make it a very nice LBT site:

All you'd have to do is change the text and make a logo. If the logo size looks too big for your tastes, you can change the size of it. These templates are TOTALLY CUSTOMIZABLE.

Hosting a website like this is easy. Set it up like you would on your computer and find a host like byethost22.com and upload the entire directory. Then do a little domain redirection and BAM, you've got a fully customizable site. I'd offer you the space on my server for it, but URL redirections won't work with my server. My server is only good for hosting little sites like the LBT Archive and the Silverline Productions website that don't need any publicity on Google and can just be linked to via my main LBT site. It's made to be that way. My server is an FTP file sharing server...not a webhost.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #27 on:** June 16, 2009, 07:46:40 PM

Quote from: landbeforetimelover,Jun 16 2009 on 05:09 PM

Quote
However, as I recall from another topic that landbeforetimelover made, CSS will eventually die and we'll have to move on to CSS2 and CSS3.

No you've got it all wrong. CSS2 is what is commonly used in ALL websites. The difference between CSS, CSS2, and CSS3 is that more elements and abilities have been added the the CSS programming language. If you learned CSS2 now, the information wouldn't become obsolete. You'd just have to familiarize yourself with the new elements once CSS3 has come out. For example, CSS3 has the ability to add an image background to a table or image border and it has the ability to stretch the background of a web page. CSS2 can't do that. So if you wanted to be able to do that later on, you'd have to learn the syntax, which is:

Code: on
.body{ background-url{'image.jpg'); background-size: 100%; }

The 'background-size' element is new, but the other stuff existed in CSS2.

Quote
how much of an impact will it make on the site at hand if I DON'T make the change?

If you want to make a website with nothing but HTML, be prepared for A LOT of coding and unless you're an HTML master....it's gonna look like crap. Styling with straight HTML is very difficult and takes years of practice. CSS is different. If you know CSS, it gets applied to every page automatically. For example, if you wanted all of your
Code: on
<h1>

tags to be blue, instead of writing the HTML:
Code: on
<h1 color="blue">

on every single heading in the HTML document, you can just add the following to your CSS style sheet:
Code: on
.h1{ color: blue; }

and it will apply a blue color to ALL heading 1 tags within your HTML document.

Quote
on how to turn my PSD photoshop file into an HMTL for the web

Do you honestly think you'll be able to edit a generated HTML file like that? Good luck man. : There are no shortcuts. Either learn how to code from scratch or go with a company like Freewebs if you want a functional website.

_________________________________

My official recommendation for someone like you that's just starting out is to go find a free website template and start screwing around with it. It doesn't hurt to try. Check this website out:

http://freewebtemplates.com/templates/metallic

Take a look at this nice template. I'm sure you could edit this to make it a very nice LBT site:

All you'd have to do is change the text and make a logo. If the logo size looks too big for your tastes, you can change the size of it. These templates are TOTALLY CUSTOMIZABLE.

Hosting a website like this is easy. Set it up like you would on your computer and find a host like byethost22.com and upload the entire directory. Then do a little domain redirection and BAM, you've got a fully customizable site. I'd offer you the space on my server for it, but URL redirections won't work with my server. My server is only good for hosting little sites like the LBT Archive and the Silverline Productions website that don't need any publicity on Google and can just be linked to via my main LBT site. It's made to be that way. My server is an FTP file sharing server...not a webhost.

Wow! Thanks for all the corrections and all the info. It'll really help.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #28 on:** June 28, 2009, 10:31:38 AM

Okay, it's been a while since I gave an update. Now, I will admit that I had greatly procrastinated with the final design choice, but that's because I was contemplating what to put in. To be honest, the last piece was just something I stumbled upon by pure luck. On top of this, I like to relax more than work during whatever time I have off. I would rather enjoy life than make a chore out of it.

Now, here's what the main design of the Home Page looks like thus far. The interesting thing is that the site itself shows real fan service. Save for the text in certain areas, EVERY pixel is Land Before Time.

Indeed, it's hard to believe it, but EVERY pixel is Land Before Time. Now, I covered up the text because what I currently have on there may change. I'm not 100% sure on it now.

Also, an important thing to know is that this is the Default. What's going to happen is that I will be adding a theme selector. As a member of this site, when the selector function is completed, you'll be able to choose the theme you wish from a certain number of them. The upcoming themes will be based on a number of Land Before Time characters. This includes the gang of seven, (Which includes Ruby and Chomper of course.) Ali, Shorty, Mr. Threehorn, Grandpa Longneck, Mo (I seriously could not resist.) and a few others. There's even going to be a Land Before Time Villains theme at some point, so look forward to that.

Yeah, quite a surprise, huh?

This has been in mind for quite some time. I'll be carefully editing the template LBTlover gave me and so that it can look like what I want. I realize a few things will need to be moved around, but I'm sure I can work with that. Depending on how quickly I get this part done will determine how soon I'll have it ready. There's definitely going to be quite a bit of editing in the code.

From here on out, plenty of information will be given on the updates as they come. This is where the major work really begins. Starting tomorrow, (I seriously do not like to work Sunday and that's the soonest my off time will come.) I'll be working my butt off with it. For real this time. No more procrastinating, unless something majorly unexpected comes up.

That's it for the update.

See ya later!

Petrie. · **Reply #29 on:** June 28, 2009, 01:50:32 PM

Why the gigantic copyright notice at the bottom? Also, you really should provide a link or something if you're really after feedback, because we can't give any unless we see what you have.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #30 on:** June 28, 2009, 02:44:27 PM

Quote

Also, you really should provide a link or something if you're really after feedback, because we can't give any unless we see what you have.

I'm pretty sure he's still building it using some tools that require no coding and has no way to publish it.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #31 on:** June 28, 2009, 04:26:52 PM

Quote from: landbeforetimelover,Jun 28 2009 on 12:44 PM

Quote
Also, you really should provide a link or something if you're really after feedback, because we can't give any unless we see what you have.

I'm pretty sure he's still building it using some tools that require no coding and has no way to publish it.

Yes, and this is where the major work comes into play. I'm going to be busy, busy, busy!

There's a lot to be done, and I don't plan to slow down or procrastinate from here on out.

Besides that, you don't know what's in that covered portion, right? Could be in there somewhere.

Chomper4 · **Reply #32 on:** June 28, 2009, 10:40:01 PM

I can't wait to see it.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #33 on:** June 30, 2009, 09:22:52 AM

Okay, considering the lack of time yesterday, (Work took up a good chunk of it.) I'm not surprised I didn't get much done. I've at least made every link on the home page work now. There's still lots to do.

I'll update you all tomorrow.

See ya later!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #34 on:** July 01, 2009, 08:44:41 AM

Due to having to shop for myself wearing me out, I had to rest a little, so I didn't get as much done as I hoped I would. Hardly anything was finished yesterday. I was exhausted.

Today will also take up time again. I've got a dentist appointment. I'm finally going to get that chipped tooth of mine fixed. Plus I need him to look at a few other things. For some odd reason, brushing with a Sonic Toothbrush, Listerine and Trident aren't doing much for my teeth. There's something seriously wrong and I know it. I just hope it isn't as bad as what landbeforetimelover had once.

Well, that's it for the updates so far. See ya tomorrow.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #35 on:** July 02, 2009, 09:45:22 AM

After taking the time to carefully resize it and so that it'll fit for people that go by 1024x768 for their display, I was able to complete the coding for the Home Page of the site.

I still have a ways to go. Now comes the Song Scenes portion of the site. This is going to be one of the few harder areas of the site. This one will take longer, but I should have it done soon.

While we wait for my site to be completed, you should know about a special secondary site that I've made for you all to visit and contribute to.

Google has done it for me again here. They have made it possible for rookies like me to create a site and have others do what they wish with it. The biggest thing is that I have complete control of the site. I get to choose who comes to it and who doesn't. I also get to choose who ends up getting greater privileges of the site.

As great as it would be to just improve the secondary site and stop once it's completed, it's not what I want for the MAIN site. It's got a lot of things which are nice and all, but the limits on it make me rather sad in the end. There's a lot I would love to do with the site that I just simply can't do with Google Sites.

So, with that in mind, here is the "incomplete" secondary site for you guys to check out:

http://sites.google.com/site/landbeforetimewd/

Well, enjoy and I'll see ya later!

Petrie. · **Reply #36 on:** July 02, 2009, 01:35:17 PM

Here's the thing, if we're going to contribute to this second site like a member community, what is your thought of the possibility that the current secondary site can become a bigger draw and simply push the main site out of the picture? Would you be ok with such a possibility? I'd hate for all of us to contribute something and then you realize that your pride and dream (the main site) is less popular or overlaps things that we have added to the secondary site.

Side note: I got the PM and I haven't made a decision.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #37 on:** July 02, 2009, 02:57:52 PM

Quote from: Petrie,Jul 2 2009 on 11:35 AM

Here's the thing, if we're going to contribute to this second site like a member community, what is your thought of the possibility that the current secondary site can become a bigger draw and simply push the main site out of the picture? Would you be ok with such a possibility? I'd hate for all of us to contribute something and then you realize that your pride and dream (the main site) is less popular or overlaps things that we have added to the secondary site.

Side note: I got the PM and I haven't made a decision.

Fact is Petrie, that there are limits and problems with a website made by Google Sites. (Which you quickly learn as an owner of the site.) The MAIN site won't have them.

Google Sites is limited to the videos you can put up. You can put up videos from ONLY YouTube and Google Video, and you need to put in the URL in order to put them up. I have yet to find a Google Gadget to get around that.

You can try to put up a video through the Attachments option. Unfortunately, even a video that is only 6.5MB takes FOREVER to load. It's not worth it.

IMHO, the preloaded Templates in Google Sites are quite limited. (About 20 choices.) The only way to give it more flair is to mess around with the colors and give it a background like I've done. Unfortunately, this causes the template to load first and then the background. Not to mention that this causes it to take longer to load up. (It takes about 10 seconds on my 2 MB connection when optimized.) A rookie thing that is certainly NOT allowed for a more professional place. (Compare to the upcoming look, which will only take just over 5 seconds on dial-up. SO much better, huh?)

In order to listen to .mp3 files, an Owner needs to put them in the Attachment area and the listener needs Quick Time. A simple rookie mistake that can cost you in the long run.

Also, in order to give anything it's own link, you NEED to make it an attachment first. After that, you need to copy it's new URL and then insert it from there. Only way around this is if it has it's own place on the net already and you use that link instead.

Oh, and you can't give a background in the Navigation area with Google Sites. I seriously want to give that part my own flair, but I sadly can't. I can ONLY change the color. Sad.

Oh yeah, and the color selection is limited too. Only 64 colors. A more professional one has 256 or more to work with. Enough said.

Not to mention that the Navigation looks just wrong in the end. Main pages are okay, but it's the Sub-pages that suffer. Sub-pages are more organized on a professional site in the end. Oh yeah, and once you have a sub-page on there, it's difficult to get rid of if you messed up.

Bottom line, Goggle Sites obviously has limits and problems that make it STRICTLY for rookies.

It's just not going to become what I really want. Which will make the main site look more professional and be more attractive in the end.

Because of all the work it'll take to make the site from complete scratch, and that I REALLY didn't want you guys to wait, I made one on Google Sites ready for you guys to mess around with.

The limits and problems just make it pale in comparison to what I have in mind for the MAIN site in the end. THAT is why I'm not worried.

Petrie. · **Reply #38 on:** July 03, 2009, 08:34:39 AM

Besides all you mention, it may look basic, but it may not be as bad as you make it sound. There are ways around the attachments (ie hosting other places and getting direct links and taking a screenshot from the video). Limited perhaps, but not unusable. I would take ownership to simply show you that.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #39 on:** July 03, 2009, 08:42:54 AM

Well I sure had some fun yesterday.

I had been messing around with the coding to figure out a few things. Let's just say I definitely learned quite a bit in the end.

Not to mention checking back every so often to see who accepted my invitation to my secondary site. I really didn't want to miss anyone who wanted to answer.

Oh, and who invited the power outage yesterday? Sure, it was only out for a half hour, but still.

I still have a ways to go, and with work today and tomorrow, I have even less time to work on it. So I'll get done what I can.

And from here on out, Landbeforetimelover will be teaching me. Yep, he's decided to teach me and I'm accepting his invitation.

So, wish me the best there.

Well, that's all for updates. I'll see ya later!