Better Layout?

[cmschool]

I just installed mySQL yesterday and I was hoping to find a better way to have my layout. Whether it be php, html...I don't care. I don't like frames, but I like the fact that you can change the link urls once and not have to worry about them until they change again. You don't have to change the url on every page when you make a change. What sort of site would I want to set up, and how easy is that to do? :D

Current site is rather flat: http://www.covenantmontessori.org Want it to be more dynamic. (As any good web designer would want it to be.) Thanks in advance for the info.

[acadisc]

I'm just an amateur, but for your site's purpose I like what is there... maybe a couple things I would change (I'd probably make the menu on the left stay in one place), but overall I like it. That's not to say real nice spiffy design wouldn't make it better (my website is that way, too), but it is saying that what you've got fulfills your purpose with out doing anything that distracting or hard for your average visitor to follow.

[cmschool]

I just don't like having to publish my site everytime from FP 2002 and if I don't do that, I have to go through all my pages and make the changes the the urls individually. I like the way frames performs, I just don't like the fact that not all browsers are frame-friendly. Was just looking for an easier way to have my site navigated. :)

[TERRELL]

For starters.i'm just curious to know why you dont have any informative info on the homepage....This site certainly looks better and I like the text you used knowing its a site dealing with children.Nice colors.The titles for your pages don't have to be underlined (confuses it for a link).The bold text is good by itself.Easy redability.i think this is a good site.Theirs nothing too major you should change...:)

[cmschool]

I've been meaning to put a picture of the school on the index page, but all the other information is on the following linked pages. You're good with navigation Terrell. What would be a good way to have more a dynamic site, but have static links (only update the link once and it updates the entire site) without doing a publish through FP2002 and without frames? This site is good for it's purpose, but I want to draw attention to this school to attract parents so they will enroll their students. That's why I want to make it more dynamic.

[Atomic-Design]

You seem to have posted this message twice in two different forums. Here was my response:

You can use PHP includes or SSI to update every site with only the edit of 1 HTML file, like frames. This means you can update everything easy, and keep it constant, without the limitations of frames. Try this link I just made:

http://forum.powweb.com/showthread....&threadid=10762

[TERRELL]

Yup.Atomic right.SSI is the perfect choice for navigation.I know its a headache to add your navigation system page for page.SSI lets you update your navigation system once and it links inself page to page.......SSI is great :)

[CBF Design]

Switch to DreamWeaver and take advantage of templates, library items, and good old global search and replace. Not sure if FP has this stuff, but I like DW better anyway. :)

For a relatively simple site like your own, this, in my opinion would be much better suited than something truly dynamic (PHP, ASP, etc.).

There is going to be some learning curve no matter WHICH method you choose, but I suspect you'll have a much easier time adjusting to DW than learning a scripting language (PHP).

SSI is a decent choice... It's an unneccessary server load. Not to say this is truly a concern as the server hit is negligible. Just goes against my ideals to introduce SSI when this can be achieved with general development tools.

Good luck.

PS, why do you not like to Publish through FP?

PPS, an option I haven't heard anyone mention would be the use of XML and XSLT. Again, there is a learning curve here. This would probably be my 3rd choice of suggestion with 1st being use your development tools, and 2nd, SSI.