redbullmarky

fantastic replies from the both of you - cheers lads ;D After some hacking away I ended up with a bit of a mix and match of both but working perfectly. Thanks again! Mark

[quote author=twilightnights link=topic=124392.msg515833#msg515833 date=1170037324] So far I have changed the font to all sans serif, added a login box(doesn't work yet), changed uppercase to underline for hover links. [/quote] try and also keep the font size the same for equivalent content: in your categories panel, the link/bold is a different size to the non-link and it looks (possibly) like a different font. [quote author=twilightnights link=topic=124392.msg515833#msg515833 date=1170037324] I like the orange color, I believe it stands out from other sites because I have never seen this color used. [/quote] there's probably a good reason why it's not been used ;) however, there ARE ways of using orange effectively but not necessarily this shade and not on its own. i managed to get a good "quirky" result using it with big blocks of red, blue and green - which probably sounds quite nasty on paper but still. Take a look around the site Andy provided in his earlier post ^ and look around for sites with colour schemes you like. If you insist on going for the orange theme, then you may get a few ideas of how to use it better. [quote author=twilightnights link=topic=124392.msg515833#msg515833 date=1170037324] I want to create the user registration, but I am afraid I won't know how to correctly avoid sql injection... trying to do some reading on that first. [/quote] look at [url=http://www.php.net/mysql_real_escape_string]mysql_real_escape_string[/url] for a starting point. the simple rule to help avoid SQL injection - dont trust ANYTHING the user sends, be it GET/POST/COOKIE/FILE etc. good luck!

[quote author=rantsh link=topic=124392.msg515604#msg515604 date=1170014380] Dude I think you're both being a little harsh... the man open he's post with "I knew no php, mysql, and barely any html"... [/quote] yep - so twilightnights would have known that maybe the response would have been a little less than favourable. note my last part: [quote author=redbullmarky] Don't be discouraged though - I've done some pretty horrendously nasty sites in the past - it just takes time and lots of trial/error and practice. [/quote] which does indeed accept that the first sites people do can generally be a bit off-colour, just like mine were (and still can be). but if you butter up critique with lots of nicey-niceys, then people will maintain the false impression that their sites are better than they are, and never learn. anyway... i'm not madly keen on the changes, but they are a step forward. some more points: 1, the colour scheme needs work 2, the rollover links - dont look good. nothing wrong with standard links or just a background colour change - the capitalisation makes the whole link jump 3, lots of whitespace that could be used and filled by more content - things look a little bit empty right now 4, you now have 2 fonts on the go. the one that you've added, and the default - change ALL of the site to the one you added. Kudos for avoiding Comic Sans - many others doing a joke site would have chosen it so I congratulate you for steering clear ;) 5, give your site a "personality" and a "face" - at the moment, there's nothing interpersonal about the site, so it just naturally feels like lots of stuff thrown on a page. An image or two, a proper logo, some way to get in touch with you, etc - all help to give a site a bit of personality.

whoa lookahead/lookbehinds are a bit new to me. what can it/they do for me? the preg_ stuff in your example kinda clouds the smily bit as lots of : and ) etc - but lets say i have something like: [code] <?php $text = ":) hello this is some text (this is some more in brackets with smily at the end ;)) ok :)!"; $search = array(':)', ';)'); $replace = array('smile', 'wink'); // all the preg_quote / preg_replace stuff here ?> [/code] so far, i have a loop which escapes all the smily array and adds the start and ending /, then just a simple: [code] $text = preg_replace($search, $replace, $text); [/code] to do the business. so i guess i'm looking to make sure that brackets, spaces, start/end, etc, are all treated the same. If your example does that, any chance you can split it into its parts so i can see what's what? :) cheers for your help Mark

looks good, but two words: "image optimisation" the image tiles are HUGE (index_5.jpg on its own being more than 225kB yet only dim's of 950x248) - even on a pretty fast broadband connection here, i still need to wait for all the images to load. otherwise, the main page looks good - aside from the 'news and updates' panel font and horizontal scrollbar.

Hi all I'll be the first to admit I suck at regex stuff... I have an array of smilies, and array of filenames. I understand that, with the use of preg_quote, I can convert my smilies into a string that's suitable for regex. However - just need help with the pattern to search/replace under certain situations : each side of the actual smily MUST have one of the following: 1, a space 2, start/end of line 3, punctuation (comma, fullstop, bracket, colon, semicolon, questionmark, exclaimation, etc) My problem is when I use a pattern through preg_replace, the character i'm checking for either side gets replaced. So I guess the question is - how can I preg_replace, yet leave the surrounding character (whatever it is) intact? Cheers ;) Mark

Erm... What do YOU think personally? Do you think it stands out? Do you think it looks good? The concept is good, and your goal of "we strive to be the worlds largest joke database" is admirable, but seriously, even for a HTML beginner, things just don't look good. Your font, your colour scheme, your table'd layout with standard border, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc............... The site Andy suggested is a winner, and in this case absolutely essential. You don't need anything complex for the site - simple is fine. But you wont do yourself any harm looking for sites that DO look good (joke sites or not) and asking yourself WHY it looks good. Don't be discouraged though - I've done some pretty horrendously nasty sites in the past - it just takes time and lots of trial/error and practice. I see the potential, but right now it's not pretty.

Yahoo and YouTube have more than proven that PHP is a competent language enough. It's not like they're short of a few bob to invest in ASP/JSP/etc if they wanted... The whole ASP/PHP argument doesnt wash with me. It normally always ends up in a Noobs vs Experts, Quality vs Price argument. My personal view: PHP/JSP/CF/ASP, etc are all FAR more powerful than their output (ie, HTML which is a fairly simple set of tags comparitively) - so which is more powerful can be considered a fairly floored argument, as there's not really anything one language can do that another cant. It all boils down to taste. Personally, I find many hardcore ASP/ASP.net coders quite snooty about PHP - you only have to look many of the responses you see aimed at ASP newbs and that's not the sort of help/community I want to be part of. Generalising? Maybe. But that's my opinion.

y'know, the grey doesnt bother me much, but i guess the way you've contained and used it may be a little off. the problem with using smartly styled icons is you need to then pay extra attention to the quality of the rest of the site, else it'll look like you've just thrown them in for good measure, as opposed to using them to the benefit of the site as a whole. personally, i'd do a few things if it was my site. 1, pay closer attention to your grey boxes. i have a sneaky feeling that it's not the grey that's all of the problem, but more the harsh black outline. on one hand you have a 3D shadow look, on the other you have a flat, 2D look. Not saying to introduce gradients or anything, but have a look at how the blocks of (for example) this forum, and Windows are done. mild gradient, soft coloured outline, etc. 2, your site seems lopsided to the right, due to the big whitespace in your left column. personally, i'd move the login/search boxes up top (unless you're gonna put something else up there, and put your category listings down the side. this way, your script lists come UP the page a bit more, bringing the main focus of the site into view. like when you click on (for example) PHP Scripts - the main categories goes into the left column, and you content moves up. this then seems like a much more "balanced" page. 3, as your first entry page is the "browse script" page, maybe you should move the nav item "browse scripts" to the left, just as an easier way of getting back home. 4, if there's only one page of results, you dont need the page number. It just looks like a random '1' thrown into the mix. 5, Contact Us - mailto = not good, especially for those of us that dont leave our email programs open. take a look at your [url=http://dotscript.com/about.php]About Us[/url] page. That's probably the best page in terms of its balance/layout, etc. Cheers

haha just for future use, i changed the poll to "Linux based". Better?

busi, at not one point in steve's thread pointing that out did i see any accusations - more just a matter of fact and a tip to rectify it. Whatever your intention is for the future, it's the fact that your site does not have a link on it [i]right at this moment[/i] that is the problem. Even without reading the licence, but just taking a jump to his site and reading it, all he asks for is you put a link back to his site, [b]clearly[/b] (ie, not tucked away somewhere) on your site. So chill out a bit dude - Steve + Andy was pointing out something that could get you into hot water, not accusing you of being a serial offender.

* i'm moving this to Application Design as i think the topic in general has bought up some pretty interesting and useful points.

y'know, you put it better than i did but i feel the same. i'm comfortable not knowing the whole language thing - just as long as my logic/problem solving skills are involved, i'll always find a way. from a recruitment point of view, that's a damn good answer too in an interview. interviewers absolutely HATE those that say "oh yeah, i'm 5 out of 5 and i'm the best for the job"

i think it's been mentioned before, but i reckon it's hard to judge your true level. i dont actually consider myself a PHP coder, because my thought process is something that can pretty easily adapt to any language (at least to understand what's going on, if not actually use it myself). i think this is where people who "code" differ - their approach can depend on how easy they can get a job done, not just their knowledge in a particular language. if i had to answer though, i'd prob say intermediate. there's plenty i know to get a job done, yet so much i dont. the day i turn expert, i'll probably get bored and give up and try something else. i love the whole learning aspect of it.

disposables here. my mom used to foster hundreds of babies and always swore by the cloth ones but i'm too lazy. the extra cost helps me keep my frustration trying to get one of those cloth things folded properly...

yes and no. if everybody had that opinion, then there'd only be one framework per language that everybody used, because they didnt want to rewrite a new one. but if you're looking at getting the job done quickly, then maybe a popular framework such as Cake will help you on your way.

ardyandkari, validation is not just about pretence of goodness - or at least it shouldnt be. it means that your site is a) more likely to work across multiple browsers and b) more likely to cater for the disabled who may not use what you consider a regular browser to view/listen to a site. of course - there are tonnes of sites that DONT validate, even some of the top ranked ones - but keep your eyes and ears on the news about companies and sites being on the recieving end of lawsuits due to not making their sites accessible. as your site is a job portal, you're probably MORE in the firing line and under closer scrutiny than others - as not providing a valid site could almost be defined as discrimination, depending on the laws of your country. also - the fact that (at least on your homepage) there are more IT categories than any other, meaning you're offering more to the IT profession. The IT profession are exactly the people that WILL notice how good/rubbish/valid/invalid your code is.

well - i share [i]some[/i] of the sentiment of Ronald, although if it helps you get on the right track but off your own bat, then good luck to you. Let me put this to you though. I don't personally have an official site up for my web design stuff any more. It'd be interesting to find out how much people here actually get through their web design sites compared to word of mouth or other sources, but maybe you should look a little closer at your priorities - maybe you dont [i]need[/i] a site yet if you're confident enough in your work and your clients are happy enough with you...

elaborate? by all means, dude - go for it. it's not completely off the OP's topic so why not.

it looks good. about 10,000,000 times better than your current effort. i have a couple of pointers/questions: - too many links. there are links across the top, links down the left hand side, etc. for someone with only a handful or so of sites on their portfolio, that's far too many links. - the text based header could do with something still along the lines of what jcombs produced for your old site. - if it IS a template, you'll need to give credit... - a lack of images kinda bugs me a bit. even screenshots of your portfolio, and maybe a link on the homepage such as "latest project" would help add some liveliness to the proceedings i have to ask ask well - why did you register fbtest2.com just to mess with, instead of just using a subdomain? otherwise - i'm not sure how much is yours or how much is coutesy of a template, but if it's your own doing, then kudos - this is one hell of a step up and towards the right direction...

dude i wish i could help out but looks like you're having fun with this :) i'll stay by the sidelines though for now and just learn learn learn. ACL is a term that came up a long time ago for me that i've just not gotten around to looking into properly, so cheers for the tutorial!

having said that, how much of the page gets refreshed? if i'm picturing this right, and going by what you said, then a large portion of the page is going to be updated - maybe just not the logo/nav (ie, the "outer" template), etc. ok, so a page refresh is gonna take slightly longer - but an AJAX call is STILL a page request, no matter how it's buttered up. if a large part of the page needs updating, then the "normal" way of refreshing the page is gonna be your best option.

hmmm i'm gonna be a bit critical here and say that it sounds like a case of "ajax for the sake of using ajax". What benefits do YOU see to the user?

i'm 100% behind ober's first post in this topic. if we all wrote for majority groups and ignored the minorities, then we'd all be writing CSS hacks and invalid code for IE still. Youtube/Google/Yahoo/MSN all use javascript - and it's pretty hard to avoid those on a day to day basis.... So yeah - "Sod it and use AJAX" gets my vote too.

as far as I know, Flash is your only other option other than AJAX...