Building niche sites with standards

Jan 23, 2006 • Emil Stenström • CSS, HTML

I'm starting a new series of articles here at Friendly Bit. Through the use of web standards I will build a couple of niched sites and walk you through every step of the process. My hope is that this will make it easier for at least a few of you out there to understand what this web standards fuzz is all about. The use of web standards together with your creativity will make building websites fun again.

The first niche examined is online poker. The examination ended in a tutorial on how to build a poker site. What are you waiting for? Go read it!

My hope is that the templates will spread all the way to the niche markets they are made for. I appreciate any help with that. No matter what, I hope they will be great articles to learn from. Do you have anything to add? Use the comments.

Comments

Jan 29, 2006
By: Geir Ove Roe (#1)

Thank you for a good tutorial.I am from norway and i am a fresh webdesigner if i can call my self it.I have a poker site(mentioned as my website) that i am curently constructing.My goal is to use css strictly for all efects and content,avoiding java and flash as much as i can, and i want to have it as accesible as i can get it.I mess around with codes and learn the hard way at home but css is realy fun to work with,but sometimes it makes me confused.I got a few more good hints from reading your article and i will spread the news on this site to my friends.If i may i will also put a link to you on a webmaster page i have in plans for creating.Please feel free to wisit my site,i am so fresh in this game but i do agree on what you say in your article about a poker site and making sites acessible..If you have corrections and tips on my coding i am realy happy to be notified because i am looking for the best way to write a good code...
Thank you for shearing your knowledge.
From geir ove in norway.
Jan 29, 2006
By: Emil Stenström (#2)

@Geir Ove Roe: Always nice to hear that people find my articles interesting. I thank you for telling your friends and even linking to me. Thanks!

Looking at your site I have a few comments: your code is already far superior to the top10 in the poker tutorial.

1) I see no <h1> in your code. Add a good title somewhere!
2) Those rounded corners should be added with javascript instead of manually. Google for "nifty corners" and use that javascript instead of empty bold tags.
3) Animated images distracts the reader from reading your text. I would use static images instead.

Good luck with your site!
Feb 21, 2006
By: Alex Mav (#3)

Hi Emil,

Thanks for the introduction to CSS. I must say i am a bit distressed by it though as i got my 3 columns working but they will not align if you make their width 100% (ie: you have to keep total width at 99% to ensure they line up nicely)

I have learnt the reason for this behaviour on http://www.ilovejackdaniels.com/css/box-model/ and think you should point this out to your users.

Kind Regards

Alex
Sep 28, 2006
By: SNH (#4)

Just wondering when the next one is planned?

I loved the Poker tutorial/guide as it made me realise a few things I hadn't thought about before.

Comments

By: Geir Ove Roe (#1)

By: Emil Stenström (#2)

By: Alex Mav (#3)

By: SNH (#4)