[SGVLUG] Call for webmasters

[serross at ix.netcom.com]

I'm not 'the great designer of the west' either but, I do think we need to get the interested people together and
decide exasctly what we want in the site. There are different things that can be done depending on the host box's
capabilities. Then we can code it so it runs to the W3C standards. Whether XHTML/CSS2 are used or html,xml etc.
you need the foundation defined before the building is built. 
By the way, who is on the team anyway??

Stephen

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Emerson <osnut at pacbell.net>
Sent: Jul 3, 2005 11:32 AM
To: "'SGVLUG Discussion List.'" <sgvlug at sgvlug.net>
Subject: RE: [SGVLUG] Call for webmasters

> -----Original Message-----
> Douglas Burton
> Dustin wrote:
> 
> >I'm not sure CSS is entirely yay, though ...
> >
> That's like saying C++ is a bad language because someone 
> wrote a bad program with it. There are plenty of bad web 
> designers out there that have never heard of CSS, and they 
> will produce bad designs no matter what tools they use.

Since I don't consider myself to be a "stellar" web designer,
I suspect a large part of the problem may be "piecemeal" design.
Our site, for example, was snarfed from a "similar" site, modified
(I presume) for the second site it was used for, passed on to
Our web maintainer, reworked for our specific details, and 
Ultimately maintained (by hand) via vi.  Yeah, there are *some*
Elements of css in there -- as to how correct or useful they
Are is anyone's guess, but as I recall, our webmaster didn't 
Bother with "that part" of the site, he simply re-wrote the 
One paragraph or so on the next meeting as needed. (which, to
Be honest, is exactly what I'm doing now, however I did spend
Some time in Quanta "cleaning up" and re-indenting it so the
Source is a little easier to understand for the next guy)

Anyway, back to my point: some of the "bad" design may be 
Cases where a site passes on from one semi-capable web maintainer
To another, with nobody taking the time to read, learn, and
Comprehend the previous layout. [and yes, I'm somewhat guilty of
That myself]  I suspect we need to start up a "webSIG" 
(perhaps as an adjunct of devSIG) so we can dedicate some time
To "design" [and perhaps have a "knowledgeable member" pass
Along some isnsight into css usage]  I know there is a
"webspinner" group that meets in WEST L.A., which is a bit of a
Drive even for me (and I'm in perhaps the westernmost area
Of our general membership to begin with!)  The problem has
Always been that their meetings coincide with our current
Devsig schedule [first Saturday of the month, though I think
Their meeting is 4 hours long or longer -- I know they take 
A lunch break]

> if they do use CSS properly (and valid markup), at least 
> their pages will have smaller filesizes, cleaner code, more 
> semantic markup, and they'll be easier for a good designer to rework.

I'd love for someone to take a look at our current site (and
Associated stylesheet file) and provide some feedback on
What we need to improve.