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Sausage Sizzler - Webmaster Weekly

To receive this newsletter via email subscribe here. To manage your exisitng subscription (for example change of email address) please use Subscription Management. In this Edition 1. Dynamic Tip - PHP Tips 5 - Functions 2. HTML Basics 3. Sizzler Forum Spotlight - The Value of Code 4. Gear Grinders - PDA Follow-up 5. Designed For Browsing - It's All Ball Bearings These Days 6. SuperToolz - Bandwidth Buster 7. Becoming a NEW Sizzler Forum Member 8. Vital Sausage Sizzler Info

Editorial - February 20th 2002

G'day Sizzlers!

It is a huge week at Sausage! We are launching the new Sizzler Forums and your all invited to check them out! Of course being new there are not a lot of discussions going on yet but in time we predict they will become quite popular. There is a wealth of information to be gained from the regular visitors who are experts in HotDog, Web Design and Programming. Oh and of course they are a free resource! Just head on over to Sizzler Forums to browse and register to post your own messages and join in!

And check out my welcome message!

Note that the forums are a work in progress. A living (almost breathing) entity that we all really like at Sausage. It helps us keep the finger on the pulse, so to speak! So we would love to see as many HotDog users as possible be active there!

NOTE: We will wind down the old forums over the next week, so please start new threads and discussions in the NEW forums.

Moving along here are the results from last weeks poll on what your Web site is used for. I received quite a few emails that said I didn't put in enough options, so a lot of people had to answer other. However it is still very interesting to see the results.

7% Just a personal site about my life.
10% A ecommerce site helping my company sell online.
2% An online resume and bio on myself.
16% A brochureware site on my company.
1% A blog (or diary) on my life.
15% My site is just a hobby for me, nothing serious.
12% I run a one person business from my site.
1% I write a newsletter (like the Sizzler).
37% Other.


Which leads me on to this weeks poll which is part of the thread in the forums I mentioned earlier. I would like to know what you think of the new forums. Post your answer here.

Next, Bram is going to write a new section called "Designed For Browsing" which will look at some of the issues you all have designing for different browsers and Operating Systems. It should be a new useful pool of information and ideas for you all to draw upon!

Finally we have a juicy tidbit to share with you all. Brian Smith, original employee of Sausage and developer of Reptile, has jumped back into fray and started work on a new advanced version of Reptile! He will also be looking at developing some new SuperToolz and possibly updating some of the older ones. Good news for Web Developers everywhere we think!

Keep on sizzling!

Nathan Allan
Sausage Sizzler Editor

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Dynamic Tip - PHP Tips 5 - Functions

Now that you have a basic understanding of how to interact with your website visitors using PHP you should be able to start writing basic scripts however, if you continue building your pages in the way I’ve presented scripts so far, it could get very confusing. Being able to read and reuse portions of your code is critical once you get beyond handling a single form and into web based applications.

At the most basic level, reusing code could just mean putting a small portion of code into a separate file and calling include(‘some_file.php’) where ever you’d like to use it. Technically, this is a workable solution to code reuse, in the real world though it can get very confusing; this method would require you to have the same variable names and in roughly the same structure before calling include() for that to work. This is obviously not the best way to go.

A good first step to code reuse would be learning to properly use functions. Functions that you use across multiple scripts would still have to be placed in a separate file and include()ed into the scripts, however the function doesn’t care about the variable names leading up to the function call, just what it’s called with. Consider this example:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>PHP: Functions</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<?php

function myFunc($val) {
echo $val . ‘<br>’;
}

$x = ‘Test One.’;
myFunc($x);

myFunc(‘Test Two’);

?>
</BODY>
; </HTML>


The above example is just meant to demonstrate how to use a function. Basically I’ve just created a duplicate echo() function that adds <BR> to the end of everything.

Some good uses of functions would be to perform something you need to do a lot based on changing information. This could be user specific page headers, footers and menus, database manipulation such as adding users, or modifying a product’s data.

I will be posting some more advanced examples in the new forums over the coming days. I will also be available through there for any discussion on these tips or any questions you may have.

Tip by Rich Cavanaugh
From - EnFlyer: The Email Marketing Experts
Discuss it in Rich's PHP and MySQL Forum

HTML Basics

The beauty of Web pages originally was that it allowed us to add graphical elements to the otherwise text based protocols of the Internet. In turn this made the Internet a more friendly place for the layperson to explore and opened up an entire new world of communication possibilities.

So we have covered most of the raw basics except handling images. So that is what we are looking at this week!

The IMG tag allows you to add an image to a page. The actual image file must be somewhere on your Web server so that it can be accessed by the server.

With all of its attributes it can look something like this:

<IMG SRC="image name goes here" WIDTH="300" HEIGHT="166" ALIGN="Top" BORDER="1" VSPACE="2" HSPACE="2" ALT="image description">

However generally most people will find they only have a tag that looks like this:

<IMG SRC="image name goes here" WIDTH="300" HEIGHT="166" BORDER="0" ALT="image description">

Now for a quick explanation of the attributes:

• SRC - the location of the image file
• WIDTH + HEIGHT - the width and height of the image (both normally defined in pixels but you can use a percentage too)
• ALIGN - where text is aligned next to the image. This can also be ALIGN=left (or right) for image location. ALIGN=TEXTTOP usually gets text up top. Also note that when using this align=left/right should come before align=texttop or else left/right is cancelled out.
• BORDER - indicates the thickness of a border (if any) that you want
• VSPACE + HSPACE - the vertical and horizontal buffer you may want around the image (so that text does not butt up against the image)
• ALT - the text description of the image so that people surfing with images turned off can know what the image represents

Tip by Nathan Allan

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Sizzler Forum Spotlight - The Value of Code

This weeks hot topic is quite interesting. The basic question is "what is the value of your code". If you're thinking about blocking programming code such as PHP, no one will ever get the source code unless they get to the actual script or file. Once PHP is parsed it doesn't show in a browser's source.

The real topic then is "Blocking visitors from viewing your HTML code". What's the purpose of trying to block a visitor from seeing your html? Maybe you've put in days and weeks so that your design is fantastic and you don't want others copying you. On the other hand, real web folk HATE when they can't right-click > view source to see how something is done. Likewise, who wants someone messing with the way their browser functions.. function.

There's already much GREAT feedback on this. It even gets into creative ways of protecting your artwork (images, photos, etc.). See for yourself; share YOUR feelings on this topic.

Review by Bram Leland Scolnick

Gear Grinders - PDA Follow-up

A few weeks ago I posed a few questions regarding PDAs and their use/value to your lives. I've had tremendous feedback. There are various reasons for why you've all chosen which product to use. Here are some of those reasons:

• Strong interest in Pocket PC 2002 and Windows CE, main reason being ease of use as essentially a "mini-Windows"
• On the other hand, MANY users love of Palm as a simple tool, ideal for appointment tracking and contact management.
• Another favorite feature among readers: Handspring's Expansion Modules. Users love things like the Visor Phone. Also, Palm's smart cards are handy but not many great things offered. It's awkward to carry the Visor with modules.. and same for PocketPCs.
• PocketPC 2002 devices offer a variety of connection choices as well as battery life in Palm and Pocket PC OSs.
• Depending on your gadget needs, PocketPCs have clear screens for Mpeg playback and also come ready to play MP3s.

With so many great features, its no wonder these products are so popular. Besides being toys and organizers, many companies are betting on a wireless future. Wireless content is up and coming. Have you had to design for wireless yet? Do you see a growing need to have tools that help you? What's your view on design for the wireless market? How much do you really know about the specs anyway?

There's A LOT of ground to cover. What are your thoughts?

Post them here:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14

Read up on previous topics here:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=23

Discuss your experiences with Bram Leland Scolnick

Designed For Browsing - It's All Ball Bearings These Days

Designed For Browsing - A New Section dedicated to ideas, thoughts and feedback about design issues. Due to the overwhelming response of last week's Gear Grinder, this new section has been created. It'll cover Browser Issues, Design Issues, Wireless Design Issues, and much more. Most of this will be based on opinion, factual research and feedback.

Last weeks Gear Grinder generated quite a few strong feelings that indicate many people are done with Navigator for a variety of reasons. Others indicated that while their browser of choice is IE, they continue to use Navigator as a check point. I use both Navigator 4.08 and 6 to check what I create in IE. You'd be surprised at some of the crazy things that happen in one and not the other.

This week I'd like to ask you all to send me comments and wishes about topics to cover. Some topics I plan to cover already include Font size issues between browsers, use of Style Sheets for layout, designing for accessibility, designing for wireless, and many others. I'd like to know what's on YOUR minds.

Let me know.... in our new forum area!
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=26

This weeks topic:
http://www.sizzlerforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15

Discuss with Bram Leland Scolnick

SuperToolz - Bandwidth Buster

Typically, images make the bulk of the file size of your web pages. Bandwidth Buster lets you manage the compression of your images, giving the possibility of a smaller file size, and faster download time. Many images, especially photography, can be reduced in file size by more than 50% using JPEG compression, with no apparent loss of quality to the image. Bandwidth Buster is just one more way Sausage makes your Web page accessible to all Web surfers.

Name: Version: 1.04 Cost: US$19.95 Website: http://www.sausagetools.com/supertoolz/bbuster.html Download: ftp://ftp.sausage.com/pub/supertoolz/bandwidthbuster.exe

Name: Bandwidth Buster
Version: 1.04
Cost: US$19.95
Website: http://www.sausagetools.com/supertoolz/bbuster.html
Download: ftp://ftp.sausage.com/pub/supertoolz/bandwidthbuster.exe

Review by Nathan Allan

Becoming a Forum Member

To read the Sizzler Forums you do not need to be a member. However to take full advantage of this resource it will only take you a few seconds to sign up!

1. Go to: http://www.sizzlerforums.com
2. Read the information and click on the REGISTER button
3. Fill out the form
4. You will receive an email that you simply reply to
5. Hey presto! Your a fully fledged Sizzler Forums member!

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