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markg5267341
Known Participant
December 27, 2016
Answered

Massive question - Working on a site for ten years - now absolute mess (please help pimp my site)

  • December 27, 2016
  • 3 replies
  • 1448 views

I've been working on my site for ten years - (Worlds of Imagination ) its now an absolute mess.

  • Tried to debug add code, learning though courses on you tube,

  • Trying to build navigation and breadcrumbs

  • But can't upload to server, due to issues I don't understand.

  • Really been trying hard to learn CSS to put over my site

Really need some help, help, help, to pimp my site 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer rayek.elfin

    Although the code is a fair mess, and the html structure completely bonkers (sorry!), not all is lost. You do have a tremendous amount of content, and it is possible (to a certain extent) to improve the styling. Because of the html structure the right aligned boxes and images are rather difficult to solve in css only, though. And a number of tables are too wide to fit on a smaller screen, unfortunately.

    Attach the following style sheet to all your content pages (the index home page is a lost cause, I am afraid). Much more can be done, but I merely wanted to give you a couple of options to work with while you clean up your code.

    Alternatively, open your pages in Firefox Developer, and inspect the page. Then switch to the Style Editor tab, and click the plus button to attach this css code. (copy and paste into the editor to see the result in real-time in Firefox Developer). Your site will be reasonably responsive too.

    /* no media query: styles affect all breakpoints! */

    @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:300,300i,400,400i,600,600i,700,700i,800,800i|Roboto+Slab:100,300,400,700|Uncial+Antiqua');

    html {

      background-image: url('medsand.gif');

    }

    body,

    .d {

        font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;

       line-height: 1.8;

      font-size: 1rem

    }

    body[background] {

      background: none;

      background-color: white;

      padding: 2rem;

      box-shadow: 0 0 40px #ccc;

    }

    table[align="right"] {

      float: none;

      padding: 1rem

    }

    table[border="1"],

    table[border="1"] td {

      border: none !important;

      float:none;

    }

    table[width] {

        width: auto;

      margin: 0 auto;

    }

    table td {

      padding: 0.5rem;

    }

    img {

      width: 100%;

      height: auto;

    }

    font {

      font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;

    }

    font[size] i {

      font-family: 'Roboto Slab',serif;

      font-style: normal

    }

    font i {

        font-family: 'Uncial Antiqua','Roboto Slab',serif;

    }

    body>blockquote {

      padding:0;

      margin: 0;

    }

    @media screen and (max-width: 39.9375em) {

      /* styles for small only */

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 40em) {

    /* styles for medium and onward */

      body {

        max-width: 47rem;

        margin: 0 auto;

        background-color: none !important;;

      }

      body,

      .d {

         line-height: 1.9;

      }

    }

    @media screen and (max-width: 39.9375em) {

    /* styles for small and medium*/

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 40em) and (max-width: 63.9375em) {

    /* styles for medium only */

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 64em) {

    /* styles for large and onward */

      body {

        max-width: 55rem;

          padding: 4rem !important;

      }

      body,

        .d {

           line-height: 1.9;

          font-size: 1.1rem

        }

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 64em) and (max-width: 74.9375em) {

    /* styles for large only */

    }

    3 replies

    rayek.elfin
    rayek.elfinCorrect answer
    Legend
    December 29, 2016

    Although the code is a fair mess, and the html structure completely bonkers (sorry!), not all is lost. You do have a tremendous amount of content, and it is possible (to a certain extent) to improve the styling. Because of the html structure the right aligned boxes and images are rather difficult to solve in css only, though. And a number of tables are too wide to fit on a smaller screen, unfortunately.

    Attach the following style sheet to all your content pages (the index home page is a lost cause, I am afraid). Much more can be done, but I merely wanted to give you a couple of options to work with while you clean up your code.

    Alternatively, open your pages in Firefox Developer, and inspect the page. Then switch to the Style Editor tab, and click the plus button to attach this css code. (copy and paste into the editor to see the result in real-time in Firefox Developer). Your site will be reasonably responsive too.

    /* no media query: styles affect all breakpoints! */

    @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:300,300i,400,400i,600,600i,700,700i,800,800i|Roboto+Slab:100,300,400,700|Uncial+Antiqua');

    html {

      background-image: url('medsand.gif');

    }

    body,

    .d {

        font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;

       line-height: 1.8;

      font-size: 1rem

    }

    body[background] {

      background: none;

      background-color: white;

      padding: 2rem;

      box-shadow: 0 0 40px #ccc;

    }

    table[align="right"] {

      float: none;

      padding: 1rem

    }

    table[border="1"],

    table[border="1"] td {

      border: none !important;

      float:none;

    }

    table[width] {

        width: auto;

      margin: 0 auto;

    }

    table td {

      padding: 0.5rem;

    }

    img {

      width: 100%;

      height: auto;

    }

    font {

      font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif;

    }

    font[size] i {

      font-family: 'Roboto Slab',serif;

      font-style: normal

    }

    font i {

        font-family: 'Uncial Antiqua','Roboto Slab',serif;

    }

    body>blockquote {

      padding:0;

      margin: 0;

    }

    @media screen and (max-width: 39.9375em) {

      /* styles for small only */

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 40em) {

    /* styles for medium and onward */

      body {

        max-width: 47rem;

        margin: 0 auto;

        background-color: none !important;;

      }

      body,

      .d {

         line-height: 1.9;

      }

    }

    @media screen and (max-width: 39.9375em) {

    /* styles for small and medium*/

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 40em) and (max-width: 63.9375em) {

    /* styles for medium only */

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 64em) {

    /* styles for large and onward */

      body {

        max-width: 55rem;

          padding: 4rem !important;

      }

      body,

        .d {

           line-height: 1.9;

          font-size: 1.1rem

        }

    }

    @media screen and (min-width: 64em) and (max-width: 74.9375em) {

    /* styles for large only */

    }

    rayek.elfin
    Legend
    December 29, 2016

    Another alternative solution: install WordPress, choose a nice fitting free or inexpensive commercial theme, and copy the content you have to the new site. While working on the new site, keep the old one live, with a link to the new one. No coding required.

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    December 27, 2016
    1. Your site is table-based and thus not responsive on mobile and tablet devices. 
    2. Not being mobile friendly means you're taking a hit from Google on web searches.
    3. The site is suffering from years of code neglect.  See details below from your home page. 
      [Invalid] Markup Validation of http://www.worldsofimagination.co.uk/ - W3C Markup Validator
    4. The current site lacks cohesive navigation or much visual interest for modern web users.
    5. The inline styles are a train wreck.

    IMO, this needs a complete rethinking and site rebuild to bring it up to current web standards. That will require an experienced web designer and coder.   If you can't do it, hire people who can. 

    Another option is to rebuild the site yourself with Muse.  MU is aimed at non-coders.  If you start with a pre-built  Muse Theme or Template, you could probably crank out a respectable new web site in a few days.

    https://www.muse-themes.com/

    Nancy

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    markg5267341
    Known Participant
    December 28, 2016

    Hi Nancy,

    Your site is table-based and thus not responsive on mobile and tablet devices.

    Yeah really need help with this really new to CSS, most of site was built in DW 4

    Not being mobile friendly means you're taking a hit from Google on web searches.

    Completely agree Help!!

    The site is suffering from years of code neglect.  See details below from your home page. 

    [Invalid] Markup Validation of http://www.worldsofimagination.co.uk/ - W3C Markup Validator

    The current site lacks cohesive navigation or much visual interest for modern web users.

    I really want to build a great Nav bar and add it across all pages , various breadcrumbs

    The inline styles are a train wreck.

    I don't know what inline styles are

    IMO, this needs a complete rethinking and site rebuild to bring it up to current web standards. That will require an experienced web designer and coder.   If you can't do it, hire people who can.

    Don't have cash need to work it out myself, muse looks great but having spent years putting 168,000 links on site really want work with what I have

    Another option is to rebuild the site yourself with Muse.  MU is aimed at non-coders.  If you start with a pre-built  Muse Theme or Template, you could probably crank out a respectable new web site in a few days.

    https://www.muse-themes.com/

    markg5267341
    Known Participant
    December 28, 2016

    ([Invalid] Markup Validation of http://www.worldsofimagination.co.uk/ - W3C Markup Validator )

    Really useful tool being putting it over my pages - bad news is there is Errors and warning(s)

    Good news is most are the same - such as below, guessing if I had the right code I could fix site wide.

    1. Warning Unable to Determine Parse Mode!The validator can process documents either as XML (for document types such as XHTML, SVG, etc.) or SGML (for HTML 4.01 and prior versions). For this document, the information available was not sufficient to determine the parsing mode unambiguously, because:
      • the MIME Media Type (text/html) can be used for XML or SGML document types
      • No known Document Type could be detected
      • No XML declaration (e.g <?xml version="1.0"?>) could be found at the beginning of the document.
      • No XML namespace (e.g <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">) could be found at the root of the document.
      As a default, the validator is falling back to SGML mode.
    2. Warning No DOCTYPE found! Checking with default HTML 4.01 Transitional Document Type.No DOCTYPE Declaration could be found or recognized in this document. This generally means that the document is not declaring its Document Type at the top. It can also mean that the DOCTYPE declaration contains a spelling error, or that it is not using the correct syntax.The document was checked using a default "fallback" Document Type Definition that closely resembles “HTML 4.01 Transitional”.Learn how to add a doctype to your document from our FAQ.

    Rob Hecker2
    Legend
    December 27, 2016

    I don't know what the term "pimp my site" means.

    You are asking several broad questions here. Why don't we start with the inability to upload to the server? Please explain that in more detail.

    BenPleysier
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    December 27, 2016

    Pimp My Site is a complete course in do-it-yourself digital marketing in 14 bite-sized lessons.

    Don't get me wrong, but if the OP manages to get 231 coding errors in just the one page ([Invalid] Markup Validation of http://www.worldsofimagination.co.uk/ - W3C Markup Validator ) after 10 years of site development, then I think he should think about hiring a professional. After all, we are here to help with problems when using Dreamweaver, not act as gratis tutors.

    Wappler is the DMXzone-made Dreamweaver replacement and includes the best of their powerful extensions, as well as much more!
    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    December 27, 2016

    BenPleysier wrote:

    After all, we are here to help with problems when using Dreamweaver, not act as gratis tutors.

    Right.

    We do provide help with code issues when the question is narrowed to a very specific problem.  However, this calls for major surgery.  And it's impossible to teach surgery to a lay person who lacks basic skills. 

    Nancy

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert