How It's Done
"The Radar Pages" is almost entirely HTML based and there are several reasons for this. In the early days I used a Java based navigation system; I soon discovered that a lot of corporate systems rejected Java script for security reasons - visitors from these systems couldn't get past the index page! Since then I have started incorporating some simple experimental scripts now that Java is more acceptable. I also learned from a reader in India that line conditions there are terrible and that even a simple HTML page took an age to load. I have tried a frame based site but the problems it brought were huge; problems with screen resolutions, search engines and navigation meant that frames were more trouble than they are worth. Browser compatibility also figured in the decision to remain HTML based, for whilst Internet Explorer 6 and 7 make up the vast majority of browsers there are still, for many reasons, a lot of older browsers out there in www land.
The HTML code for "The Radar Pages" is composed using Namo WebEditor 2006 7.0.3 , a WYSIWYG web page editing programme from Namo interactive. The programme also includes a useful HTML editor; this means that I can set up the pages in a visual environment and then fine tune the resulting code in a text environment. One of the nice things about this editor is that it tends to leave the hand coded HTML alone.
Images are scanned into Microsoft Picture Manager, a part of the MS Office suite of programmes. This is a simple image manipulation programme that allows me to set the size of the image, crop the image, adjust the colour balance and so on. The beauty of the programme lies in its simplicity, very often the image only requires simple adjustments and more powerful packages are more cumbersome On the occasions that more complex adjustments are required, replacing colours, blemish editing and so on, I use Paint Shop Pro 4.15 SE from JASC Software. Images are optimized for web use using JPEG Optimizer II from XAT.Com.
Text is scanned in to Microsoft Word 2007 using TextBridge Classic 2 from ScanSoft, Inc. Copy is also typed into Word and the completed copy is "cut and pasted" into Namo WebEditor via Notepad (to remove the text formatting!). WebEditor and Word both include "on the fly" grammar and spelling checkers; even so the odd spelling mistake creeps in!
I've limited the amount of Java and CGI script used on The Radar Pages to try and keep things simple. The Java script are built by using the Wizards in WebEditor, the CGI scripts come from Matt's Script Archive at http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/ , an excellent resource for those of us who do not have the time to learn how to write our own scripts.
Site testing is carried out using Internet Explorer 6 and 7 at various resolutions however the huge choice available does tend to complicate the process of formatting screen sizes. I use Astra SiteManager 2 from Mercury Interactive to test the url's, links and so on.
Up-loading to the sever is accomplished either with WebEditor's in built FTP facility or WS_FTP Professional Edition v7.62, a comprehensive FTP programme package from Ipswitch, Inc. The free Light Edition sufficed when the site was smaller but I upgraded to the Professional Edition when the site got bigger to take advantage of its synchronisation facility.
The PC's are protected by the AVG 7.0 Anti-Virus System from Grisoft Inc. It works, it's easy to use and it's free. What more could you want? Free-Online, our ISP, provides additional virus and spam protection.
Yours truly lives in Inverurie. a small market town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. I work as a Telecommunications Engineer / Radio Operator in the UK offshore oil and gas industry. If you are interested my CV (Resume) is located here!
ISP Referral
The Radar Pages ISP, Free-Online, runs a client referral scheme. You
can find out more about the Free-Online products by clicking on one of
these pictures. If you decide to take up any of the offers The Radar Pages
will receive a small discount on the ISP's monthly bill that will help
to offset some of the costs incurred in researching and editing The Radar
Pages.
