Novice needs to display pdf files on website?

[daldous]

I started my first website last week using Xara Webstyle4 for template, graphics, menus, photo pages etc. and Frontpage 2003 for text. I uploaded via WS HTP Pro and it all works on the web as advertised (4 pages). You can view it at

http://www.aldousfamily.net

Now, I want to display family tree info on the pdf files that are exported from family treemaker. I think this is simple but after reading "help" in all my software and using google for hours, I still don't have a clue!

PS - I tried a javascript (from a friend) top_menu "frame builder" that inserts a menu in the first line of the page (to return to previous page or?) and inserts the pdf in the rest of the page. It works great off-line on my home computer with IE 6 but will not work at all after upoading to the web with FTP. It does exactly what I want offline, but I can't get it to work online. I wonder if using FTP to upload vice "publishing" with Frontpage (which I've never done) causes a problem??

(You can see what happens on the webpage when you click the "Families", "My Ancestors" menus. It reloads the first page??)

Thanks for any help!

 

[audiopro]

I would like to point out a few observations.
You would be better using an external style sheet rather than styling in the page. You have a lot of font definitions in the page which could be handled in the style sheet. This would make your HTML much neater.
Javascript menus are all very well, if your visitors have javascript enabled but otherwise they tend to end in chaos. Fixed links to your PDF files would be a better option as they are more reliable on most browsers.
Your page takes a long time to load but I haven't looked into the reason, neither will your visitors.
I would suggest you get the basics in place before going any further, If you have any more questions, post them on here, this forum is viewed by a helpful bunch of people.

If you are serious about learning about web design, get into the basic stuff without the WYSIWYG assistance. These so called web design tools are all very well but teach you nothing about how it all works.

This is not a criticism of your work but a bit of advice on how to proceed to greater things.


Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[daldous]

Thanks for your ideas, audioPro.

I probably should have mentioned that I started in electronics the same year the transistor was designed (1959), so I'm really not planning a webdesign career. In fact, after 40 years in electronics, I retired in 2000.

All I really want to do is build a simple family web page and be able to open various kinds of documents such as pdf files. By the way, while appreciated, your posting didn't help with that endeavor (except the style sheet suggestion which I'll take a look at).

You are right about the helpful folks on Tek-Tips, I hope to get more help on this simple problem soon.

 

[audiopro]

Sorry if I went a bit over the top but I too am an old electronics chap who found his way into web design.
I mention the WYSIWYG progs because I used Frontpage for a number of years, not realising that it was making the job harder, not easier. That too inserted unwanted code and made the whole thing bloated.
I mentioned the style sheets because they are the best thing to happen to HTML for many years. Your template uses tables for the layout and makes for a lot of code. This is ok when you are creating the whole thing with a seperate program and then publishing it, but if you have to find a glitch amongst all that code, it makes it very difficult. Look into 'div's to contain your data, they are worth learning.
As for your problem, try creating a new basic page and use simple links to your PDF files. Javascript menus are notorious for causing problems that even the most experienced web designers find difficult to solve.

Keith

http://www.studiosoft.co.uk

 

[ChrisHunt]

OK, let's start by answering your original question.

You can link to pdf files just like you'd link to any other file. You should probably get them to open in a new window, as they won't contain any navigation links to get a reader back to the rest of your site. The code for that would be:

<a href="somefile.pdf" target="_blank">Family Chart (PDF file, will open in a new window)</a>

Note that it's considered good form to warn visitors both that a link is to a pdf file and that it will pop up a new window. Some people will take issue with the [tt]target[/tt] attribute as it's deprecated in the strictest versions of HTML - but it's simple and it works in all browsers you're likely to come across.

Now for more general comments. I didn't see any menu at all when I visited, maybe you've removed it. The principal problem with Javascrpt menus is that search engines won't see or use them, meaning that much of your site could go unindexed. That would be a shame for any other Aldouses looking for family history information. I'd advise against them for that reason. If you want to simplify the process of having the same menu in every page, consider server side includes (SSI) if your hosting allows them - I've written a FAQ at faq253-6554 about the best way to do so.

I'm gonna try to rein in my urge to critique your current site, since it's your personal family album and its look is up to you. I'll offer some general pointers though...

Avoid WYSIWYG tools, at least until you know what they're doing for you. Get yourself a book (here's a good recommendation) and learn how to code HTML and CSS by hand. It's really not difficult and will pay dividends in no time.

Sit down with a bit of paper and write down all the things that you want to put on your site - I'm guessing from the front page that it's going to combine family history with your family's current doings. Include stuff you're going to do in the future as well as stuff you're ready to do now. Once you've got a list of pages, put each page (or group of pages) on a slip of paper and shuffle them around into logical groupings - this will form the basis of your site's menu.

Come up with a page design that you can use for every page of your site. It'll have a title and navigation and all the other elements that appear on every page, and an area to contain the page's unique content. Take some time over building this template file, getting it to look right and to work in as many browsers as you can test it in.

Having put in that ground work, building the site becomes comparitively straightforward!

OK, I can't resist it, I'll make a couple of observations about your current site:

All those years working with electronics don't appear to have done your eyesight any harm if you can read that tiny text comfortably. Those of us less blessed would prefer larger type (though you are doing the right thing spacing the lines further apart to make them easier to read). You should also give your columns some left and right margins or padding to separate them from each other.

If I was writing a website about my family, and I had a really nice photo of them all together, I'd put that at the top of the page rather than a picture of pick up and a caravan.

Like I said though, it's your personal site so the way that looks right to you is the right way for it to look.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd