Hi All,

Any ideas how to do this in Inkscape and NVu?

http://www.itotrading.ca

I created this page with CorelDraw, but it is really buggy (especially with links to different pages and anchors) so I had to redo quite a lot of work. Also, when I was looking at the webpage online, the text was loading in really strange - one word at a time, or small chunks at a time - so I chose to export all text as bitmaps. Hence, the text is not "text" per se, but it has become a "drawing" of the text.

I am tired of using CorelDraw because it locks up on me too much. And I am tired of using Windows, because even XP freezes too much at inopportune times.

I want to learn how to create the same type of webpage with free software that I can use in Linux. I see no reason to pay for software if it doesn't work.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Dulwithe, the Dark Shadow.

Welcome to the forum!

A fellow Canadian??

OK as to your question. I would use Inkscape for the graphical elements and I tend to do all of my coding in a simple text file. If I use any editor at all, I use BlueFish.

Let me know if you need a hand.

Well, if that's the look that you are going for then I would make your graphics the background of the page and place your text on top of the image using a little css.

If you wish to use image maps (a little dated in my opinion) then use Gimp to define the coordinates. Nvu does a fairly descent job at html. I use it for reference sometimes. Really, though, your site is very basic. Try using just a text editor like kwrite or kate and put together an html file and a css file. If you are new to html and css then I recommend you purchase a book by Rachel Andrew over at Sitepoint (http://www.sitepoint.com/books/cssant2/). It should come with actual samples for you to play with. I have this particular book and I reference it often.

If I can get some time maybe I can give you a working sample.

heathenx wrote:Really, though, your site is very basic.

Thanks for your ideas, heathenx.

My feelings exactly, and so it shouldn't be too difficult to create what I want with free software (or so I think).

But since I know NOTHING about HTML or CSS, and WHISIWIG editors aren't at all like graphics editors that put things where you place them on the page, I am getting tremendously frustrated.

Since all I want to do is similar to the site I posted (graphics with layers, HTML buttons within the graphics, text, and photos), I shouldn't think I would need to go as far as buying a book to become a pro on CSS or HTML.

Maybe I should go to the GIMP forum and ask the same question I did in my original post??

Thanks.

D.

Don't be afraid to buy a book. Maybe that shows my age. Perhaps hit CSS Creator (http://csscreator.com/) and browse for some tips. Fortunately what you want is very easy to obtain but don't try to learn it all one in one night. Take your time, learn some new things and it will be fun for you.

In the meantime download (http://misc.heathenx.org/web.zip) from me. It's not much but perhaps it will get you started.

If you need some Inkscape tips why not head over to http://screencasters.heathenx.org <-- shameless plug.

Hi heathenx,

I looked at the files you prepared for me. Thanks. I appreciate that. But it still gives me no clue as to how to make the buttons link to another page. Also, as mentioned before, I don't know anything about CSS and don't particularly think it is the right match for me. I work graphically, my mind works graphically, it has worked this way since I was a kid (3d abstraction in my mind is easy).

I gotta find a way to get a site made graphically based. For example, I want bold, I click BOLD, text is made BOLD, I see BOLD.

Anyhow, thanks for your efforts. I appreciate that.

- D.

Ha! Well, fair enough. There are many technologies out there to learn. Unfortunately for people just starting out with a web presence requires a little patience and understanding to get started. I can tell you from experience that what seems right to you now won't make much sense to you a year down the road. I still question my own behavior.

What you want is difficult to do with just one solution. By the time that you get what you want you may have found that you had researched javascript, css (and editors), html (and editors), inksape, gimp, ftp, ssh and maybe apache just to name a few.

Good luck with things. I have a feeling that you'll be just fine.

Btw, SiteSpinner (http://www.virtualmechanics.com/product ... index.html) may be of interest to you. I bought this program for my father a few years ago when he was in the same boat. Didn't know html, css, javascript, or graphics. I think it had some drag-n-drop objects that also assembles your code. It's not free so be prepared to locate the key to the padlock that keeps your credit card held securely to your wallet.

If you don't want to learn HTML, which I admit can be a lot to get your head around initially, you will HAVE to use to a WYSIWYG editor. It's the only way you'll get the option to click BOLD to make text bold. I don't know of a good free WYSIWYG editor, but I can highly recommend DreamWeaver as it is both a capable WYSIWYG editor and a fantastic code/text editor.

Having said that, it sounds like you are after results with minimum effort, in which case you can use MS Publisher, or MS Word to create your pages and save as HTML. You could probably do the same with OpenOffice - I haven't looked. A lot of people would cringe at this recommendation (I know I will later) but it doesn't sound like you know HTML and that you are willing to learn it, so these are your most likely options.

And just to clarify, Inkscape is only used to create the images, your HTML editor is used to assemble them. Each button on that example page needs to be a seperate image, you can't create one big image in Inkscape... well you can, but that involves using a HTML imagemap to make each portion of the image behave differently.