Can someone help?

[Flame]

Hey all! I have a website... ( http://www.gamesfyi.2ya.com ) And I drew-up my own layout... I really am NOT happy with it.. For a games site, it's kind of pathetic... Can anyone tell me how to make a better layout (using Paint Shop Pro or where I can get a template, and edit it (free)? Thanks!

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[Doomsday_J]

Have you tried something like Microsoft Front Page? How about going to a free site like yahoo.geocities.com, using their templates and compying them to your domain.  If you need help with HTML. I can help, e-mail me.

[Flame]

Thanks for replying! It's a funny thing, becuase I JUST switched FROM Geocities, to Hostultra... Now.... I'm looking for a layout that will literally GRAB my vieweres' attention.... Something "neat" looking, you know... Please reply...

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[Doomsday_J]

Do you know any html? Just think up a design in your head, draw it up on paper then put it together yourself. More than likely you will be happier with the results. Its not that hard.

[Computer Hope Admin]

I would definitely recommend some type of WYSIWYG HTML editor for creating your layout. As Doomsday_J recommended a HTML editor such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver would be great recommendations as they allow you to quickly layout the page without worrying about the HTML.

WYSIWYG information:
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/w/wysiwyg.htm

If you are running short on ideas for your layout, visit other gamming pages or pages you like for insperation. If you're confused about how someone did something view their HTML code to get a better understanding.

[Corrosive]

I can give you a couple of hints design wise.

1: Dodgy Effects
I'm talking mouse-trails, blinking text, Javascript tickers... all very dodgy things indeed. Personally, I avoid Javascript and Flash, simply because it's too easy to add in very tacky effects that has no contribution to the site.

2: Colour Scheme
Imagine you're living room in those colours; if you can live in it, your site should be okay. Especially avoid red/green combinations, as they are both light colours and make it hard to read, plus many people are red/green colour blind.

3: Hit counters
Depending on how popular your site is, it either lands up very embarrassing ("You've had: 4 visitors since 1993!") or very boastful. There is no middle ground.

4: Generic Clipart
A baby smiling. Businessmen shaking hands. Rubbish web design. And while you're at it, dump the background images too - black/white or a plain colour works so much better.

5: Splash pages
You can make a site with a good looking homepage, so there is just no need. Javascript/Flash checks can be done using a re-direct and tailoring specific splash screens for certain search engines is just lame, really.

6: KISS
Nothing to do with a certain glam-rock band, and I'm certainly not going to give you one. It stands for 'Keep It Simple, Stupid'. Remember that and you'll do well, grasshopper.

Remember, Webmonkey has some good design hints too.

http://www.webmonkey.com

Personally, I'd avoid templates as much as possible, but if you really want to, try www.elated.com. They've also got some decent hints and tips.

[Flame]

Alright guys... Here's the latest... I installed DreamWeaver, Flash, Fireworks, and FreeHand... One problem... I don't know how to make a layout from them... Thanks for replying, and all responses are useful!

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[Corrosive]

The traditional method is to simply use your image editing package (in your case, you have Fireworks for your bitmaps and Freehand for your vectors) and draw out how you want the site to look. You then have to use image-slicing techniques to cut the image into smaller chunks which are arranged with a HTML table.

It's fallen out of favour recently, what with the introduction of stylesheets doing away with the classic <table><tr><td> combo most designers are used to; but then tables were never really meant to be used to position stuff.

This site has more:
http://www.wise-women.org/tutorials/fw1/

[Flame]

Thanks for the link! I will try it!

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