MWMTB website upgrade - help needed

[schmackster]

OK all you web designers I need to pick your brains to help me re-design the MWMTB website. With my first attempt I cheated a little bit and used frames :D but now it is time to get serious.

What I have in mind is something like a nice header image (see attached) with the logo on one side and a menu bar across the bottom of it.

The small problem lack of time as I am an engineer by day, father in the early evening and then pretend to be web designer late at night when my brain is a bit soft. All I am after is advice because I like the challenge of learning something new.

So a couple of questions:
1. Looking at other sites that I like (Warringah Council (http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au) ) how do you they make it look and act like a site with frames?
2. Do you use a template with the header and menu on it and a large editable area.

[t]

i use heaps of simple PHP,

if you build up a really empty template, then you aren't really locked into anything. Then useing the php include tag is a really simple way to drag in content (i keep all that in a folder caled "includes")

Include a styles sheet to define your colours and fonts, then include a header for the top of the page, make an editable reigon, then include a footer.

using this system allows more flexibility on each page and is simpler than database driven sites to code. making updates to your interface is easy, simply change the relevent include file, upload it to the server, and the change will come into affect across the site immediatly. I manage sites with over 500 pages this way, primaraly because of the flexibility of the template.

[danv]

1. Looking at other sites that I like (Warringah Council (http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au) ) how do you they make it look and act like a site with frames?

I don't know a heap, but i always did that by just using frames without borders - i think you do border width = 0 -, or you create a page that has the menu bar and whatever other universal content you want, and then use it as a template.

[schmackster]

i use heaps of simple PHP

Thanks for the advice. You have exactly described what I had in mind. Sounds like I have a bit of homework to do.

Excuse my ignorance t, but what exactly is php? Do you know any sites that explain it in layman terms?

[t]

php is basically executable tags in a regular html document.

when a user requests a .php file the server reads the file first and executes the php code. the html in the code is left alone, then the server generats a tempfile which is basically just html and sends that back to the user.

The most common code you'll need is pretty simple;

<?php include('/inc/styles.php'); ?>

in this case the code basically makes the server grab the styles.php file out of the folder inc (in the root directory) and inserts the entire content of that file into your page right where the code is.

think of it as a modular aproach to building each page.

and here's a couple of good links

http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/programming/php/
http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/PHP/1