Cross Browser Design

Hello all,

I'm a newbie to web design, I've only done one site and one for a friend, but since I'm a novice I have no idea on how to design for other browsers. :(

Do any of you know of good sites where I can find tutorials on how to design in cross browser platforms.

Your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million.

Cheers,

.: Z E R I M A R 3 :.

Never design for a browser. Just make compliant code and your pages will load right in all the newer browsers. That is really all you can do anymore...

I'm sorry here, maybe I'm a little slow, but how do you make then compliant? I have looked at the web consortium, and I'm trying to understand this. Is there any place online to offer advice on this. I'm looking into taking a class next semester in school, although I'm an English Literature major, I have found web design very interesting.

Thanks for your time

Just learn HTML, CSS, and Javascript. What Pank is saying is you dont need to worry about hacks or what code doesnt work with which browsers. That isnt so much of an issue anymore. There are a few CSS styles that are not cross browser, but those tend to be extra stuff that isnt critical if a browser doesnt use it, like custom scroll bars, or custom mouse pointers, etc.
But a good idea is to make sure you have access to viewing your designs from the major browsers, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, Opera. Now dont be so concerned if your site isnt 100% correct for older browsers. If you want my opinion, if they havent bothered to upgrade and still use a browser that is 3 years old. Too bad, you cant design for 4% of the population.
If your client uses an old browser, kindly upgrade for them. Do them a favor so they can see the web in the context of what designers do nowadays.

Marble,

Thanks for your input. I think one of my main problems is with tables and viewing them correctly in Netscape, because in IE they look fine. As I'm so new to this, I get confused reading about it, because I'm more of birdseye view type. I like to try to look at things from way up and see the structure, then zoom in to the details. It's been hard, but I like your opening statement.

I think I can learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I've managed to get some stuff to work, and I like the results of the sites I've played with so far. About the clients, currenlty I have none, only prospects. Hopefully as I get better I'll get more business flow.

By the way, I like your logo. I used to piece way back in the day. We used to paint like crazy. Out here in Cali all we got are alleys and huge gutters, no trains or anything like that.

Again, thanks for the info, I hope more tips keep coming, especially with the tables n' stuff.

Thanxs.

That's Photoshopped. :]

and by Paavo =).... but Zerimar3, you need to explain a bit what your tables are doing in Netscape.... why not post your site so we can see your code. There shouldnt be much difference in tables between browsers.

Marble & Paavo:

My problem with tables in Netscape is that they show up. Now here's the link to the site, but please remember, I'm very new to this webdesign stuff, but I did one for a friend of mine who is an evangelist. It looks good in IE 5+ at 800x600 but in Netscape...yuck.

I also used a navigational system and buttons that I purchased from Pank at VBSkinz. To see the site you can go to:
http://www.apostolicoutreachministries.com and take a look.

Thanks for your time and help and no matter what, please don't laugh...lol!

I'll be waiting to see the response.

Cheers,

Zerimar3

try www.aslistapart.com one of my personal faves and a great place to read up on WebDev

I glanced quickly at your code and if you dont want any tables to have any outlines, then set borders to none. in html --> border="0" in styles --> border:0

Your table tags are < table > < tr > < td > < /td > < /tr > < /table > (note you dont need the spaces, I added them so the code will show up on this forum.)
The TD tag is the table cell, or where the container for the content will be. also called "Columns." The TR tag is a row tag, and table tag just means you have a table with * rows and * columns.

As far as the look of the page, I think it is fine. You might be wise to post it in the site review section and get some opinions of the designers. One suggestion, I would change the color of the background (within the content area) to a lighter gray so that is matches up better with the Pank images. Right now it is a very slight green.