Official forums for BZFlag.org

Hey guys... I just got back from a geek camp where I made a website! YAY! I decided to create a site combining my two favorite MMOs, BZFlag, and another game called Armagetron. I want to use the site to get more people to play each game, and am also posting it on the Armagetron Forums. Hope you like it

http://myidproject.com/shu/080408/Keith ... index.html

A few things I see wrong right away

1) It's called "Untitled Document". Might want to give it a title.

2) The buttons are Flash. Some people (including myself) run Firefox extensions to block javascript (and therefore flash) on all but a few trusted websites, to enhance security. This makes it impossible for us to navigate the site, as the buttons aren't there. Buttons don't need to be flash items. A simple image would suffice.

3) If you're considering turning this into a fully functioning site that people visit, you might want to get a real domain name, and/or move it to your own server. That URL is really long, and no one will remember it.

And, to be fair, the BZFlag.org main page receives just over 800 visits a day, so I'm not sure how many more people will be exposed to the game through your site, vs. the main page.

Good work on a first website, though, much better then my first. I recommend, that if you want to get into web development you learn how to develop sites from scratch via CSS & HTML. It's a much cleaner and more maintainable method then letting Dreamweaver do it for you.

You went to ID tech too? Nice. What campus did you go to?

Winny:
1. OK, well, I'm unable to edit it because I made it away from home and that is where it is hosted, but thank you for pointing that out.
2. Using dreamweaver, those are the only buttons I know how to use. Also, a bar at the top will usually pop up in fire fox saying that firefox blocked a popup or something, and you can always click it, go to allow whatever, and then you will be able to view the buttons.
3. Im not hosting it, i have no control over the domain name


AHA:
I was at sacred heart in Connecticut this past week

Albino Blacksheep wrote:Also, a bar at the top will usually pop up in fire fox saying that firefox blocked a popup or something, and you can always click it, go to allow whatever, and then you will be able to view the buttons.

Flash is not a popup. So no, if someone has a flash or javascript blocker, it will not show the buttons. Also, a search engine will not be able to navigate your website, and thus your search result ranking will suck.

funny about the blocker, because when i tested my website, i tested it with FireFox, and it worked fine, and when i went on fire fox to test it at home, the buttons worked just fine

Please read our posts. We said that some people block Flash & Javascript from running. This isn't a small amount of visitor, either. Up to 20% of web visitors block javascript, or do not run flash.

It is an important component of web development to support most of your visitors.

Winny wrote:Some people (including myself) run Firefox extensions to block javascript (and therefore flash) on all but a few trusted websites, to enhance security. This makes it impossible for us to navigate the site, as the buttons aren't there. Buttons don't need to be flash items. A simple image would suffice.

Sounds like you've got a good start, but I'd seriously recommend not using something like Dreamweaver until you know HTML better. A program like Dreamweaver or GoLive works great, but they often act as a crutch to web designers. Learn CSS and HTML inside and out, then use Dreamweaver to speed the process up. You really need to to know HTML and CSS inside and out to get the most out of these programs.

And yeah, Flash buttons are totally unnecessary. Javascript is very useful, but only use it where necessary.