Idiot's Guide: Updating the Tribune
Disclaimer: My experience with html is limited to one 3-credit semester class and a few months of intensive experimentation. I made the Tribune pages by copying the source code from pervious issues and messing with it in notepad. It would not be difficult to have more experience/knowledge of web design than I do, so if my coding offends you or my guide seems beneath you, use what you can, ignore what you needn't. I am trying to write this for someone who knows even less than myself, but a basic understanding of html would be useful.
Technical Aspects:
Step Number 1: Copy the Templates and re-name them.
- For all file names, change TEMP to the number of the issue.
- If the template files are lost, missing, accidentally destroyed or whatever, you can find my directory at http://www.geocities.com/reylnkeeper/tribune/templates/.
Step Number 2: Change all internal links.
- Open each file in a plain text application such as Notepad (do not use Word).
- If the file is set to open in an internet browser, you can still open it as a text file by right-clicking on the file icon and selection Open With -> Notepad.
- Under the Edit menu, select "Replace"
- Enter TEMP under the Find what: box, and type the current issue number in the Replace with: box.
- Check where it says "Match case" and click on Replace all.
- That should take care of it. Be sure to save.
Step Number 3: Prepare the content.
People may write things for you. They may write them in Word, which makes transferring the text to html nasty. All quotation marks, dashes, ellipsis (...), and apostrophes need to be in straight form. Word does crazy things to these marks. Word can also fix them.
- Open the text in Word.
- Under Tools, go to AutoCorrect Options.
- Go to the "AutoFormat As You Type" tab and unclick everything in the first category ("Replace as you type").
- Click okay. Note that this has changed nothing yet.
- Under Edit, select "Replace"
- Replace ' with ', " with ", and - with -
- Unfortunately, this will not fix ellipses; these have to be done by hand. Just make sure that the dots are separate and not clumped into one unit.
- As a general rule, where the accented letter is x, the code should be &xacute; . Thus telára would be written telára.
- You may be able to use the Replace tool to do this in Word or Notepad, but you will need to copy and paste the accented letter or symbol into the Find what: box.
- For more symbol codes, see http://www.starr.net/is/type/htmlcodes.html
- Break paragraphs with a double break (br) between
- Emphasize as appropriate using bold and italic tags.
- Remember that the edit-find tool is your friend; use it to help you find where the replacement text should go.
Sorry, this will have to remain rather unfinished due to lack of time. Please remember to change titles AND the page headings, especially at the top of the features pages as they reflect the specific articles. Copy the codes as they are useful. Like the griffin code to put in the left sidebar for longer main pages.
Make sure that all the links work! If in doubt, consult an html adept.
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