[mokhtarian]

Hi, I'm new to this site and I need some help if possible. I am trying to make a website for my fathers business so I downloaded a Flash template and installed Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver, only problem is I'm totally lost, I thought downloading a template would be something already made and you just cut and paste out pictures and writing? Where did I go wrong?

[MJM]

Where you went wrong - Flash

As a freelance web designer I have over the years formed the opinion that flash is a web design disease.
I won't go into why, but it's just that way. You'd probably be better off finding a XHTML+CSS template.
Fact is that web design is never quite template friendly.

[dr john]

Editting a flash template is something for a flash programmer. I've been building web sites for about seven years and wouldn't even attempt to use a downloaded flash template as a basis for a website. As suggested above, try a proper html/css template and you will be able to copy and paste your text over the existing template's text.
(XHTML brings absolutely no benefits to a web designer incidently, as the commonest browsers can't use xhtml, so they just treat it as html.)

[MJM]

Originally Posted by dr john XHTML brings absolutely no benefits to a web designer incidently, as the commonest browsers can't use xhtml, so they just treat it as html.

Readability and separation of style and contents. Only two benefits.
It's like you are stabbing your own trade in the back.

[dr john]

No!
I always separate content and presentation now, using html and css. You don't need xhtml to do that. CSS came out four years before XHTML incidentally. But using xhtml brings no benefits, at all. It is a common misunderstanding that xhtml is the "new modern way" to build webpages. But unfortunately the majority of users' browsers don't understand xhtml. Why do you think they are now working on html 5 ???

http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum21/12026.htm (not by me, some other doc)

http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=393445 (highly respected forum, post by highly respected expert)

http://forum.webstandardsgroup.org/discussion/54/

http://www.webdevout.net/articles/beware-of-xhtml


Hope this helps clarify things.
Separate content and presentation - YES!

PS I admit I too got fooled by the XHTML bandwagon until I read up on it a bit more.

[MJM]

I already know, but thanks for trying. It's probably because I am quite heavy on the XML site.