fireworks layout

Hi i am currently creating a site - and doing the layout in fireworks.

Im a bit concerned that the screen size i am using will not correspond correctly on different systems....!?!?

1200 by 1000 seems too large when i preview it in my browser (safari on a mac)

I want the page to just stay 'still' as such, (i.e. no scrolling.

Also do i transfer the layout image into dreamweaver as a GIF?

Hope my questions dont sound too dumb.

Also, if i wanted to do basic animation (ie fade up images and text with rollover command) does this need to be done in Flash for the best results or would Fireworks be sufficient (one i work out if and how this is possible in Fireworks or if not then start to learn Flash.)

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Adélita Senorità
x

yeah your right. design for 800 * 600 for best results, and make it fluid, so the site stretches even to 1200..
not sure what you mean?
are you exporting this as a table based image map? yeah, gif is fine.
you could do it with fireworks i guess, flash would also be a good option.

To get best results, design in a little underneath what your target resolution is, because things tend to expand.

Use a mixture of gif and .jpg otherwise it will take ages to load.

If you want no scrolling when coding set it to a fixed width.

Flash is the best solution for your animations.

By keeping the the design still, do you mean when users of the site enter it, it all appears on one page without the need to scroll down? If so you'll have to experiment with different sizes. 800 x 600 usually works. I find 950 x 700 is pretty good.

Also transferring as a gif can reduce the quality, so you may want to think things through.....although you can use a mixture of both gif and jpg.

Here is my two cents. I design all my templates in Fireworks. Two or Three templates a Day. I use 785 wide because the scrollbar takes up a little room. And I usually set it at 600 pixels long. I would recommend you slice the template and use jpeg for exporting. Because if you use gif (from my experience) the images don't look the way they should. They are not crisp. To save load time on your site I would recommend you use CSS for rollover buttons, links, etc. If you are planning to submit this site to search engines you need to keep the size of it down. This is just my two cents. If you would like some help please feel free to PM me.

Thanks for all your comments. I only just saw the replies!!!

You know how im feeling right now!?!? That when i learnt how to create web stuff that i missed out a whole lotta info!!! I really think i need to fill in the gaps.

For instance, i know how to animate something simple in Flash but i dont know where to start with creating a whole webpage.

I want to use my fireworks layout but can i not keep the whole site in Fireworks or do i transfer it to Dreamweaver? (but dreamweavers pretty poo right?)

In the same respect i dont know what to do about using CSS?>

Would i be aware if i am familiar with CSS??? Its coding right?

Aaarghhh, i know i sound so thick right now but im a lil confused!

x

designing a site in flash is easy but not advised. basicy what you would do, is upon clicking a button, you would use actionscript to load the next frame. frames being your pages...

its not advised tho. search engines hate it, users get annoyed (as you cant bookmark a single page)or view a page via url, loading times, and they generally look naff asnwell.

dreamweaver pretty poo? lol no program is as poo as the person who uses it. dreamwevaer is your best bet, bu it can only do so much for you.

yeah css specifies styles to particluar elements. by styling many elemnts together you can build up a functional, cross browser, good looking page.