Recommendation A person who can't code, at all, trying to edit their own website's html - is this a terrible idea?

[bimble]

Well?
I have absolutely no idea what i'm doing, whatsoever at all, but i can see the patterns in the code, and i just need to add a few pages that look the same but with new pics and text. Can I potentially do this or will the whole thing explode ?
Would be so much better if i could do it myself rather than look for someone to help me.
(I haven't actually found a way in to edit it yet, I can just see the code thats there and see what i'd need to add, to make it match but different.)

 

[Pickman's model]

There is no better way to learn

 

[JimW]

There's loads of guides about and presumably you can preview or take it down if it's messed up. I picked up enough to maintain a little site of my own and then one for a journal I was working at and I'm really no natural at it at all.

 

[two sheds]

take backups

 

[Pickman's model]

Well?
I have absolutely no idea what i'm doing, whatsoever at all, but i can see the patterns in the code, and i just need to add a few pages that look the same but with new pics and text. Can I potentially do this or will the whole thing explode ?
Would be so much better if i could do it myself rather than look for someone to help me.
(I haven't actually found a way in to edit it yet, I can just see the code thats there and see what i'd need to add, to make it match but different.)

The general rule is when you start something you need to stop it at the other end, like when you underline stuff here or insert the spoiler code.

 

[bimble]

I'm going to put it away just for today, and see if I feel this brave tomorrow.

 

[Spymaster]

Well?
I have absolutely no idea what i'm doing, whatsoever at all, but i can see the patterns in the code, and i just need to add a few pages that look the same but with new pics and text. Can I potentially do this or will the whole thing explode ?
Would be so much better if i could do it myself rather than look for someone to help me.
(I haven't actually found a way in to edit it yet, I can just see the code thats there and see what i'd need to add, to make it match but different.)

Either get a friend who knows what they're doing round for "dinner", or pay someone else to do it. A couple of pages will cost peanuts. Some things just aren't worth pissing about with.

 

[bimble]

Either get a friend who knows what they're doing round for "dinner", or pay someone else to do it. A couple of pages will cost peanuts. Some things just aren't worth pissing about with.

You don't understand that i'd feel like a heroic cyber hacker, if i could do this all by myself. It really doesn't look hard. And then, if i can do it, I can keep updating whenever I like, without having to annoy anyone else.

 

[muscovyduck]

Html is pretty intuitive, a bit like learning how to use a sewing machine

 

[mauvais]

It depends what it was made with in the first place. If it was generated by a tool it might be quite difficult to do right. If it was handwritten, which not much is now, easy for a technically minded person to add bits in.

 

[bimble]

I'm having a helpful shared-screen call about it tomorrow with one who knows about these things, he reckons i can do it without disasters happening, shall see.

 

[bimble]

It depends what it was made with in the first place. If it was generated by a tool it might be quite difficult to do right. If it was handwritten, which not much is now, easy for a technically minded person to add bits in.

Yep, handwritten. By the same person who will talk me through things tomorrow. I'm weirdly excited about this idea.

 

[A380]

You don't understand that i'd feel like a heroic cyber hacker, if i could do this all by myself. It really doesn't look hard. And then, if i can do it, I can keep updating whenever I like, without having to annoy anyone else.

Do you work for National Air Traffic Control or at a Nuclear Power Station?

 

[bimble]

Do you work for National Air Traffic Control or at a Nuclear Power Station?

Astonishingly no. They'd be lucky to have me though, with the great ideas i come up with that never go horribly wrong.

 

[Pickman's model]

Html is pretty intuitive, a bit like learning how to use a sewing machine

With the bonus you won't bleed if things go wrong

 

[Puddy_Tat]

can you not run it through a HTML editing program (fairly sure there are some downloadable as freeware) which has a 'What You See Is What You Get' mode? it's not that much more complicated than editing a word document, juts different in some ways.

but yes - take backups first, save something by new name before you start editing, and preview (preferably in more than one browser) before you release anything in to the wild.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

It sounds like an interesting challenge - go for it bimble.

 

[planetgeli]

Astonishingly no. They'd be lucky to have me though, with the great ideas i come up with that never go horribly wrong.

Yes, you're in furniture restoration aren't you? Specialising in sofas?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

but yes - take backups first, save something by new name before you start editing, and preview (preferably in more than one browser) before you release anything in to the wild.

What's the worst that could happen - surely you can't break the internet?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

What's the worst that could happen - surely you can't break the internet?

seriously, it may just look shit.

or might look ok in one browser but not in another.

depends how many people might see it and how big a deal it's going to be if it does look shit.

 

[fishfinger]

What's the worst that could happen - surely you can't break the internet?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

View attachment 262817

It would be an awesome bit of bragging rights if that happened.

 

[Sue]

can you not run it through a HTML editing program (fairly sure there are some downloadable as freeware) which has a 'What You See Is What You Get' mode? it's not that much more complicated than editing a word document, juts different in some ways.

but yes - take backups first, save something by new name before you start editing, and preview (preferably in more than one browser) before you release anything in to the wild.

Those programs add all kinds of crap. Handcoding is actually easier. And whoever did the original should've checked out the browser compatability stuff so shouldn't really be an issue if bimble's just adding some similar pages.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Yep, handwritten. By the same person who will talk me through things tomorrow. I'm weirdly excited about this idea.

In general the answer is "yes this is a terrible idea" but if it's actually been handwritten to begin with, it will probably be okay. It isn't that hard to hack HTML pages around if they are simple and you don't want to change much - it's generally fairly obvious what does what in terms of displaying things. (That's how I learned in the first place, but that was back when they were all simple or they wouldn't display in Netscape.)

eta: obviously you need to take a backup first. I'm guessing this is not in version control.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

It may depend on how neatly coded the site is.
If it's well structured with easy to understand css class names and commented html it could be fairly easy.
If its a nightmare of table based positioning or strange asp generated pages it could be very tricky indeed.

I think the trickiest bit may be updating stuff like navigation bars.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

asp lol

 

[Sue]

It may depend on how neatly coded the site is.
If it's well structured with easy to understand css class names and commented html it could be fairly easy.
If its a nightmare of table based positioning or strange asp generated pages it could be very tricky indeed.

I think the trickiest bit may be updating stuff like navigation bars.

Commented html .

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Those programs add all kinds of crap. Handcoding is actually easier. And whoever did the original should've checked out the browser compatability stuff so shouldn't really be an issue if bimble's just adding some similar pages.

While I agree that WYSIWYG editors do tend to be crap (all the free ones used to be and even stuff like dreamweaver was hit or miss) I think saying handcoding is easier is a bit much. It's true that if you know what you are doing handcoding is probably your best bet but most people are not at that level. Especially when it comes to stuff like css.
I used to teach webdesign on jobcentre funded courses and I did push people to learn as much hand coding as possible but for most they would stick to the WYSIWYG mode as much as possible even after mastering the basics of handcoding.
If you don't even have that level of understanding then handcoding is going to be something you would have to spend time learning.

Also at this point I would recommend people just getting a wix or squarespace site if they want a site they can update.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Commented html .

<!-- lol -->

 

[lazythursday]

People still have handcoded websites? Well I guess it won't get hacked.