HTML/CSS Publisher?

I'm a geek.

I'm not certifiable, I don't make money at it, I couldn't hack into my mother's Facebook page no matter how many FBI agents were after me.

But I am a geek, at least in spirit.

I know this because I just finished a week-long project that could have probably been accomplished by a non-geek in about 2.5 hours. Why did it take me so long? Because I didn't use Microsoft Publisher. I didn't use Microsoft Word. I didn't even use OpenOffice.

I used HTML and CSS.

In hopes that I connect heart-to-heart with other wanna-be geeks, here's my story:

Project Goal: Create a 72-page, pocket-sized field book, with formatted pages that include graphics.

Easy, right? Fire up any standard word processing or desktop publisher, spend an hour and a half entering content, and perhaps another half hour to format and tweak page sizes and sections, another 30 minutes to print and staple together, and the project's done!

However, I'm a geek. I think HTML and CSS are cool. I like programming computers. I'm not normal.

Step 1: Backstory

I work as a technician. I operate and maintain equipment that samples air. Everything we do is controlled by very official, frequently updated, Standard Operating Procedures. Highly classified and proprietary, of course. If I told you the details I'd have to kill you...that sort of thing (not really! Although, sort of...it's kind of complicated.)

Anyway, some of the stuff I need to know doesn't really change, not often, but it's not easy to memorize, at least not completely accurately. So, I keep a notepad handy. During my first year at work I wrote down important stuff in a 3x5 spiral notepad. When stuff changed, I scratched it out and added in the updated stuff. When the notepad was full, I got a fresh one, recopied all my important stuff and kept going.

After the first year, my important stuff outgrew my little notepad. It became a pain to recopy everything by hand. So, I cogitated how best to digitize my stuff.

Comments

[Prof. Pickle]

Excellent instructable. Well structured, user-friendly and it flows.

One thing, your meanings for HTML and CSS are ever so slightly wrong.
HTML: Meaning - Hyper Text Markup Language, You wrote - Hypertext Markup Language.
This is very minor, and it might just be a typo, which happens.
CSS: Meaning - Cascade Style Sheet, You wrote - Cascading Style Sheet.
Extremely easy mistake to make.

If the rate button was still there, you'd be 5/5.

[MiltReynolds]

Hello, Prof. Pickle! Thanks for the commendation and correction.

I'm not sure who to consult concerning definitions and acroymns. I do want to be accurate, and usually try to gather a majority of opinion by searching the internet. I'm also aware of the impact of time upon words and acroymns.

Here's one quick reference that supports the original text of my article:

"HTML (the Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are two of the core technologies for building Web pages."

Source: http://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/htmlcss

I notice that your instructables include titles with the word "colour"...could the ever so slightly wrong instances in my article be related to differences in continents?

Regardless, I thank you for your encouraging words!

[Prof. Pickle]

Hello MiltReynolds! I think you're right, it might actually be Hypertext Markup Language and Cascading Style Sheets. I'm beginning to think my source is wrong. I am extremely sorry for the mishap.

And although I am in a different continent (Australia), I'm pretty sure that names and the like would stay the same.

Nevertheless, I am sorry for the misguided comment. Keep up the good work and thank you for the quick and neutral response.

[MiltReynolds]

No worries, mate! (Sorry...slipped out...watching too much TV or Netflicks, I think!)

I'm intrigued by your instructable's page, as well. I remember many hours spent (enjoyably, most of them) learning MSDOS and experimenting with exe files. Your instructables are giving me the itch to try it again!

[Prof. Pickle]

Thank you, you are a more enjoyable person to talk to than the latter.

So, you know HTML, CSS, probably Javascript and MSDOS. Anything else in your vast knowledge programming wise?

I greatly enjoy talking to you, you always seem to be cheery.

Thank you Milt, may peace and prosperity be ever in your future!

[MiltReynolds]

The only other area of cyber wilderness in which I've ventured is that of QBASIC. I dabbled in it with my first IBM PC in the 90's. A decade or so later I interviewed for a sales position with a local fabricator of plastic wine tanks. The owner/manager, after asking the usual interview questions, casually threw out a seemingly ill-fitting questing: Did I know how to program computers? I hesitantly described my child-like learning experiences ten years prior, and his eyes opened wide in eager anticipation. I quickly tried to downplay the extent of my knowledge, but he shrugged off all my protests and hired me on the spot. A huge part of my job became the debugging and modification of an intricate program that controlled the company's oven, an enormous machine capable of molding tanks of 1000 gallon capacity!

I eventually figured out enough of the code to make the needed modifications and fixes...extremely frustrating experience at times, but what a thrill when the code worked!

[Prof. Pickle]

Wow, it's always a pleasure talking to you, you communicate as if that smile on your profile picture never stops!

Who thought that you would get a job on the spot (especially a job that I would have thought had nothing to do with "geeky" stuff) all because of some experience.

I know all too well how frustrating scripts that do not work can be. Almost all of my instructables have been worked on meticulously to stomp out all the bugs. And when the code just doesn't work! I have to isolate separate sections and see which one doesn't work, then find the line, then find out what I've done wrong.

Well, good luck to you on your future voyages into the unknown.

[racastro62]

Simply great! Good work, Milt!

[MiltReynolds]

Thank you so much for the encouragement! I was holding my breath, imagining both extremes. Either the post would be seen as too simplistic and not worthwhile (in the eyes of more experienced programmers) or that it would be seen as too technical for a DIY site.

Your thanks mean a great deal to me!

[racastro62]

In programming there's always someone that has no enough knowledge, or too much. But different approaches bring always something. If you drink your 2 gallons-a-day Cool Aid, nothing will be evolved or sophisticated enough. :D
Don't be shy. It's a good entry-point and not just that.

[MiltReynolds]

I hear you! Thanks!

[Computothought]

Cool. Glad to know you use "the gimp" also. Dumb question. You reference two css files, but only have a listing for one css file. Which goes to which?

[MiltReynolds]

NOT a dumb question at all! I appreciate your asking for clarity. That's something I did not explain very well.

On Step 6 I begin to discuss the css file that I named "html-css-publisher-screen.css". After resetting all tags to a neutral zero, my document then references "html-css-publisher-screen.css" to set new definitions and settings for my tags.

Good question! By the way, my css reset code came from here:

http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/.

You can download a copy of the code I used for this instructable here:

http://miltreynolds.zxq.net/download/html-css-publisher-reset.css

http://miltreynolds.zxq.net/download/html-css-publisher-screen.css

http://miltreynolds.zxq.net/download/html-css-publisher-snippet.html

[Computothought]

Thanx.

[jkahn]

As a web designer. I approve! :D
I've done the same thing for some of my projects haha
Good work! :D

[MiltReynolds]

Thanks for the encouragement!