Murphy’s Law does not discriminate when it comes to writing pages for your website or blog. Regardless if it’s HTML, graphics, CGI, or JAVA , you’re bound to run into some ‘glitches’ along the way. While understanding and knowing how to use the program you’re working with is a big plus – you can track down and fix some problems by having just a basic understanding of how a program works and knowing what to look for. The following are some of the more common errors you might encounter when writing a document or using images . . . along with a few simple fixes to consider.
HTML
If the document displays everything as bold, italics, underlined, centered, etc. – check for beginning and ending tags for the code, i.e., bolding, underlining, centering, font characteristics, etc. You will find most of the time this will be a very quick fix to most problems. (I know . . . this one was a ‘no brainer’)
Tables give you a lot of control on how your information is displayed, however they can also be a real challenge. If you find your tables are out of alignment, columns are offset or the background images or colors you input do not display, try the following:
- Make sure all tables (including nested tables) have open/close tags for rows <tr>, </tr> and columns <td>, </td>, and the table(s) have both beginning/ending table tags <table>, </table>.
- Make use of ‘colspan’ tag when you want a single column in a table to span multiple columns, i.e., <td colspan=’N'> where ‘N’ is the number of columns you want to span.
- If your colored background doesn’t display or is not the right color – check for the # before the hexadecimal color – leaving this symbol out will cause a problem. Also check for the double quotes ( “ ) before and after the hexadecimal color – this will also cause an off color to display.
- If using a background image for the page or in a table, make sure the image has been uploaded and the path in the document BODY tag or the HTML ‘background’ tag for the table, row or column is correct.
Links help visitors navigate your website quickly, however, getting a 404 Error is definitely not cool. Always check links to make sure they are working once a new page has been uploaded. If they don’t and you get a 404 error, check for the following:
- Verify the page file extension used in the link is the same as the extension for the page uploaded. For example, a page with an .htm extension is not seen as the same document as a page with an .html extension
- Use absolute links in the document – the complete file name – and check for any typo’s in the name. While you can type in a www.domain name with mixed upper or lower case letters and have it work, a page name is case sensitive and must be exactly the same.
- Verify the page you are linking to is available on line.
Graphics/Images
Images can be a real plus but if they don’t appear as planned – seeing an empty white box is not good, making the page look unprofessional. Some common fixes for missing images are:
- Verify the image’s file extension is correct in the code, i.e., jpg, gif, png, etc.
- Look for typo’s in the name. Like page names, the image name is case sensitive.
- Are the double quotes where they should be? Not having the complete code correctly written for every aspect of the image name and it’s attributes can cause a problem.
- Verify the folder where the image resides is same as the folder used in the document code
If your picture is in a folder named ‘images’, the following would be true:
Correct: <img src=”http://www.yourdomain/images/yourpicture.gif” width=”500″ height=”152″>
Incorrect: <img src=”http://www.yourdomain/yourpicture.gif” width=”500″ height=”152″>
- Verify the image has been uploaded and is visible on line by typing the address of the image into the address bar. Sometimes there can be a problem during uploading and uploading the image again will take care of everything.
CGI/JAVA
CGI is a great way to get information from your visitors but it can be very frustrating trying to track down why a form may not be working correctly. These are some of the most common culprits:
- Has the CGI script been configured to work with your domain’s unique IP address?
- If you are using an email within the document, does the email reside within yourdomain.com? , i.e., inforequest@yourdomain.com
- Has the CGI script been uploaded to the designated folder in yourdomain.com? (Typically CGI-Bin)
- If using an email with a CGI script, have the email addresses been included in the script you uploaded to the CGI-Bin?
- Do the ‘field names’ in the document correspond to the names used in the body of the document?
- Are there spaces in the ‘field names’. If so, remove them and then change the corresponding NAME in the body of the document to match.
- Check for typo’s – all field ‘names’ used must be exactly the same wherever they are used in the same document.
JAVA can add a new twist to a page and give your visitor many options, i.e, share, bookmark, email, and best part, you don’t need to know how to write JAVA. However, tracing problems can be difficult if you don’t have any basic knowledge of how JAVA is written so as to separate the ‘instructions’ from the ‘meat’ of the script. The JAVAScriptSource is a good start for learning the basics before you try your hand at using JAVA. And, if you run into any snags – try these solutions before you decide to ‘not use’ the script at all.
- Has the script been configured, i.e., do you need to replace the image locations in the sample script you downloaded with the correct addresses for the images that you’ve uploaded to yourdomain.com? Are the images the correct size to work with the JAVA script?
- Has the JAVA script (processing portion) been uploaded to the yourdomain.com?
- If the JAVA script has been uploaded to yourdomain.com, has the correct processing script name been placed in the document’s HEAD Section?
HEAD Section Example: <script type=”text/javascript” src=”streamingBannerHorizontal.js”></script>
- If the JAVA script (processing portion) is not uploaded to yourdomain.com, has it been placed into the HEAD section of the document? (Cumbersome, but if you only have 1 page you may find doing this easier and less likely to have a problem .)
- Verify there are no typo’s in the JAVA script name (processing portion) placed within the document HEAD section.
- Have you included all of the variables inside the document body that are needed for the script to work?
- If you are using images, are the paths to get to the images correct? and Do they show residing on yourdomain.com?
These are some of the more common things to look for when troubleshooting a page. Hopefully you’ll find some of them useful and maybe save you a few minutes of time.
