Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with site and website

What are some examples of "classic" webiste design?

SouthCNorthNY — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:56:15 -0800

What are some examples of "classic" webiste design? I'm looking for examples of layouts that haven't changed much over the years (because they were good, not because they were lazy.) I'm looking for things like google.com, not timecube.com

Where to find freelance web work online?

Vorteks — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:39:55 -0800

I'm a web developer and have been working the same job for 9 years. Recently, due to challenging economic circumstances, I've decided to start looking for freelance work to supplement my income, if not replace it. Are you a freelance web developer or designer? If so, where do you go to find work online? I've had some success with local Craigslist listings, and I'm continuing to look there, but the volume of ads is quite low at the moment (I'm in Detroit, you see. Yes, I know I'd do better elsewhere).

I'm aware of GetAFreelancer.com, but it seems like almost all the listings there are highly unrealistic in terms of both price and scope. "I want someone to build me a site like Youtube.com. I have a budget of $75 and it needs to be done by Saturday" is typical of the ads I've seen there.

I'm also aware of AuthenticJobs, Sitepoint's Marketplace, and of course Metafilter Jobs. Those places tend to have much higher quality listings, but they are few in number and the competition for them is fierce.

I've heard about Guru.com and Elance.com. I've yet to try them, but I'm afraid they'll be a lot like getafreelancer.com. What experience have you had with them?

I've read some of the older Metafilter questions that are similar to this one, but I wonder if the answer might be different in 2009.

How can I find work using the internet? Are there any other online sources I should look into?

Thank you for your help!

Using Creative Commons licensed works on a political website?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:22:57 -0800

Dear mefites, Is it legal to use creative commons stuff, properly licensed and attributed, on a political website that 1) expresses views that the original author might not like, and 2) raises money, such as for a candidate or a party's branch? Particularly interested in stuff that's got a non-commercial license but is okay to use for derivative works. This is in the U.K. Thanks!

A Microsoft product that thinks it knows what's best for me? Perish!

ChasFile — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:13:00 -0800

When I do Add -> Existing Web Site in Visual Studio 2008, if the existing site was created in an earlier version of .net (say 2.0 and I'm running 3.5) Visual Studio automatically starts an update wizard to convert the site to 3.5. How do I turn off this behavior so that it simply imports the web site without updating it? I know this is possible because the first time I did this it happened flawlessly, but at the time I didn't un-check the "automatically update sites next time" check box. Gah.

Underground Website?

cell divide — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:25:32 -0800

Trying to find a site first linked on Metafilter about underground and forbidden places. It may have been years ago, but I remember a site about underground/secret places that people would get into, photograph, and share.

Pet vet on the 'net yet?

pseudostrabismus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:17:43 -0800

For minor pet health questions: suggest websites that are comprehensive & user-friendly? I'd like to avoid unnecessary vet visits. Last week my cat had runny eyes for no apparent reason, and googling common search terms (cat+eye+discharge, etc) led me to a lot of annoying sites jam-packed with ads, poor user design, and sketchy-sounding information. (He's fine, now, by the way. I imagine his cat allergies were acting up or something.)

I'd like a pet health website with comprehensive, searchable entries offering detailed and specific information about animal health issues. Everything should be explained in terms geared to the literate layman- in other words, use of Latin terminology is fine if it's explained plainly and intelligently, rather than cut & pasted from a vet textbook in indigestible hunks, or dumbed down into single syllable hyperbole in the vein of POOR KITTEH OH NOES! VET TIME HURRY! Levelheadedness would be a plus, as not every sneeze needs a visit to a vet. I'd love to see stuff like "If your cat is breathing fine, it's ok to wait out the sneezes or a week or so. After 10 days, if it's not better- or if the cat is gasping- it could be problem X or Y, so take him to the vet."

Can anyone recommend such a site?
Thanks in advance!

PS, Personally, I'm most interested in cats, but I'm sure other users would appreciate sites relevant to their pets too. So if you know the #1 health resource for the spiny echidna or whatever, well, shoot!

1) web-site idea, 2) ??? 3) The Awesome

indiebass — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:52:23 -0800

Can the hive help me get a web site started? I have very specific ideas, but I'm a dinosaur when it comes to everything about the insides of websites. Back in the day when I set up a website, it was the late 90's and everything had to be coded by hand and ftp'ed to someplace. I realise we are in the 21st century and there are much easier ways to go about things.

I already have a domain purchased. What I want to make is a site that is very similar to the old Pajiba setup: graphic banner across the top, assorted goodies in one or two side columns (probably just links in one, at this point) and a main area in between. The idea behind the site is that I'll be reviewing things, but they won't necessarily be new things. That is, whatever my netflix might be, an album I listened to... things like that. So in the middle I'd like to have a photo, a title and one sentence, where you can click on the title and it takes you to a separate page that is cataloged as http:www.mydomain.com/review_title.html (or whatever) and looks like the front page, except the middle bit is just the extended article.

Further complicating things, is that I wanted to set up the website with free hosting, if possible, and if I actually start generating traffic outside my immediate circle of friends then I'd think about buying some space/bandwidth.

So how do I even start? I know you can use a unique domain name with, like, blogger - which is free - but do they let you structure the workings of it like I want to? (the title-link deal to pages behind the page) I feel confident that I would be able to make the page look like I want it to, it's more the workings and the hostings that I am unsure about.

I've put off asking this question out of embarrassment for a couple weeks, because of the n00b-ishness, and I've really tried to navigate it on my own, but put in "free web hosting" into the google and it's like the internet punches you in the face. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

How to fix a website and make it compatible in firefox AND IE?

bigcheesegump — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:09:18 -0800

I need some help with a CSS/HTML issue as well as an Internet Explorer issue. I created an online portfolio and have been trying to update the design to make it more user-friendly and more aesthetically pleasing. However, I have run into a few road blocks.

This is the new design that I would like to implement. If you are using Firefox, you should see it as I see it. However, if you are using IE, it is a mess. What can I do to stop this? From brief research, it looks like it is an issue using the position:absolute style tag in my css file. Is there a way to make that design work for both IE and Firefox.

Second, if you navigate to this page you will notice a pdf file that is truncated in height. I cannot for the life of me figure out what is causing this. (The other pdfs on the web site are not configured correctly and I am aware of this)

Any help in figuring out these problems would be appreciated. Thanks!

Spiffy PHP file upload script?

kryptondog — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:21:19 -0800

I'm in need of a spiffy PHP file upload script. For great justice. The print shop I work at is in the process of moving away from our current (dinky, suffocatingly restrictive) web host. I was charged with the task of finding a new host, creating a new site design, getting everything transferred, etc. I'm still in media res but things are moving pretty smoothly.

One of the most important parts of our old site was our file transfer system that allowed customers to upload their art to us. The old script was garbage and I'd very much like to offer our customers something nicer. I could probably call upon my fading PHP-fu to cobble something together, but before I resort to that I thought I'd ask the Hive Mind if it knew of (or better yet) had any experience with a PHP-based file upload script that would satisfy me needs. Here's what I had in mind:

- It's gotta be account-based, not just a pool of files. I'd prefer it if people could sign up for an account themselves, but it's fine if it can only be done by an administrator.
- On that subject, a decent user and administration control panel.
- It'd be nice if it used AJAX to refresh the FTP connection to the site while the file uploads. Our old file uploader had a nasty habit of timing out in the middle of customers sending huge files, which is (needless to say) pretty bad. Also, some kind of progress bar (possibly with "time remaining") would be a huge plus for our more impatient customers.
- Multiple file upload inputs on one page would be awesome.
- Email notifications of some kind would also be awesome.
- Our ultimate goal is to make the file uploader part of a group of services that we offer our customers online, so it would be highly beneficial if the script was made in such a way that it could easily (and legally) be extended upon.
- Free would be nice, but we'd have no problem paying for a quality product.

I know that it's easy to just sit on my butt and make a wish list of features that I want for this thing, but maybe you've come across something that comes close to matching what I need. I'm aware that there's a lot of services similar to what I need that host the data on their servers, but I really need this to be self-contained on my companies website (however, if you've had positive experiences with one of the aforementioned services please share that too). Thanks in advance.

How do I legitimately hijack website content?

jedicus — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:25:07 -0800

HTML/Javascript: I need to "hijack" website content so that it appears to be hosted by a different domain (with the full knowledge and cooperation of all parties). My boss maintains a website at, let's say, boss.example.com. He has an affiliation with another organization with a nicer domain name, let's say, fancyexample.com

He would like to allow users of fancyexample.com to go to fancyexample.com/boss and see all of his boss.example.com content as though it were hosted on fancyexample.com. So if a user went to fancyexample.com/boss/homepage.html they would see that in the address bar but the content would be pulled from boss.example.com/homepage.html

Ultimately, I want to write a small shell page to place on fancyexample.com that "hijacks" the boss.example.com content in as seamless a way as possible. I believe that this can be done very simple using javascript and a frame but I don't have much web programming experience.

Again, don't worry, my boss, boss.example.com, and fancyexample.com all know about this and approve completely.

Help me keep my site statistics up.

Solomon — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 02:51:10 -0800

My Onestat account is dying soon. Please help me find a replacement. I have a free Onestat account (www.onestat.com) that's due to expire soon. I need a replacement. I've googled, but only seem to find free-to-try accounts, or stuff that contains items on my "do not want" list.

I want: details of country, referring page, total pageviews and the time of "arrival". I want a permanently free account (the page is just a hobby page, so I don't feel like spending money on it).

I don't want: something I have to download. Extremely detailed details of every single visitor. A counter.

What I love about Onestat is the easy to read display - http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1644/clipboard01ql8.th.jpg (sorry, I don't know how to hide the url behind a word). It provides me with just the info I need, without lot's of stuff that I don't understand/need.

Help an artist with his style?

InsanePenguin — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 11:42:25 -0800

PortfolioWebsiteFilter: I need some examples of aesthetically pleasing websites! Ok Hivemind, so despite being an artist (and therefore, apparently, creative) I want to build a website to document my art portfolio for colleges and future job opportunities and I just can't figure out what basic layout would work the best for ease-of use and generally looking nice. I have a solid knowledge of HTML (archaic, I know,) and am learning CSS quickly and without any issues.

So, sidebar, header bar, or no over-all structure, instead individual pages?

Anyone have any good examples of a good-looking website (particularly ones with a large amount of graphics and style) ?

Also, any resources on building a sturdy (for lack of a better word) and easily-maintainable sites?

Thanks in advance!

Oh, and if any sites are given that require slightly more than what I know, let me know if you can! I'm in no way opposed to learning more about design, development, or programming!

Best depression-related communities online?

tastybrains — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:15:11 -0800

In your opinion, what are the best online resources for people with depression? (e.g. communities, forums, web-based magazines etc). My Google-fu sucks and I don't have it in me (too depressed, heh) to sift through page after page of crap, fake spammy sites advertising cheap antidepressants and the more "professional" but cookie-cutter sites like WebMD that all spout the same clinical crap over & over again.

I'm looking for interactive supportive sites for people dealing with somewhat severe depression. Do any exist? What are your favorites?

I guess I'm looking for someplace to go when it's 3 am and I still can't sleep and I need to read something that might make me a bit more optimistic about how I've been feeling for the past few months.

greymatter for stupids.

ITheCosmos — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 17:46:45 -0800

I'm an idiot: did I just lose part of my website forever? [Greymatter Issues] OK, so I am working on cobbling together my first site. And I was just cutting and pasting the html for the left and right columns of my main page into the corresponding Greymatter template fields, hit save, reloaded my site, and the columns were empty. Went back to the template page, and the fields are now blank. What did I do and how do I fix it? I feel like a big dork.

Website stats

Tlogmer — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 15:16:06 -0800

I need a free, easy-to-install program to analyze server logs. The info is there already, tucked away in the www_logs directory, but the host-provided analysis page ("analog reports") is too cluttered and ugly for my client. I tried installing awstats but it wanted me to mess with apache settings, etc, and all I really want is a script that'll go into the logs directory and make everything easy-to-read.

What Link had most posts to Mefi

warhol — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 19:03:39 -0800

[FrontPagePostFilter]. What link has been the victim of the most front page posts on MeFi? I wonder, only because Strandbeest hit its 4th one today and I suspect that the record's got to be higher than that.

Help me to write algorithms

grefo — Sun, 11 Jan 2004 20:33:20 -0800

Can anyone suggest a book, website, etc. that describes the process of breaking a problem down in order to write a program. I have struggled for far too long trying to figure out how to write a program from scratch only to be stumped by the logic involved.

This question, I think, is outside of a specific language or philosophy (Java, OOP, et al.). It's just something I haven't been able to get my head around.