Free Layouts
Yep, free layouts. But not the kind of free layouts you're used to...
Most free layouts have a set theme. Maybe they're fiery, or bubbly, or icy. You usually download them, zipped, along with the images you need and maybe instructions. When you decide to use one, your site will look like all other sites that might be using the same free layout.
Now, because I hate to see websites that look the same, I decided to make free layouts that are downright unattractive if unedited. Being edited is their purpose. Of course, you will require some HTML knowledge to edit them, but you won't need any extensive skills. Everything that you can't assume from common sense if you know the very basics of HTML and CSS is included.
They also differ from most free layouts in that while I do appreciate a link-back, you don't need to link to The Cave of Dragonflies at all or mention where you got the template from as long as you don't go around pretending you wrote it completely from scratch. The reason I don't really need credit for it is that I'm only giving you the basic coding, and you handle the rest. I didn't create HTML and CSS, and this is just a method of using them that I've learned from other sites about web design. So basically, after you edit it, I own nothing in it. Of course, it's a nice way of thanking for the basic template to link back, but you absolutely don't have to. And if you do decide to link, I don't care where it is as long as it's not a "This site sucks despite that I got my layout template from it" section. =P
The layouts come in black and white, no background images or anything, and contain copy-paste HTML code (rather than a download) and vague instructions which will help somebody who is not particularly advanced at layouts, but not somebody who has barely any knowledge of HTML at all.
So, without further ado...
This layout is made so that the menus have a fixed width, but the content will stretch out to fit exactly into the browser window. This will not be good for image-based layouts; you can style the menus with background images, header images, etc., but because the content stretches, you can't use any background images on that. Remember to edit!
This is recommended ONLY for people who are planning to make heavily image-based layouts (relying a lot on background images, images for headings, etc. to make the site look more spiffy; my Voice of the Forest style is for example image-based). For anybody with a resolution higher than 800*600, it wastes a lot of space, and therefore, I'm seriously going to kill the next person I see using it with plain background colors. It has one advantage, which is that it perfectly emulates the look of a table layout to the tiniest detail even though it is made with divs, so if you're very familiar with making graphical layouts for tables, you shouldn't have too hard a time styling this one. It is, however, quite a bit trickier to edit than the stretching div layout, and the stretching div layout can technically be made into a graphical one anyway although it doesn't have a couple of the conveniences that this one has, so unless you REALLY think you're up for it, use the other one!
If you are having any problems with the layouts, feel free to contact me - I'm always ready to help.
Page last modified January 20 2007 at 01:38 GMT
