Introduction

Welcome to the Red Ace 2 Introductions page. Before using any of the backgrounds on this page on your own, it is important that you read this first. Don't worry, this isn't any legal information, and it won't be too long. It's here more to help than to hinder. That's what i'm here for, right? It's only two chapters, each about a paragraph or so. So without further ado, here are the two vital parts.

1. Linking directly from this page to your own.

2. How can I make the fonts easier to view for people who visit my page.

1. Linking directly from your page to the backgrounds on this one

Let me just say this- I wouldn't advise it. You can if you want to, but I recently learned that doing so puts somewhat of a strain on my own site, and FortuneCity's server. And I can actually be reprimanded by FortuneCity if too many people do it, as it will weight down their network substantially. So be advised if this does happen, and I get a cease and desist from the higher ups, don't be surprise if a few file names have changed, and the backgrounds and images you linked to for your site no longer show up. Also, FortuneCity has recently begun tuning their bandwidth so that images on their site can only be seen exclusively on their site. Which means that if you've experienced difficulty linking from this site a background or image you may have liked, that's why. It also means you can never be 100% sure your background or image will show up correctly on your page. I recommend you just use the "right-click" button on your mouse that everybody has, but hardly anybody knows what for. Then choose "save as", and save it onto your own cpu. Afterwards, you can easily upload the image onto your own server, and then you can be sure to have it for as long as you want it. See, isn't that simple?

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2. How to make your page's fonts easily readable to visitors.

Well, this one is easily accomplished with a little thing we call a table. If you're unfamiliar with what they are, i've provided a brief HTML refresher for you. It's not that difficult, and it just goes over the basic points. But when you're finished, you'll have a spiffy new way to make your text stand out against backgrounds that sometimes get so colorful, they make the text look muddy.

What you see, as exampled below, is a table. It's just a way to box up text, and make a page look just a little bit more organized. I've experimented with them a little throughout the Laboratory, and if you're good at them, they can be quite handy.

Square 1Square 2Square 3
Square 4Square 5Square 6

There, see. Tables are nothing more than just borders for your page. So does this have to do with making text on a page easier to read. Simply this. Look at the six squares above. Now, tell me, which ones are easiest to view against this computer chip patterned background. Don't bother, I can answer that one for you. #'s 1, 3, and 5 are easiest to read. Why? Because they've got colored backgrounds in their panels that help them stand out from the other three. I'll betcha you can't even see what's written in square's 2, 4, and 6. Well, there's definitely something there. Highlight it with your mouse if you don't believe me. How did I change the background colors of those, and not the other three? Here's how.

<table bgcolor="red" width=2 height=3 border=4><td>Gimme a box!<td></table>

Which becomes:

Gimme a box!

Don't understand the extra tags? Well, all <td> means is simply this. "Put a divider here." Think of it as drawing a square or rectangle, <td> would be the left and right sides. For every side you want on your table, put in a <td>. And what you write in between the two td's is what will appear inside each box. Of course, height and width determine just that, the height and width of your table. And naturally, "bgcolor=your color here" decides what color the background will be. So how do you apply all this to making the text on your page viewable. Here's how- a simple, magical little tag we call <table bgcolor="red" width=2 height=3 border=0>. Just add the "border=0" behind the "table" in your tag, and something cool happens. All the lines and dividers that would've shown up on your page now no longer exist. Thusly, the tabled message above would become:

Gimme a box!

For a better example, let's take our six boxed table above, and change the border from 4 to 0.

Square 1Square 2Square 3
Square 4Square 5Square 6

See what happens. All the lines disappeared. The text is still within the box, but since the box's border is 0, it renders it pretty much invisible on your page. Now, again, how do we take all this, and make your text viewable. Here's how. When you're typing the words you want to appear on your page, just use this code in front of the text: <table border=0 bgcolor="your color here">. That way, your text will be within the bordered table, but no one will be able to see the table. BUT, however, they WILL see the bgcolor tag outline. Notice that the three separate colors still show up. Which will put a tabled block around your text that lets it show against any background. The only thing left is for you to broaden your horizons, it's time to think BIGGER!! What would happen if you made a table the size of an entire paragraph, instead of just a small box?

Without a table. (Highlight the text below this with your mouse to read.)

This is how your words will appear on a page. The words are blurring into the background, making them pretty hard to read. After awhile, a visitor to your page will get frustrated, or dizzy, and give up. No one will be able to read the words, so for the most part, they really won't care what you have to say.

With a table.


There, much better, isn't it? Plain to see, easier on the eyes, your page will be a hit. And since people don't have to squint to see it, they're more apt to come back for more, and maybe even tell a few friends about it. Lucky you! And if you experiment, you may find that your page actually looks better if you include the border in your table, as well as the colored table background, as I have below.

It's something I discovered recently, and thought I should share with you. Pretty cool, huh?
html code used: <table border=2 bgcolor=black>

You may have noticed that most of the text on this page is still easily viewed without using invisible tables. That is because this is one of the more easily viewable backgrounds out there. Well, at least using big, bold white text. Every background is case sensitive. The final call ultimately comes down upon the webmaster to make. With or without them, whichever looks better. It's your choice, after all. In any case, experiment to see what works for you, and good luck!

This is only a basic helper to learning tables. To learn more about them, seek out any HTML tutor on the net. There are plenty of them readily available, and they'll go into much more detail that I have here.

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