Doing web design course - mac v windows problem?

Mods, feel free to move to the correct area if Im wrong here.....thanks

My problem is I can enter .html code on a windows computer that i borrowed to test out my theory. I get my First Web Page banner the way is should look online in 5 mins. Yeah!!!

But......when I work on my MacBook Pro, no matter what I try (and Ive spent hours on something thats supposed to take 5 mins) it just wont look right when I go to view online

Im suspecting/hoping it has something to do with my Mac settings at this stage because it works on Windows for me. On my Mac I use Text Editor, save as a .html file and when I open it up as a browser page using Safari, all I see is the code entered not the Banner in its color. (when I say hoping, this mac is a refurb and I have visions of prolems arising).

Ive also tried saving the file as a .rtf file (for Text Editor), (saved as rich text I think it says - so not as a .html file). I then rename the file extension from .rtf to .html to enable me to open it in browser and heloooooo I see my banner........But also a lot of black text which isn't supposed to be there

Does anyone know what might be going wrong on the mac (settings perhaps), as I can do this fine on windows but not on the mac :-(

Thanks so much for any help anyone can give

So the same, self contained html file displays ok on a windows machine but not on the Mac.

1. This is the exact same file?
2. Does reference any graphics in other folders etc?
3. Which browsers have you tried on both platforms?
4. Are you using validated html? Or are you using specific, browser dependant, features?

msid said:

On my Mac I use Text Editor, save as a .html file and when I open it up as a browser page using Safari, all I see is the code entered not the Banner in its color. (when I say hoping, this mac is a refurb and I have visions of prolems arising).

Ive also tried saving the file as a .rtf file (for Text Editor), (saved as rich text I think it says - so not as a .html file). I then rename the file extension from .rtf to .html to enable me to open it in browser and heloooooo I see my banner........But also a lot of black text which isn't supposed to be there

Click to expand...

I think this is your problem. It sounds like you're not saving the HTML as plain text, which would cause problems. So, when you say "Text Editor", do you mean TextEdit? If so, it is, by default, a rich text editor. Although it can do plain text, you might be better to use an editor designed for coding such as TextMate.

vansmith said:

I think this is your problem. It sounds like you're not saving the HTML as plain text, which would cause problems. So, when you say "Text Editor", do you mean TextEdit? If so, it is, by default, a rich text editor. Although it can do plain text, you might be better to use an editor designed for coding such as TextMate.

Click to expand...

Solved!! It was indeed the switch from Rich Text to Plain Text and hey Presto!! It worked

Thanks a Million And also for the link, I'll check it out, Im only beginning a Web Design course and see mentions of Dreamweaver etc so I'll stick to whats used in the course first maybe.....

mrplow said:

So the same, self contained html file displays ok on a windows machine but not on the Mac.

1. This is the exact same file?
2. Does reference any graphics in other folders etc?
3. Which browsers have you tried on both platforms?
4. Are you using validated html? Or are you using specific, browser dependant, features?

Click to expand...

1. Yes
2. No (Thats my next step in the course) ;D
3. IE on Windows and Safari on Mac
4. Havn't a clue what that means but as I get deeper into my course Im hoping I will :Blushing:

Problem solved see post above by myself (Rich Text Versus Plain Text issue)

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated

Dreamweaver is considered the Cadillac of HTML/WYSIWYG editors from Adobe. There are other cheaper/free alternatives as well, but as you get serious into Web Design, having these kinds of software makes the process go faster, but initially it's nice to have a plain text editor to KNOW what you are coding in HTML/PHP/CSS/JavaScript or what other languages you are using..

Raz0rEdge said:

Dreamweaver is considered the Cadillac of HTML/WYSIWYG editors from Adobe. There are other cheaper/free alternatives as well, but as you get serious into Web Design, having these kinds of software makes the process go faster, but initially it's nice to have a plain text editor to KNOW what you are coding in HTML/PHP/CSS/JavaScript or what other languages you are using..

Click to expand...

Thanks a mil! Good to know:Blushing:

textMate is pretty good, I've used that quite a bit some time ago.

But Coda (panic software) truly rocks as a code editor. I've pretty much ditched dreamweaver and use code exclusively now full time.

Ive found a Editor that i really like called Textastic that is a really good Code Editor and has been getting some good reviews especially now there is a Mac version The Dev has Made a App for Mac and iPad and iPhone with iCloud syncing and in future update links to GitHub through their API we hope . .

Textastic is a text, code and markup editor for iPad and iPhone with rich support for syntax highlighting, FTP, SFTP and Dropbox. It will continue to be actively developed to provide you with the features you need to get your work done.

Click to expand...

I have sat on my iPad writing .h and .m files Objective-C and it really is nice and I'm only a Beginner Dev