Helpful resources/unabashed geekiness:


I just made this new layout, and I like it very much. I have designed this page in such a way so as to allow me to change the look of the entire site through one style sheet. This here is the style sheet I use, in case you are interested:



body { background: #021500;
background-image: url(newbg.jpg);
background-attachment:fixed;
font-family:bookman old style, new york; font-size:12px; line-height:19px; color:white; font-weight:normal; }

p{font-family:bookman old style, new york; font-size:12px; line-height:19px; color:white; font-weight:normal;}

td{font-family:verdana; font-size:11px; line-height:15px; color:white; font-weight:normal; padding:5px; }

h1{font-family:georgia; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; color:a12900; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic}
h2{font-family:bookman old style; font-size:10px; line-height:16px; color:ffffff; font-weight:normal;}
h4{font-family:verdana; font-size:10px; line-height:14px; color:ffb1c5; font-weight:normal;}
h5{font-family:georgia;font-size:30px;color:021500;}

#banner { margin: 0px; padding: 15px; height: 130px; }

#menu { border:1px; bordercolor:333333; position: absolute; padding:20px; top: 130px; width: 260px; }

#content { background-color:#021500; position: absolute; padding:10px; top: 130px; left: 290px; margin-right: 15px; }

A:link { text-decoration: none; color:#f78400; }
A:visited { text-decoration: none; color:#a15e00; }
A:active { text-decoration:none; color:#950013; }
A:hover { text-decoration: none; color:#110600;}



The fonts I used on this page:
Verdana
Bookman Old Style (Windows only)
Georgia
"Bookman Old Style" will show as "Georgia" on Macs, as well.


Colors:
#021500 (the green of the background)
#a12900
#ffb1c5
#f78400
#950013
#110600
white, a.k.a. #ffffff


The background image is part of a rather odd painting I made over spring break.


For special characters — anything in Russian and also °s, umlauts, accented letters and mathematical symbols — I use ASCii codes. To find ASCii codes for almost any symbol you could need, check the links at the very bottom of this page.

Note: In case you ever find yourself needing to say "ASCii" in verbal conversation, it's pronounced "asskey."



I used to use inline frames ("iframes") in my layouts; later, I switched to framesets. In January, when I made the layout that came before this one (with the banner of photographs on top), I decided to switch from frames to style sheets, and I see no reason to go back.


If you would like to see my codes, you are welcome to right-click on a page and select "View Source." I learned my basic HTML in about seventh grade from many places and mostly through tons of practice, and I've added a considerable amount of knowledge over the past couple months. If you would like to embark on your own web design (it's fun), I highly recommend these two sites:
Lissa's HTML Help
Funky Chickens HTML

Also, here is the awkward HTML help site I made when I was in about seventh grade. I can't change the title now because I totally forgot that I even had an Angelfire account — much less the password for it — so don't judge, man! To be honest, I still go to my own site for codes sometimes. It's not very extensive, but it is well-organized.
My own HTML Help website


Links that you might find useful:

Fonts:

Cross-brower fonts

Colors:

Browser safe Hex codes for colors
A long list of non-Hex colors

ASCii Codes:

ASCii codes for Cyrillic characters
Other ASCii codes
A superbly comprehensive list of ASCii codes (incl. math symbols)
ASCii codes for Czech letters
A long article (incl. a multitude of ASCii codes)
Another long list of 'em (incl. a few oddities like a music "flat" sign)

Keyboard:

How to do screenshots in Mac OS X