FONT problem with web site

They have: 4 posts

Joined: Oct 2000

Ok this is pretty upsetting. But I guess upsetting problems is just part of building your first web site.

I used special "graffiti" fonts for my http://www.NonPopHipHop.com
site. As an HTML editor I used Microsoft Word 2000. And My site appeared to be doing just fine. . .on my computer. But as I began to view it on other people's moniters i noticed a "horrific" upsetting problem. All the fonts were normal plain ugly every day fonts! Go see for yourself its retarted!

My site will have many features like an instant messenger, free email, free webspace (for hip hop sites), message boards, free chat, a radio station, a very extensive link page, and what ever else I will encounter. I dont rely on graphics at all. Just the content, a back ground, and my beloved graffiti fonts. I want every thing to load as fast as possible. This is why my blood boiled to solar tempertures as I was to behold the horror of my web site. . .The mangled fonts.

I believe that those fonts wont appear on other moniters unless those fonts r in the persons computer. I hope to God, Jehovah, Jah, Allah, and the smurfs that im wrong. But if i'm correct what can I do to remedy this??? And if i'm wrong what can I do to remedy this?

I have noticed in one persons computer he was asked to download something to view the page correctly. What the hell is that?!!??!!? Is that from the web space provider (angelcities.com)? I know its not from me. Anyways it did'nt even work cause nothing downloaded. It said that the internet was too busy or something like that and to try again later. Some one has to explain all of this to me cause im about to stick a rusty machete through my ears while jumping infront of cruise liner ship in the name of saving the whales! Dont mind my eccentric blabber, its how I deal with things. Thank you in advance.

They have: 3 posts

Joined: Oct 2000

You just learned your first lesson on what a pain in the neck web design can really be. You will not be able to guarantee the look of text on your users platform, unless you create them as graphic images. In turn you will sacrifice load time. Depending on what tools you have and how you handle it the results could be horrid. Sorry to be so vague, but it's not something that will come over night. Good luck!

One other little bit of information. It is possible to provide a pop up window offering the necessary font downloads. They download pretty quickly, but it won’t be very popular.

[Edited by Neptune on 10-24-2000 at 05:36 AM]

cnick84552

They have: 59 posts

Joined: Mar 2000

Well, there are some ways to embed fonts. Here's a page on embedding fonts for Internet Explorer. I believe there's a way to do that cross-browser also, but I can't find an example script right now. It may be a little difficult to work with if you're new to web design, but if it's really important to you give it a shot!

Good luck!
Phyllis

They have: 100 posts

Joined: Sep 1999

>>>I believe that those fonts wont appear on other moniters unless those fonts r in the persons computer. I hope to God, Jehovah, Jah, Allah, and the smurfs that im wrong. But if i'm correct what can I do to remedy this??? And if i'm wrong what can I do to remedy this? <<<

Sorry, the gods are doing their own thing. If you were a god would you bother with us?

In order to display the fonts correctly in html (average every day html) the fonts have to be on the persons computer. Almost all computers have these or some combination:

Ariel, Helvetica, Times or Times New Roman, Courier, Verdana

Courier is a fixed width font meaning a 'i' will occupy the same space as a 'w' so its good for tables.

Its best to stick with these for text. If you must use others then you need to make .gif, .jpg or .png image files, pretty much. Most designers use images for headlines etc. As they do at the top of this page.

Another alternative is to use Flash or Acrobat (.pdf) files which have the files imbedded in them and pretty much read the same on any computer.

It's a pain but everyone is up against the same barriers so...

They have: 100 posts

Joined: Sep 1999

>>>I have noticed in one persons computer he was asked to download something to view the page correctly. What the hell is that?!!??!!<<<<

More than likely it was the browser trying to 'help'. The underlying code in browsers is pretty complex so it probably knew something was wrong but didn't really know how to fix it so it gave you a message that was as close as possible. The coders can't make a fix for every error but they can and do put code in for the most likely errors.

You will also find that your pages may display differently on Explorer and Netscape even on the same computer. They will also display Explorer on a Wintel machine differently than Explorer on a Mac ad infinitum, and don't even think about UNIX... different font sizes, borders etc...

Justin S's picture

They have: 2,076 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Yep, everyone here is correct. The person has to have the font on their computer for it to show up. I have the graffiti font, so I could see it, but most people don't have that font. Also, the font 'Tahoma' is on pretty much everyone's computers I believe...

mjames's picture

They have: 2,064 posts

Joined: Dec 1999

Obviously, the font you have as your default setting on your computer isn't the same as on everyone else's, thus they are seeing it in a font you don't want them to. You need to specify the font name and size. Welcome to web designing. Laughing out loud

Brian Farkas's picture

They have: 1,015 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Quote: Originally posted by Marc James
Obviously, the font you have as your default setting on your computer isn't the same as on everyone else's, thus they are seeing it in a font you don't want them to. You need to specify the font name and size. Welcome to web designing. Laughing out loud

From the message, I took it to mean that the poster had already specified the font names/sizes, and that they weren't showing correctly on other computers. The reason for this would be that the font was not installed on another computer. Because this is the case, if it is essential that you use a certain font on a web page that is not standard, make it an image or flash file.

Brian

sumeiko's picture

He has: 147 posts

Joined: Jun 2004

Yes, it is a bit of a pain, but that's Web Designing for you! It would probably be a good idea to change the font style to something a bit more common. Smiling

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
- Albert Einstein

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

This is a four year old thread -- please don't open old threads unless you have something truly significant to add! They remain for reference only. Thanks! Smiling

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