interactive web pages

[Fobbon Lazyfoot]

So I'm working on an electronic flora for one of my botany classes. It's a neat little program, allows you to access information really quickly, filter searches by specific character traits, pretty much do everything normal floras do but in a really dynamic way.

The only problems I have with it are:

1) It's a program. People like google have proved that a product will reach incredible amounts of people if it can be accessed with a web browser. Now, this is purely a not-for-profit endeavour, but we're still trying to make the work usable and helpful to as many people as possible - from amateur botanists to professional naturalists. I talked about it with the professor who runs the project, and his argument is that a web browser isn't capable of offering something as dynamic as a stand-alone program, and I wish that were the case. Thoughts?

2) It's old. Because it's old, it's ugly. I don't know any programming languages, but is there anything out there I can use, like perhaps a programming Dreamweave, to spice it up a little? Smooth out some corners, add some color here and there?

Oh and if anyone needs an Iris keyed down, i'm your man, cause I'm gonna know this shit backwards in my sleep by the time I'm done with this project...whether I want to or not.

[Ddrak]

I talked about it with the professor who runs the project, and his argument is that a web browser isn't capable of offering something as dynamic as a stand-alone program

It takes more work, but you can do a hell of a lot with a web page. Take Google Maps or Bing Maps as a fantastic example.

Dd

[Fobbon Lazyfoot]

The Jepson Manual is online, and it's pretty helpful, but a real bitch to navigate and you have to know what you're looking for. If you could merge that set of website with some kind of search engine, it would be a pretty powerful tool.

[Select]

No matter what program you use, it will be ugly as shit if you don't have a sense of design. If you have any design-based friends, ask them for some input. Dreamweaver (I think you meant?) used with Illustrator/Photoshop and I think Fireworks is pretty good. I've always been a fan of Flash, but that's a pain in the ass.

[Klast Brell]

Hire a designer. You have a company full of geeks who can make something functional and reliable. But it will be ugly and unappealing. Paying someone who can make things attractive is well worth the money.

[Fobbon Lazyfoot]

Paying would probably be feasible if we could convince someone to give us money for the project. The problem is the treatment thus far only includes a few hundred species, which despite taking a ridiculous amount of time, doesn't look impressive enough to get a grant.

[Mokoshan]

As a web designer, I can safely say I prefer Notepad and a freeware FTP to Dreamweaver. The other Adobe stuff's loverly, though.