This site recieves more cosmetic attention than Michael Jackson's face; and in predictable fashion I've made more adjustments. For an explanation of my motivations read this.
So, what's changed this time? Well several things actually, and not all of them are cosmetic. In typical obsessive fashion I've made a number of alterations to improve the efficiency of the PHP engine running behind the site. In addition the XHTML is a little bit cleaner this time around too. However, the main changes you'll probably notice are as follows:
Typography
As you'll have not doubt noticed the typography has finally changed. Though I'm sad to see the last of the cursive Edwardian Script used in the titles on many previous versions I will admit that the new, more contemporary font makes the pages oh-so-much more clean cut and professional. I've still used sIFR and despite it's shortcomings and the recent swing toward the sIFR opt-out trend I've witnessed in the web design community of late I've no intention to change this.
Information Bar
Gone is the "badge" style comment count at the head of each article (which my wife was most displeased about, I can tell you) and in is a new 'information bar'. As the name would suggest this provides brief information on the section it heads. Notice the small cross button (+) at the right of some information bars - click these and the information bar will expand the content to provide additional details such as links, etc.
The Media Panel
My second-favourite new bit of the new design (after typography) is the new media panel. Enhanced with JavaScript this panel just provides links to stuff I like and enjoy; music, videos, book and photographs. This is content I've wanted to add for some time, but have been restricted by the lack of space this single column layout provides. Being so compact I hope that people wont find it a distraction from the content (or at least a bad distraction anyway). It was also pretty good fun to write too ;)
New Comments Design
The comments have been redesigned - again. The most notable difference is of course that they now support gravatars; a more personal touch. Anyway I feel they look better but again by all means feel free to give your opinion.
Better Spam Filtering
My last article; Social Web Design, received a staggering 201 (!!!) spam comments. Thankfully only one slipped through the net - but that's still one more than I'm happy with. Therefore I've built a little system which will hopefully keep them out for good. It basically works by asking every commenter to answer a dead-simple mathematical question - simple for humans like you and me that is ;). Anyway fingers crossed it'll work well.
And that's about it. Sorry for not writing sooner - I've had my head buried in this project for the past couple of weeks now and I'm glad it's done. There are a few things left out that I'd liked to have put in and will do when I get a bit of free time, such as a live preview for comments, and random-loading media panel content but it'll have to wait for now.
If you're interested in seeing the old version for comparison then click here. As always don't be afraid to comment honestly :)
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- On 5th November 2006 Steve Tucker said:
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This is a example comment
- On 5th November 2006 joshua h said:
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Wow! Great work, dude :-)
I love the media box maybe make it pics a little bigger? - On 5th November 2006 J Phill said:
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Nice job. I thought you gave up blogging! :)
I like the media bar alot. It adds more personality to the site. I've been trying to figure out sIFR, it's something that I would like to use. Ignore that opt-out trend! - On 5th November 2006 Steve Tucker said:
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Thanks John. Whatever made you think that I'd given up blogging? I simply took a little break, thats all ;)
Glad you like the media panel. If anything it hads a little more depth to the page, which is never a bad thing.
sIFR is pretty easy really, though I guess 'easy' is relative to whether your a visual web designer or a techie! Anyway you'll need to download the release pack from Mike Davidson's site - that has all the documentation in it. The URL is www.mikeindustries.com/sifr/ - On 5th November 2006 kitsimons said:
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Nice job. Thumbs up for the media bar from me too. Does it remember what we left it on when we return? I'm too lazy to find out :-)
- On 5th November 2006 Steve Tucker said:
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Actually, no Kit - but a good idea that would be!
- On 5th November 2006 Owen Mc Gauley said:
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Love the design changes Steve. Especially the typography. The whole thing has a nice modern feel to it. Great work. I need to overhaul my site competely. There's just that matter of time...
- On 6th November 2006 Elessar said:
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Love the new typography and media panel. Really, every thing looks great. The only thing that looks a bit off are the Gravatars. But who am i to judge :P
Now, any chance of widening the blog content? :P I know, i asked before, but what can i say, I'm persistent :P - On 6th November 2006 Steve Tucker said:
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@Owen: Cheers for the comment - glad you like the new typography. It was my favourite alteration overall too. I reckon modern is the way forward ya'know!
@Elessar: Glad you're honest Elessar :). I've not plans to change the width of this site (which I feel somewhat defines it a little), but how about if I were to design a second, wider skin version, which could be selected by clicking a button??
Also, what is it you dont like about the Gravatar comments? Just so I can understand my visitors :) - On 6th November 2006 Stu said:
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Aaagh, maths never was my strong point at school, what if I get it wrong... oh god... 40 + 1 = 41? Ysss.
Nice site tweaks! Are you ever gonna do a complete re-design or will it just morph slowly into the new version, tweak by tweak? - On 6th November 2006 Elessar said:
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It looks great either way. As for the gravatars, i just have a personal hatred for thick lines :P
- On 6th November 2006 Steve Tucker said:
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@Stu: I imagine it may just morph tweek by tweek, but I dont really know... probably just see where the wind takes me :)
- On 6th November 2006 P.J. Onori said:
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It's looking really nice man - I really admire how you're constantly improving this site. Great work man.
- On 12th November 2006 lorissa said:
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excellent stuff. love that media box. i feel like quite the pleb now.
- On 18th May 2007 Sri said:
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It really is good, and I hardly know anything about web design...if it's not too much to ask...
Name: If you’d like, you can only give me your first..
How long you've been a web designer:
Would you call it a challenging job:
Do you enjoy it:
How did you get into this career:
How long does it take to design a site:
The pros and cons:
Send answers to slrsoccer@yahoo.com
Thank you! You’re help is really appreciated. The reason for this is because I’m doing a school project on Web Design and I get extra credit for interviewing someone (I’m in Elementary school only). Please try and answer as many of the questions as you can!
- Leave your comment...