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The Bombsite redesign.
I’ve given the bombsite a very simple make-over. I’ve somehow managed to omit the colour blue. Don’t know how I managed that. For those that like to know these things the site uses the following plug-ins:-
aam_zcr_clearcache
asy_jpcache
fha_time_diff
ied_replacer
mem_akismet
mem_glinklist
ob1_pagination
pap_contact_cleaner
rvm_css
wet_slimpattern
zem_contact_lang
zem_contact_reborn
zem_redirect
That is all of them and they are all being used. If you are wondering how something was done and there is no appropriate plug-in shown then it was done with Textpattern which can do more “out of the box” than most people give it credit for.
Anyway, let me know if you see any problems with it please.
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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#3 2008-03-28 23:07:28
- els
- Moderator
- From: The Netherlands
- Registered: 2004-06-06
- Posts: 7,458
Re: The Bombsite redesign.
It’s quite a shock. Don’t know how long it will take to get used to a non-blue Bombsite. Also I find those huge font-sizes a bit overwhelming ;)
A couple of questions:
- What is ied_replacer? I’ve never heard of it and can’t find it.
- What is the date and time on your pages? At first I thought it was ‘now’ but that doesn’t seem to be it. Page last modified?
- Just curious where you are using fha_time_diff.
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Re: The Bombsite redesign.
Piwik Dashboard, Google Analytics Dashboard, Minibar, Article Image Colorpicker, Admin Datepicker, Admin Google Map, Admin Colorpicker
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Re: The Bombsite redesign.
I like it. I like CSS only (or almost only) designs, with just a few background-images.
Congratulations!
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Re: The Bombsite redesign.
Grey is the new blue. :)
The large font-sizes are more to do with us oldies having a problem with eye-strain when viewing sites with 8pt and 10pt fonts for any length of time. You might call it accessibility.
The time is GMT but I’m not sure how the use of caching might affect it so I’ll monitor it for a bit and maybe remove the caching as there is very little in the way of images to slow things down much. So maybe 2 fewer plug-ins.
fha_time_diff is subtly used on the “About” page. ied_replacer allows for the “smilies“you can use in the comment form and I can use them within articles too. Been using both of these for quite some time now.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned mem_akismet but maybe everyone knows about it.
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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Re: The Bombsite redesign.
OK Peter. Is that causing you a problem? What are you viewing with then?
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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Re: The Bombsite redesign.
OK Stuart, you have a problem as you can see in the screenshot above. You can easily solve your problem as I already suggested. If you don’t, you run the risk of other users with Windows and the usual browsers with default settings not bothering to return to the bombsite because it is unreadable or because it looks plain ugly.
I use default settings in IE, Firefox and Opera. They are set to use the web page’s stylesheet, fonts and colours. If some things are not set, most noticably the background, then it defaults to use Windows standard instead. (I don’t know what happens on a Mac). Some of us change the Windows standard because we don’t like our applications to have a bright white background. I have used black, blue, green and brown in the past and currently use grey. I find it much more comfortable than looking at a brilliant white light. That’s why the screen shot looks as it is. If I had a black background set for my home computer, your site would look different and other parts would not be visible. If I had a green background, I would be looking at a nice restful screen when I use metapad etc, but when I look at your site, yuck!
You are not alone. About a quarter of sites I visit, including many high profile, heavy traffic ones, do not set the background either. I often tell the ones I care about, but sometimes get the response that “If the user chooses to use those settings, then it is their choice and not my problem”. This is incorrect reasoning, however. My browsers are set up to use the designer’s style, fonts and colours, so if the designer does not specify them, it is NOT my choice but it is the designer’s. Somehow that little task of adding a background (recommended by W3C for contrast and to make the CSS validate, btw) is just a step too far for some designers.
I am not an eccentric on a mad crusade. Ann McMeekin mentions it in a nice article about accessibility. Even Zeldman advises it.
BTW, your server may be down at the moment as I cannot reach your site.
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Re: The Bombsite redesign.
thebombsite wrote:
The large font-sizes are more to do with us oldies having a problem with eye-strain when viewing sites with 8pt and 10pt fonts for any length of time. You might call it accessibility.
And all this time I thought Stuart was a lot younger than I am instead of just a little.
(Am a great fan anyway…)
I am not a professional woman
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Re: The Bombsite redesign.
It’s looking good now, Stuart! I really liked your last one with the bouncing blue bombsite balls but I’m becoming a fan of grey the older I get. I still see the dark grey at either site butting right up to the text, so you might need to do something about your body (declare a background I mean;)
I like the little arrows and I think they make the colons in the footer redundant now. The round arrow is a little bit jaggedy. The round quote thing with the comments is also jaggedy. I’m not sure if you can improve that or not. When listing the weblog pages, the blue-grey thing near the comments link seems out of line or something (firefox).
So those are just minor quibbles and overall I like it! It’s easy to read and navigate and got interesting content. Thanks for putting the TXPQ link there too. (I’m a mouse btw)
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#12 2008-03-30 19:09:41
- els
- Moderator
- From: The Netherlands
- Registered: 2004-06-06
- Posts: 7,458
Re: The Bombsite redesign.
thebombsite wrote:
The large font-sizes are more to do with us oldies having a problem with eye-strain when viewing sites with 8pt and 10pt fonts for any length of time. You might call it accessibility.
Actually I meant the headings ;) The content font size is fine as everyone can adapt it to their personal preferences.
The time is GMT but I’m not sure how the use of caching might affect it so I’ll monitor it for a bit and maybe remove the caching as there is very little in the way of images to slow things down much. So maybe 2 fewer plug-ins.
It shows the right time now so it must have been the caching.
fha_time_diff is subtly used on the “About” page.
So I correctly remembered it being discussed a couple of years ago ;)
BTW I like the new layout, already getting used to it :)
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