TXP Tips site goes live!

JanDW · 2008-09-26 16:35:34

Ok – I’m going to sound like an impolite, manipulative jerk, which is close enough to the truth.

I think the code should be on a lighter background too, and a line-height of 1.75em is a bit much I think.
Also in my not so humble opinion: courier is the worst font ever. Every time it is used for more than 2 consecutive words it makes me scream like a little English schoolgirl who has a knot in her pigtails. Those who know me will agree it’s not a pretty sight. Courier is the devil’s font.

I do like the site though, really. I hope we can still be friends.

Last edited by JanDW (2008-09-26 16:39:10)

masa · 2008-09-26 18:57:29

Well, I’m on a Mac so I get Monaco which is a great font to view source code. However here it’s huge (17px) and some lines run under the side column.

IMHO Monaco looks best at 9px and you might want to add Andale Mono for the Windows users.

JanDW · 2008-09-26 19:21:02

sæll Martin :-)

this typeface is no longer distributed with modern versions of Microsoft Windows (from Windows ME onwards)

wikipedia

masa · 2008-09-26 20:11:20

JanDW wrote:

sæll Martin :-)

Blessaður Jan, where did you pick that up from? :-)

this typeface is no longer distributed with modern versions of Microsoft Windows (from Windows ME onwards)

OK, scrap that. What’s a decent alternative then?

Edit: looks like Consolas or Lucida Console are the current alternatives.

Regarding the discontinuation of Andale Mono and the other core web fonts…

Even though the fonts are legally available from SourceForge and other Web sites and are included with Mac OS, Håkon Wium Lie (CTO of Opera Software) cited the cancellation of the project as an example of Microsoft resisting interoperability.

Last edited by masa (2008-09-26 20:22:48)

JanDW · 2008-09-26 20:30:07

masa wrote:

Blessaður Jan, where did you pick that up from? :-)

In my early twenties I lived in Iceland for a while: selfoss and in laugarás, near skáholt – working on farms.
How’s the putrefied shark this year? :-)

OK, scrap that. What’s a decent alternative then?

If it has to be a monospace font “lucida console” I suppose?

masa · 2008-09-26 21:22:53

JanDW wrote:

In my early twenties I lived in Iceland for a while: selfoss and in laugarás, near skáholt – working on farms.
How’s the putrefied shark this year? :-)

I see. Well, the Hákarl is as delicious/revolting as every year, ha, ha! (Whatever you think of it.)
Although I won’t know for certain until the Þorrablót festival in January/February. :-)

renobird · 2008-09-27 04:09:26

jstubbs,

Thanks for being patient and welcoming all the comments. :)

Here’s a quick mockup of my 2 cents on displaying the tutorials – done in kind of a rush so please forgive any glaring errors.
Take it for what you will – it’s just a rough idea. :)

Fonts are a little larger than normal – IMO tutorials should be VERY easy to read and follow.

edit: doh! Just saw you made some more changes – gray background removed

Last edited by renobird (2008-09-27 04:10:19)

JanDW · 2008-09-27 05:22:06

renobird wrote:

Fonts are a little larger than normal – IMO tutorials should be VERY easy to read and follow.

Nice work – I agree but I never can decide wether easy-to-follow means larger font-size or overview.
I always like fonts that are legible at lower sizes so that you can fit more content into the viewport.
Merci beaucoup for bringing courier down the fontlist, monsieur Stubbs, I think it did just that.

Last edited by JanDW (2008-09-27 05:23:23)

jstubbs · 2008-09-27 11:38:24

Hello again. I have now adjusted the CSS so that hopefully the code is easier to read. I don’t have Windows at home, so any feedback for IE would be helpful.

I should reiterate that this site was built in one day, so its still a work in progress. I won’t start adding content until the basic styles and functionality are in order.

Any comments are helpful – as are your own TXP Tips!

JanDW · 2008-09-27 12:47:18

Hello Jonathan – The RSS/Atom link both point to http://txptips.com/RSS
I think legibility has improved a lot, thank you. I’m curious what other people think.

jstubbs · 2008-09-27 13:10:31

Hi Jan, just made a few more changes. Working as I go. For the RSS feed, that is determined by the feed link tag attribute. In my form, I have this:

<li class="feed"><txp:feed_link label="RSS" flavor="rss" section="" category=""  /> - <txp:feed_link label="Atom" flavor="atom" flavor="rss" section="" category="" /></li>

I set section and category to “” because the default is the current section/category. I could set it to the “articles” section instead. Thoughts? Is it even worth having an Atom feed? Should I use Feedburner instead? I don’t know much about feeds.

Next task: Get rid of the code overflow.

Edit: Code overflow fixed, RSS feed changed to Feedburner.

Last edited by jstubbs (2008-09-27 13:32:21)

JanDW · 2008-09-27 13:44:42

why does the second feed_link tag have both flavor="atom" and flavor="rss" ? I think the latter flavor overrides the atom flavor.

Far from being an expert on feeds myself – I guess Atom out of discontent with shortcomings in the RSS standard. Or so says
the invaluable guide to seeming smart at dinner parties aka wikipedia.

Often enough I see both being offered, leaving the preference with the user?
Feedburner also offers the option of having people subscribe by email, and you get to see stats on your feeds (and a boiled down version of visitor stats)

Last edited by JanDW (2008-09-27 14:04:59)

ruud · 2008-09-27 13:46:04

What’s the difference between TXP Tips and the HOWTOs in Textbook? Fragmentation of information does not benefit the user.

jstubbs · 2008-09-27 14:21:01

@ Jan – I just created a Feedburner account for the RSS feeds.

@ Ruud – I don’t think Textbook is the right place for code tips. As one who has advocated that the various TXP sites become one – TXP resources as plugins.textpattern.com, Textbook to docs.textpattern.com etc, this might strike you as odd, but I believe that TXP Tips and Textbook How-to’s should be separate.

In my view Textbook serves as the main reference point for TXP – how-to’s on using forms, templates and tags is all perfectly correct, and there will likely be an overlap between TXP Tips and Textbook How-to’s. However, I don’t think Textbook is the right place to post all and every type of TXP code snippets and how-to’s (in my opinion). Where TXP Tips should start is where Textbook stops – further site building tips and code examples for TXP users.

Should Textbook feature example sites using TXP? No, that’s why WeLoveTXP exists – a specialist site that does not conflict with Textbook – in effect, a complimentary site. TXP Tips should be the same – a complimentary site for TXP users to get inspiration, ideas and practical code tips.

JanDW · 2008-09-27 14:44:12

Hmmm? What/Where are the HOWTO’s in Textbook? Are they the same as the tutorials?
Maybe the aim and specificity of txptips.com could be mentioned on its homepage as to distinguish it from the aim of textbook?

jstubbs wrote:

@ Jan – I just created a Feedburner account for the RSS feeds.

It’s great – if you get enough e-mail subscribers you can sell your mailing lists to malafide companies and make a fast buck. ;-)

Last edited by JanDW (2008-09-27 14:44:35)

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