The Weekly Web feature is my attempt to keep me involved in my own blog. I’ll open a new Weekly Web post on Sundays. Then each day I’ll add new links. Mostly, these sites are going to be typically goofy and stupid. Hopefully, the net result is that you will have more to enjoy when you visit my pages, and I’ll have more incentive to keep adding to the site.
Ta-da! I have yet again redesigned my website. It’s one of those tasks that makes feel like the site is still alive. In this case, the redesign was much needed. I have always been enamored with site design. Strange-Hungers is not my first outing in this arena. Some of my attempts were successful, but most were pure failure. Like the last design. What a flippin’ stinker that was.
Here’s why the last site didn’t work. It had a stable frame (no web pun intended) – Three columns capped top and bottom by header and footer. Main navigation was built into the header. The far left column also had navigation. The difference between the header and left column was that the left column offered more granular results. I had also mashed in there a tag cloud, search field, and content usage. The far right column display any content I coded in. In this case it was link lists and a banner. This left the site’s content struggling for attention in the center column. Finally, all of this structure was buried under graphics. It was ugly and my friends were gracious.
The new design I am proud to say I stole. Well not wholly, but in spirit. I am a fan of John Gruber’s DaringFireball.net. This tech blog uses little in the way of site graphics or complicated structure. This keeps the content easily readable. I also took note of Gruber’s rare compliments to other sites. In the end, I decided that the simpler-is-better approach was best for my site. Superfluous graphics eliminated. Strike the right column. Get rid of the fine grained browsing options. Make the page about the content and make obvious what I think is important for readers to see.
I spent several days scouring DF’s code for the clues to Gruber’s very successful design (the over-flattery is just in case he reads this). Simple and clean are great starting points, but these usually disguise more complicated means to the end. And I was right. His links behave differently according to context. Gruber also used tags that I had neglected or forgotten. His style sheet accounted for a great deal of html formatting tags. By the end of the first code read-through, I decided that I had to gut my current template.
First things first. I took to heart a comment Gruber made in his own style sheet:
If you copy without permission, I will mock you.
Alright then, don’t be a schmuck and copy and paste his code. Got it. I hate plagiarism, too. However, reading code is like reading music. Without the scores we would never know how Bach structured his symphonies. (Insert good natured ribbing from musician friends here) No one learns purely by looking or listening to a master. We learn by copying them and spinning our variations from what we learn. Mocking will come, I’m sure, but those that have the knowledge will see the distinct differences. And my failings.
In the end, I’m quite satisfied with my layout. As much as this layout was inspired by (and at times, lifted from) Gruber’s DF, this site design is my baby. It’s littered with my graphics, font and color choices, and most importantly, my content. No one can take that from me.
It has taken 5 days of morning to night work, but I have finally gotten my site gutted and re-designed. I’m still holding to the 3-column view and designed all the graphics myself. What’s more, the code under neath is all mine, too.
It was inevitable. With so many changes in the air, the site was going to get my attention. I upgraded the WordPress installation and that meant that my theme would need updating. The last couple of weeks have been spent locating a replacement theme and adapting it to my needs and aesthetics.
Welcome to the first edition of SHN Sex News. This is just an encapsulation of news stories that feature sex. You gotta love a free press, the Internet, and sweeps weeks. Much of this is fluff throw-in to keep readers/viewers around. Very little of it is Earth shattering news, but it is damn fun to read. What follows is a list and commentary from the Peanut Gallery. Check for new lists every Monday morning (what a way to start a week).
With the encouragement of a friend, I have opened my own CafePress store. Currently, the product lines are limited. That will change quickly. This will give me a place to create all those cool t-shirts, mugs, etc that I always thought should be made, but never had the funds for the mass printings. Check it out.S-H.Net SundriesAlso, check out Marc’s store. If not for him, I might not have gotten my store together. His wicked humor comes through in every piece.
After hearing a few birdies whisper about this hosting service and that hosting service, I finally decided to make the switch. Strange-Hungers.Net is now hosted at dreamhost.com. Their rates are decent. The benefits are huge. I am gettings of storage space, bandwidth, email accounts, and other amenities. I still have some housecleaning to do, but that’s easy.
Under the site’s hood is Wordpress.org’s Wordpress blogging engine. This engine seems more responsive, has a good support community, and is much easier to maintain than Moveable Type. Wordpress has all the tools I need including a few that I have wanted for some time. Look forward to new pages – Model and email submission forms. Hell, I might even put in a store.With all this shuffling about, I even gave a few minutes to redisigning the look of the site. Whadaya think? C,mon, post a comment to the site. Let me know that you love me.
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