January 27, 2005
(Updated) Fussing And Fidgeting Over Site Design
Brighter, Sharper, Still Reasonably Spartan
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
All the recent discussion here lately about site design issues and browser incompatability ended up insinuating itself into that part of our brain which eventually becomes restless with how this site looks.
So, yes, we are mucking around with another new site design concept. Somewhere, deep inside, you must have known it would happen again.
We have no particular timeframe in mind for implementing a new site design. For that matter, we haven't yet even reached the point in the new tinkering where we have to address where the advertisements will go, although we likely will be abandoning the whole "position: fixed" approach altogether.
At any rate, feel free, as always, to go stare at the new concept for a bit. For commparison's sake, we are including a screenshot of the way the new design should look.
Portland Communique Design Concept
Update
Obviously, as of early Friday morning, the design with which we had been fidgeting and fussing has gone live. If there are any issues, please try to post about them here rather than in an unrelated item.
Comments (12)
doretta on 27 Jan 2005
Cool. I hate the current design. I found the previous one a lot more usable.
--The exception being that I do like the preview feature when it works.
Scott Jensen on 27 Jan 2005
I agree with my friend Doretta. I don't like the current look. The new look is much more appealing.
The One True b!X on 27 Jan 2005
Well, fortunately for you two, this time I agree. Heh.
Allyson M Dyar on 27 Jan 2005
Definitely prefer the new look.
The One True b!X on 27 Jan 2005
FYI, you might notice that on the test page, trackbacks and comments are included. That's not how it will be on the main page here once the new design is up -- I just needed to make sure I was figuring out how the sections would appear on the individual entry pages.
Bob R. on 27 Jan 2005
The test new look is a great improvement. Not only does it have fewer artifacts in MSIE (but it does have some minor problems, sigh), it is generally MUCH easier on my eyes reads more fluidly.
- Bob R.
The One True b!X on 27 Jan 2005
I need to know what those artifacts are, please.
teepee on 28 Jan 2005
nice work bix!
Lynn Siprelle on 28 Jan 2005
Sharp!
William on 28 Jan 2005
Bix, I think the new format could be improved upon by 1) having the left-column links stay fixed and always on-screen (this would also occupy the visually-uninteresting blue sky). 2) having the page's "communique" title appear entirely below the top image of the river so that readers can see the image. I don't mind at all that the "communique" scrolls off. Well, there my suggestions are. Hope this blog is around this time next year.
The One True b!X on 28 Jan 2005
The top river image isn't even supposed to be there, and is only appearing on large and/or hi-res monitors. I'm going to need to increase the height of the background image to make that go away.
And you must have missed the earlier and very argumentative thread regarding fixed elements, the upshot of which is that IE barfs on them and they end up totally destroying the layout in that browser because M$ refuses to code to standards.
Hence, no fixed elements.
William on 29 Jan 2005
Bix, I use a 19 inch monitor with Mozilla. Nothing but blue sky up top. I do recall that Micro$ux thread. Just forgot about it. Hey in a couple more years everybody who reads your site will be using Firefox anyway! ;) (two very bold predictions there)