Refreshment

[kingandy]

New website is up.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: Layout has been tweaked, moving the boxout over to the sibedar. I feel like I've cheated a bit by using a div to contain both the sidebar elements, but that div was there already in order to panelbeat the IE div implementation into behaving itself, so I've sort of taken two wrongs and maken a right since that div now has a more legitimate purpose.

As now coded, it would be easy to make that second side box appear on every page. Worth it?

Comments

[gowhonker.livejournal.com]

I don't like the merchandise & linkification bar being on the right hand side, it should be on the left. It gives the impression of crowding out the text that we acually want to read.

Also, you should mention me more. It's what people want to read about.

[arwel.livejournal.com]

Cyan is nasty. Also what Nook said about the linkification stuff.

[kingandy]

Yeah, it should really go under the links on the left but I'm trying to work out how to do that ... given that box is of a variable size, I mean. I can set it to a fixed distance from the top of the page, but that's not so good.

I have taken your second point under advisement.

[myki.livejournal.com]

I agree with Nook… the links look weird on the right hand side…Oh and you need to mention him more definitely

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

Nice use of colour.

He's right about the merchandise block. Under the right-hand block with the links in should it be.

You Time/Space visualiser, you.

[kingandy]

It's not really pure cyan, but it is the palest blue you can get without leaving the web-safe pallette. It is still quite bright though. I am in two minds.

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

On the CV page "Interests and Activities / Volunteer experience" laps over from one line to another in an uncouth way, suggestive of having had one too many Sherry Liqueruers or similar. Your Links page will save me from boring mornings spent trying to remember the address for comix pages.

Maybe green and yellow would be a better colour scheme? I like green and yellow.

[kingandy]

I can fix the wrapping text with a   instead of a space. ... I need to go through those links, some of them are four years old and no longer working.

Green and yellow? Mmmm, citrus.

[kingandy]

How's that?

[gowhonker.livejournal.com]

Worse, the bar now actually obstructs the text, at least when i view it.

[arwel.livejournal.com]

Better. The quote text at the top of the page goes a bit screwy in Firefox when you shrink the window so that it doesn't fit on one line.

[kingandy]

That may be a cacheing issue with the stylesheet. Hold CTRL and press F5 as you view the page, tell me if it's the same.

[kingandy]

Cool. Yeah, I was thinking of shrinking that text. The box there is actually a background image, it's the best way I could think of to do the floating title...

[gowhonker.livejournal.com]

Nope, no change. I'm just using a basic IE 6.00.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I'm using IE 6.0 at 800x600 and the lower box on the left still obscures the text, even after a force-refresh.

The issue is, as far as I can see, the words "Merchandise" and "Linkification" - they're expanding the box wider than the space assigned.

Drop them a couple of point sizes?

[blue-room.livejournal.com]

Mark W: I'd vote to include it on every page as otherwise there's a great big gap under the links box.

Personally I hate the colour scheme, but thats just me I suspect so I think you're ok to ignore me on this point.

Hmmm one random point have you considered a few more pixels of padding inside the main content box, it kind of works on the homepage but on the CV the text looks like it's far too close to the left edge of that box. Remember space is the designers friend, it makes things look cool (and saves you work).

[kingandy]

Ach, yes. That's due to me relying on the built-in header styles without explicitly specifying anything. IE headers are massive, aren't they?

I'll work on that.

[kingandy]

Ah, I thought you meant it was still on the right but the text was flowing underneath it. :) OK, I've given those headers a fixed width, should work now.

[kingandy]

Done and done. I'll think more about the colour scheme later, it's pretty easy to change apart from the image at the top...

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I'm told, by those who know, that "IE iz teh SUXX00R!"

Or something.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

All seems fine now, by the way.

[blue-room.livejournal.com]

Mark W: Oh btw the3D CSS Box Model is dead useful for visualising what bits of a box to fiddle with, helped me with the above.

[pkgem.livejournal.com]

OK, I obviously missed the boat but looking at your site now it looks very good and somewhat professional (in a personal website kinda way). I like the use of colour - personally, I'm a fan of cyan and pale blues for website hues. Nothing leaps out as wrong. Looking good, Mr. Mason.

P.S. You need more about Nook on your website. It's what we all want to read.