Het Gaat Lijk Lukken Bakken

Koln and Kleves:

http://www.insaneaboutgarb.com/friesianfrockgirl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=26

Some organizational issues. I thought I had more Cleves stuff than that.

Thoughts?

Upper Class Dutch gown - Parte Twa

Some of the other styling has also been fixed.

So, what do y'all think? I've added a bit more content, a contact form, and tightened up the layout a bit more.

Is it ready to push out onto an url that I make public? Change over the old pages to point to the new?

I'm still debating about a subdomain, so that we could run two copies of Joomla! separate from each other. In which case, I should wait?

now I'm trying to wrap my head around lunarpages' addon domain concept.

Lisa, I think this might be a notion. If I register an add-on domain, I THINK we can get two copies of Joomla up and running. All it will cost me is the domain registration. We get however many addons we want with the account you chose. Which means they'd be easier to maintain. I'll have to drop by at some point and show you Joomla from the back end. Then maybe parse out a template for you. Something in purple, maybe? ;-)

May is supposed to be a good month for me. Birthday, Mother's day, Anniversary, Rori's Birthday.

So far, it's kind of sucking. *grumble*

Way too tired, my eyes keep crossing.

please to go kick the website in the shins again.

It's acting OK from my end. But I'm only checking in 2 browsers, on 1 monitor.

ETA: IE is still giving me fits. In that browser (and that browser, only) the rounded corners don't work, and the content still drops below the navigation when the Nav is on the left. Blerg.

OK, progress report:

I managed to fix the bug that was causing my linked pages to not display. It was a php problem, not my template. Which makes me feel good. And, yeah! I found it and fixed it. ;-) Dad would be proud.

I've decided to try some CSS code for rounded corners, rather than bother with the sliding doors technique - images as big as my articles would be a serious pain in the keister.

I have some php in the XHTML document to provide collapsible columns, once I get to the point that I'm using the right or left modules. Since I don't have any yet, I don't have anything to debug there - I suspect there will be.

Now, if anybody webby wants to go kick a couple tires for me....

on my PC, things are looking fairly decent in Mozilla.

In IE, my rounded corners code falls apart..... ???

And, worse yet, in Chrome, nothing below the header displays at all. Now, I THINK the issue here is with the little bit of javascript in the XHTML document that displays the date. Which I suppose I don't have to have, but rather like.

I'm open to whatever advice you might have for fixing things, other techniques for rounded corners and thoughts on being compliant with most browsers. (Though why, in the name of all that is holy, anybody in their right mind uses IE I will never know. The code is so clunky you can practically hear it splonk. Not to mention the security issues, the non-support problems, and the bloody proprietary font issue - which I think is what might be spiking my wheel with getting the @font-face aspect of CSS to work, though I'm not sure).

In short - Pooo.

Temporary home:
www.insaneaboutgarb.com/joomla

ETA - Fixed the Chrome issue with a new bit of Java Script. Haven't rechecked IE. WHY DOES ANYBODY USE IE?

ETA2 - Nope, still broke in IE. :-P

....me no likey.

Can't get it to work. :-(

So, I'm playing with potential page layouts.

They could be cleaner. I'm sure there are things I should and shouldn't do. But I do rather like flowers. ;-)

( Click if you're interested - files are large )

It's never a good idea to give me something new to twiddle with. Bad things happen. I must begin to know ALL about it. I don't go by halves. It isn't my fault, it's genetic.

(Case in point: conversation with Dad this afternoon, wherein I explain that I can handle CSS and XHTML, but I don't know PHP. And currently I'm having trouble and can't figure out the issue. Meaning I'm going to go dig around some PHP tutorials. Could I fix it another way? Likely. But I don't like using something if I don't know HOW it works. I won't be able to leave it alone. Dad responds: "Bwahahahahahahaaa!")

And, I've learned a few new things. Jen Kramer has yet another fab video on lynda.com. I therefore have learned a lot about using graphics in web design. And that there is one plug-in I need for GIMP, and that I've switched from Coffee Cup to KompoZer. Wheee!! And open source WYSIWIG editor with a CSS module. Though I'm glad I learned CSS first, or I'd not be able to restyle the silly thing AFTER uploading the template.

So, On To The Question at Hand:

How important is "branding" to independent websites that are really just there to present information? How much do you "prejudge" the author or what is presented based on the quality of the presentation?

Example A: I use Drea Leed's site quite a bit for reference for this or that. I know what it looks like, I know when I'm there - even if I came there via another route. I associate that look and feel with her book and her research, and therefore I trust it to a fairly high degree.

Example B: I've hit many a local group site or event site that's badly styled, poorly written, or full of circa 1994 animated gifs. I cringe. And I usually assume the event is pretty minor, the group is relatively poorly organized, or other negative associations. (I'm coming to the conclusion that the Kingdom website ought to go either Joomla! or Drupal based - on the grounds that it would be much easier to find people capable of managing that than it is those who can code. And code well. Every yahoo in the SCA thinks he's a web designer and codes. Very. Badly. Blech. Plus, hard-coded HTML is a bugger and a half to update - so it doesn't get updated)

I think when I get my legs under me with GIMP, I'll post some possibilities for my template design for general commentary.

BUT - before I do... how important do YOU think it is?