Website Design - Zzzzz...

12:06.34 - Monday 15th March 2004   (Link to This Entry)

I've been hard at it (parp!) on the Scotland job and finally got round to creating a better-looking design for the site last night, after Kevi turned up and we spent a while playing with some ideas. The new one is a non-frames thing and looks a little like some TV ad - blurred background with crisp logo and foreground graphics.


The background fields are a repeating JPG file, and the stone wall is another repeating image - a GIF with a transparent backgroung to allow it to merge with the fields. The effect is quite pleasing and allows the site to use the full width of the browser window, rather than sticking to 760-wide as I was originally planning. The green, horizontal, gradiated bar doesn't do anything other than deliniate the wall, but there's a column of buttons that use the same effect down the left hand side, and they slide open when clicked to reveal options.

Anyway, The Long Kiss Goodnight was on C5 last night so I didn't get started on converting the (admittedly pretty crap) existing version of the website until 11pm. There were a few problems to overcome, not least the sliding menus, and I had to rewrite the stencil a couple of times after painting myself into a corner on a technicality. I still didn't quite get the site that appeared in the Photoshop mockup, but it's probably for the best as it may have spoiled things a little.

Website Manual?!?

14:11.18 - Monday 15th March 2004   (Link to This Entry)

Well this is a first. The restaurant website I've recently (almost) finished is apparently so complicated that it requires a manual. This may well be the first in a series of such requests as well, as the sites I'm doing appear to be getting more and more complex. While the average user I mingle with would have no problem finding their way around the administration are of the site, complete newcomers to the game may well require a prod in the right direction, hence the request for a manual.

It reminds me of the days when I used to write docs for Amiga programs. Heh.

Hammer Time!

21:45.45 - Monday 15th March 2004   (Link to This Entry)

Still a cracker, I downloaded the video to "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer, and I can't believe how energetic some of the dancing is, not to mention the rapid-fire lyrics and picture cuts. Damn you, Charlies Angels 2, damn you all to hell!