Messing about with websites.

[vereybowring]

I have, from an early age, been a bit of a computer geek type person.
This means I like messing around with computers in both the hardware and software varieties.

So last night I was having some of my insomnia issues.
This meant I was sitting looking for something to do that wouldn't disturb the rest of the flat.
As usual, this means I got onto one of the domains I own and started messing about with a new website design.

It would be nice to get a bit of feedback on my efforts, this particular one is a blog of sorts (as yet with little on it).
I already have the other site I worked on last year here and the two are entwined on the server.

Any feedback is welcomed and feel free to ask questions, I likes geekery chat.

[maccafan]

Nice WP template..Me like..

You can make a very good front page with WP and lose joomla..

You can make use of this script:

wpengineer.com/1284/joomla-to-wordpress-content-converter/

[vereybowring]

Yeah, I know I could do the whole lot with just wordpress.
The domain was originally joomla because I was learning about joomla.
Now I am learning about wordpress.

The installations are completely separate, they are both basically front pages and I can delete or modify either at will.
The webhosting I have is very flexible that way - I could have many instances of any content management system running in parallel.

I likes to be busy learning things - or messing about if you look at it that way.

P.S. Yes I am rather fond of the theme I threw together for both management systems although the WP one is slightly nicer since I practiced with the software involved doing the joomla theme.
It would not be nearly as nice if Lee hadn't done graphic design for me though - I'm pants at art stuff like that.

[maccafan]

Well since you seem to know what to do I 'll just keep quiet..

[vereybowring]

Not at all, any input is worthwhile.
I just spend a lot of time keeping myself mentally active by experimenting with coding, software and the like.
I am far from expert at any of the stuff I do, just a very enthusiastic amateur.

[2risky]

I like the clean design, it's certainly presentable enough already to be used.

For the blog, there are a couple of design things you might want to think about, but they are mainly matters of taste.

The first is the typeface you're using. Given that vapers have a wide age range, some of them will have imperfect eyesight and I would say you could usefully increase the point size of the default text (headings etc are fine) a little to cater for them. The contrast between text colour and background is great, so it's not a massive problem, and it can be adjusted by users, but on my default setting the point size needs a slight bump up.

Second is the quantity of blank space at the margins. You might easily use a wider format to accommodate a slightly bigger point size, and still leave enough room for decent margins. It depends what you want to use the margins for, if anything. It feels a bit like a thin ribbon of text when using a browser in a landscape format.

Nitpicking I know, but those were my thoughts. Generally, as I said, I like the look of it.

[vereybowring]

I know what you mean on your points.
I have slightly messed up eyesight (only one eye works properly) which ked me to design layouts with easy on the eye contrasts.
I haven't fiddled with the font yet other than to set the default faces at constantia for headings and tahoma for content - I just like those fonts. I will get round to tweaking that too I'm sure.

The spacing of the page as a whole is because of my mouse and learned habit. The mouse I have is a full multimedia affair so I have buttons to zoom into pages. That has led me to think less about the width of pages since I zoom in automaticlally till they fill the screen anyway, so I will have a think on that one.

[2risky]

Yes the actual fonts are fine, I like them and I'm quite fussy about stuff like that. Tahoma is fine, and I might try Verdana as a close alternative. I would just try whatever font you use one notch larger for the main text.

I agree that people can change this themselves but I think the default should be as readable as possible on standard settings.

Very minor points though.
I was lucky enough to learn typography from a master of the art, so I'm a bit of a nerd on the subject.

[vereybowring]

Well I've widened the sheet width to 800 and the text has been made a teeny bit bigger.

[2risky]

I like that better, but it's always a matter of taste.
It feels more assertive, without being brash. Very nice, I do love a clean design.

[vereybowring]

I had thought to widen it since I'd taken a shortcut in the theme and just had the page width the same as the top banner image.

Now the site is more finished I changed the image size up to match web page size then changed the theme to match it again properly.

I left the footer banner the old width to give me room to add the RSS button down there too.
That is probably temporary as well since I'd prefer an RSS link to be on the sidebar but the templating software is being less than friendly to that idea and I will have to do it in the live stylesheets directly when I can be bothered.

Like I said, I learn a lot by fiddling with things - better than spending ages reading instructions.

Edit: Oops, forgot that wordpress has a standard RSS widget I can play with so don't need to do coding.

[2risky]

The other thing I've just noticed is the red strapline on top of the banner. It doesn't quite work there.

One possibility is to put it immediately below the banner image on a single line. I would try a nice script font, white on black.

On the technical stuff, I think we all have our own methods. Back in the days when I had patience, I used to skim manuals first just to see what was available, then dive in, but each to his own. You seem to be getting results.