Still As Life

I’ve been asked by a few people how I did the latest news block at the bottom of every page on the TerraMedia website. It’s actually really simple when you get down to it, so here you go, all you need to know to do your own latest posts block, it could be used for anything from latest blog posts, latest images in an image gallery, new content, virtually anything.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

Over at TerraMedia I’ve been quite busy over the past few weeks working on not only a new design for TerraMedia, but a completely new website!

It is now using Drupal instead of Joomla and the theme is valid XHTML 1.0 Strict along with being completely cross browser compatible. Developing it for Firefox, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer 7 was really a walk in the park. Internet Explorer 6 caused me even more pain then usual due to the random portfolio image in the header that is on an angle.

I probably spent a good 50 hours just on that part of the design, not including the other IE6 fixes.

The reason it took so much work was primarily because I was using a pair of PNG 24’s for the images, one as the background image and one as the changing image. Using the PNG Fix module for Drupal fixed the background image fine, but because the image in the foreground was being called through php, the Javascript used in the PNG Fix module wasn’t picking up that it was a PNG, thus not filtering the transparency correctly.

After much fiddling around and trying to make this work, I ended up just combining the two images rather than having the background image seperate, and calling them randomly through Javascript instead. This is a little bit more tedious and doesn’t run correctly through a block like the PHP, but it does do the job. Unfortunately adding more images to the pool takes a little bit more than just uploading them, but I can live with that for now.

The left sidebar also took a little bit of fiddling around since it uses li:hover’s as well as a:hover’s and IE6 doesn’t render li:hover’s correctly and it renders li’s in general differently to the other browsers. So unfortunately, some of the sidebar functionality is lost but it degrades gracefully and that’s the important thing when degradation comes into play.

What do you think of the new “Web 2.0″ style design and the new website in general?

Popularity: 41% [?]

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for this blog, the past couple of weeks have been absolutely hectic.

So what have I been up to?

• Fixed a problematic client website that had a lot more problems than expected.
• 20 hours worth of maintenance on another client website.
• Created the art for my business cards and setup the files for printing.
• Got the business cards printed (they are pretty hot, even if I do say so myself).
• Designed a series of website prototypes for a prospective client.
• Organised a client meeting in Lismore.
• Wrote a draft essay for KKB101: Creative Industries - People and Practices.
• Did my major Python assignment for ITB001: Problem Solving and Programming.
• Learned, the basics of UML, class diagrams, interaction diagrams and class descriptions.
• Worked on my ITB008: Modelling Analysis and Design team assignment.
• Seen post 3am more times in a week than I have all semester.
• Found a Pizza Hut Restaurant (ie non-take-away) near my place.

What do I have to do over the next few days?

• Finish my part of the ITB008 team assignment by Sunday night.
• Organise the deferral of my ITB001 exam.
• Update the TerraMedia Web Design General Terms and Conditions by Monday.
• Organise the appropriate documentation and presentation material for the client meeting on Tuesday.
• Hopefully get a new client.
• Do 10 hours worth of maintenance on a client website.
• Get my hair cut.

What do I have to do over the next week or two?

• Finish the final version of my KKB101 essay.
• Design three different computational artworks for KKB210: Computational Arts 1 using anyof the design tools outlined on my other blog.
• Display the three artworks on my computational arts blog.
• Study for ITB001 and ITB008 exams.
• Sort out a new computer back up system.
• Do some more client website maintenance.
• Finish the new TerraMedia website.
• Other work?
• Get the car fixed.
• Finish the fractal gallery section of Still As Life.
• Blog some more.
• Anything else that comes up.

If you follow me on Twitter, you would probably be aware of many of these things, but hey.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. I have 500 or so unread items in Google Reader, so hopefully I’ll catch up on everything by the end of next week, and hopefully you’ll be hearing more from me soon.

Popularity: 38% [?]

I have been working on a few new things for TerraMedia, including a new website design and a new logo.

The new website is nearing completion, and one of the last things I have to sort out before it goes live is the new logo.

This is what I am currently looking at using for the logo, or at least basing it on. I’m quite liking it, it portrays TerraMedia much better than the previous logo. Terra of course meaning earth, so it makes sense that there be a reference to a planet in the logo. Previously the logo was intended to represent a mountain, though that may not have been plainly obvious.

What are your thoughts on the new logo idea? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Popularity: 56% [?]