Just a quick note to say that the move to a self-hosted WordPress platform is ongoing. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but haven’t really had the time to focus on it. I still don’t really have the time, but… as much as I love WordPress.com’s hosted service, there were things I wanted to try and to learn that I simply couldn’t without going self-hosted.
The experience has been actually quite fun, and quite challenging in unexpected ways.
It wasn’t easy picking a theme, for example. I must have looked at a dozen really interesting themes, including (of course) the Thesis theme. Ultimately, I settled on Grid Focus by Derek Punsalan because it was so clean. Since I can’t seem to say “Hello” in fewer than 500 words, legibility was a very important factor. Plus, I tend to favor somewhat minimalist designs, with Subtraction by Khoi Vinh and the Pentagram corporate site being my two favorite website designs. I think it’s fairly obvious that I’m completely ripping off both of them. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in this, I am more than happy to flatter away.
I think I have most of the important things complete, but a lot remains to be done.
I’m not entirely happy with the top navigation, for example, but it’s taking a bit of time to learn enough PHP/CSS to make the changes I want.
I’ll probably keep on tinkering with little bits of the site, now that I can. The color scheme of black/white/grey/red may see some changes over time. Some of the rollover action isn’t where I want things to be. And so on.
One sad note: I have had to lose the Vader image. I tried to make it work, but with the new design of Notorious ROB, it just didn’t fit. I may have to find a way to fit in Sephiroth, which is my Twitter icon, but even that will require some thought.
I’d love your thoughts on the design overall, where you see possible improvements, and any suggestions for resources (books, websites, etc.) for a relative newbie in the world of CSS & PHP.
Anyhow, posting has been light because of the move, but I will be getting back to it soon. So much to talk about, so little time. 🙂
-rsh
5 thoughts on “Some Notes & Observations About the New Site”
Lovely new design which effectively meets your stated criteria…well done! Design note – I’d be interested to see the avatars of the commenters slightly larger…the visual is actually really helpful information especially when they don’t use their full name (ie. Marc Davison…I had to squint to see if the avatar was him or not).
Thanks for the heads up, Stacey. Fixed now. 🙂
-rsh
Lovely new design which effectively meets your stated criteria…well done! Design note – I’d be interested to see the avatars of the commenters slightly larger…the visual is actually really helpful information especially when they don’t use their full name (ie. Marc Davison…I had to squint to see if the avatar was him or not).
Thanks for the heads up, Stacey. Fixed now. 🙂
-rsh
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