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Magus Wordslinger
Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 716 Location: Illinois
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Something's Definately... Blue...
Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 4:34 pm |
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Yeah... I'm not quite sure what it is, or even if it's all in my head, but something about the site just seems... different. Something's changed since I've been here last... but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Does anybody have an idea of what it could possibly be?
_________________ "It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity" |
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Violanthe Webmaster

Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903
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Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:35 pm |
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Welcome to my weekend!
We've been meaning to redesign the site for some time, now. The old decor, in my opinion, started looking at little tired after a few months. But for a long time, we published the magazine with individual HTML files and the thought of a redesign was particularly daunting.
Recently, I managed to convert the magazine to a php-based site, where the headers and footers of all the page are editable through a single file.
So, we decided to do a redesign. We wanted something more modern, a little splashy. More visual interest. After experimenting with red and blue together on the ARWZ Editor's Desk, we decided to do a red and blue motif here.
And thus, you're looking at the product of my weekend's labors. _________________ Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction |
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pyanfaruk Member
Joined: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 64 Location: Probably asleep
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Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:36 pm |
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I like it......very subtle. _________________ Absenen mistatengwar! |
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Magus Wordslinger
Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 716 Location: Illinois
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Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 6:37 pm |
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Definately... blue...
Azul. _________________ "It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity" |
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Saundra Kane Moderator
Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 540 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:34 pm |
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I think it looks great..very zingy |
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librarylover Moderator
Joined: 05 Apr 2006 Posts: 277
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:48 pm |
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It's beautiful! Thanks for the lighter side! |
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Magus Wordslinger
Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 716 Location: Illinois
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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:53 pm |
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I think I preferred the older one, but that's just because I really love parchment (shame that it's so expensive).
But, still, it looks real nice, I must say. You did a good job on it. _________________ "It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity" |
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Violanthe Webmaster

Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903
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Magus Wordslinger
Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 716 Location: Illinois
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Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:25 pm |
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I can see how it can become rather dull after a while, though (the old one, I mean). It did have rather muted, erathy tones and colors... and I used to go to two other sites with the exact same formatting for the background. And the blue, I must admit, is beginning to grow on me. I guess I'm just a sucker for something a little more formal (and people who know me personally will probably say the same). _________________ "It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity" |
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pecooper Active Member
Joined: 05 Apr 2006 Posts: 306 Location: Port Angeles, Washington
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Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:46 pm |
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I'm with Magus about preferring the older parchment design. Don't get me wrong, I think the current layout is very attractive, but it's hard on the eyes for long text lines.
It's the way you go from lighter blue to darker in the text box. The text on the far right is harder to distinguish from the background and causes eye-strain after prolonged reading. Not a problem for those who are just doing a quick browse, but imagine trying to read long pages formatted like that It could put off people who want to do long-term investigative reading.
Just an observation. |
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Magus Wordslinger
Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 716 Location: Illinois
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Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:51 pm |
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That actually doesn't bother me. I don't seem to have any problem with reading it. Try highlighting the sections you can't read, if that's the case. That might help you. _________________ "It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity" |
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ecgordon Regular Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Posts: 291 Location: Waco, Texas
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Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 12:01 pm |
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Something I just noticed this morning is that the darker blue on the right of the text field makes it appear like the text curves a little, as in the inner margins of a hardbound book. Was that intentional in the design, or just coincidence? |
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Violanthe Webmaster

Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903
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Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 12:35 pm |
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Not intentional. I just wanted to give the center text box more intrigue than just a plain color.
We're still tweaking the design and the color, so suggestions are welcome. I believe we may try to minimize the darker blue along the edge with the next revision, because a lighter and more uniform color does make for easier reading. The problem is that we have to redo all the individual page titles every time we change the background color image for the center text box - which we've already done twice. Once because we thought the shade of blue was too purple (too much like a little girl's jewelry shop) and then because we over compensated toward the green side of the blue color scale (looks a little Christmasy with the red). _________________ Violet "Violanthe" Kane
[email protected]
ARWZ.com: A Magazine of Alternative Reality Fiction |
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Violanthe Webmaster

Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903
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Saundra Kane Moderator
Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 540 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:51 pm |
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I have a pretty easy time reading it |
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