Meet The New Site…
…same as the old site.
We’ve got a new look going on here, obviously. It’s the same old content but with a shiny new wrapper. Me likey.
When last we spoke, I was in the throes of battling with a Movable Type comment plug-in that A) I couldn’t get working right and B) didn’t work right so badly that comments didn’t work at all so that C) I ended up wasting pretty much all of last night and all of today and most of tonight giving up on it. I was having “issues” with my Movable Type installation to begin with and this was its death knell. Ding dong, the software that made me bitch is dead. I’m on WordPress now, and so far so good.
And now… Now I’m getting the hell away from the computer. I need a break!
I like WordPress. I implemented a home-made CAPTCHA a while back and that completely eliminated comment spam. Then I renamed the wp-trackback.php file and that completely eliminated trackback spam. Me happy.
Shweeeeet! I like the look. A lot.
It’s funny (well, not funny ‘ha ha’) that you had so much trouble with Movable type. When I first started reading your blog I figured I would use the same software as you to start up my own blog… but then I saw that MT required a bit more computer smarts than I had at the time. Instead I opted for MT’s backwards stepchild, Typepad. WIthout inviting any lighning down on my head or anything… I have been very happy with typepad. Go figure.
Anyway… If you’re happy, I’m happy.
David – Movable Type requires a bit more computer smarts than I have, too, which is part of the reason I’m trying WordPress now. I didn’t go with Typepad because I’m a control freak — I want total control over how my site is administered. And we all see how well that’s working out for me.
Stan – Sure, wave a CAPTCHA in my face after everything I’ve been through over the last couple days, tell me you made it yourself and that it works and everything. That’s just cold, man.
Chuck: My borther and sister just started blogs using WP. They seem to like it and it makes a very nice looking page. My only comment on TPITL is the dark brown on light brown is a little hard to read. I suppose I could get used to it.
I’m working on changing the text colors now, Don. I’m not that good with style sheets, so it’s taking me awhile.
Okay, text is a bit darker now. Not much, but I think it’s enough to improve readability quite a bit. Comments?
Yes, it’s easier to read now. The background is a very neutral shade and the text stands out better. The text was a little too light. It’s actually quite pleasing now.
Looks good Chuck! I would actually make the text just a teeny bit darker, but that might be just me.
And in regard to your commenting woes … I found a few weeks ago that every … single … comment … left on my blog prior to last December sometime, has vanished completely.
I felt seriously bad when I saw that. I felt like my blog was a permanent etching of my dialog with the world. Apparently not.
Teeny bit darker: done.
Now if I could just figure out where in the stylesheet the control for the body text link color is…
It’s very pretty. However…
This is a personal thing, but the coffee cup header is so big that there is no entry text on the first screen. Not that I mind scrolling too much. After all, for you, my dear Chuck, I would scroll ’til the ends of the earth. But it could be a concern for new readers.
Also, for some reason the entries don’t even appear until the end of the list o’ links and I know it wasn’t doing that earlier.
Otherwise, simply lovely. And may I say that listing your blog links alphabetically is a stroke of genius?
Carol: Dollars to donuts you’re running 800×600 resolution or less. Unfortunately, this design (and the old one, too) looks better at higher resolutions. Even more unfortunately, I didn’t design this theme, I grabbed it off the web, and I don’t know how to create a version for lower rez.
And I’ll bet you a winning lotto ticket that you’re running Internet Explorer. What was pushing the text down the page was the referring sites script I stuck in the left sidebar. It occasionally caused problems in the old layout too. The page looked okay with it in Firefox (my brower) and Opera (tested it there for fun), but it gave IE fits. I’ve moved it to the bottom, where it seems to be playing nicely with the other children.
The alphabetical blog listing was all for you.
You are correct about the 800×600 (does this mean you get dollars or donuts?). I did change the resolution to 1024×768 (I think), but even with a few setting changes the font was too small for my poor nearsighted eyeballs, so back to 800×600. I shall have to make do with scrolling, I suppose. Though, for you, my dear Chuck, it is not a hardship.
Alphabetical listing, mmmm…. *drool* Thank you!