September 12, 2006
Well, I'm pretty sure I've got the new layout all set to go. You may notice that this one looks good; that would be because someone else designed most of it. Aside from my BF calendar, the only element that's mine is the JF logo that I've been using since 2001. (I can't help it -- I like that logo.)
For those of you who want to see the evolution of the look, here's the changelog:
Version 1. The one I came up with, complete with broken implementations in every major browser.
Version 2. I used the navigation layout my friend came up with, and changed the gradient to a brushed-metal look. I also figured out what was making IE break: The vertical padding in the blockquote. That's right, folks. The vertical padding of one element adversely affected the horizontal placement of another element that had nothing to do with it.
Version 3. Changed the look of the header and rearranged the date and post title. The Verdana Bold header was kinda heavy on a lighter background; regular Arial looks a lot better. Oh, that was also one of my friend's suggestions.
Version 4. Added my friend's light-text on dark-background idea for the content area. Lightened the date (it was still bolded in version 3.)
Version 5. Implementing yet more of my friend's layout. (I was stubbornly hoping that something of mine would look better. I was wrong.) The flow from midnight blue to royal blue looks a lot better than the mix of pastels I had in version 1.
Version 6. The last of my friend's layout -- the lines behind the header. Looks a lot better in practice than I thought it would, honestly.
Version 7 is what you saw at the top of the page. The calendar is mine, based on the rest of the look I was provided.
Once I get all my back-end stuff taken care of I'll be adjust the look, increment the major version, and call it done. So... let's call it January then.
