toys are good food

Website kinda done for now (and PEZ)

The main parts of the site design are now in place. There are a few more details here and there, but it should look a little better now. If you are experiencing any difficulties viewing the site, click on my name above and drop me a note.

Oh, and new PEZ --

Here's some PEZ that has come into the house since before Christmas. Take a look at the pics on the right. More detail inside.

Validate my site

So, I started off with 121 validation errors. Luckily, most were fixed with only a couple of changes. I just thought that I would share. Creating valid code is important.

Weekend in review - Site design

I was able to spend a couple of hours working on the website this weekend. It's starting to look like a real site again. My favorite part? Oh, probably the sweet color fade on the links....

Of course, the chages are still only on the front page...

Let me catch you up. First I did some fine tweaking on the CSS, then Nanc and I specified fonts, colors, sizes and more. If you're interested, the CSS is still embedded in the front page, and you can see it by viewing the page source. Since we took time and tried to think about the colors, graphics, and layout, the development went pretty quick. It's much easier to complete tasks, when you have an idea of the end state.

Next, I made some better graphics to replace the placeholders. There are still a number of little 'icon' graphics that I need to create. I also think that I am going to tweak the logo graphic a little more, so that it works better with the layout of the page.

What's left? Well, I still have to clean up my code a bit, so that I can get it to validate. I also need to optimize the CSS, and drop it into an external file. Once the design is complete and clean, I can quickly copy it to the other templates, and make minor changes as needed. This includes templates for the article page (like this one), templates for the monthly archives, search results, and a few more. I should be able to do this quickly over the next couple of nights.

Day ? - Site Design

It's late, so I'm not really sure which day to count this as, but we are out of the design stage, and I've started developing the front page. It's still pretty rough, but it's starting to take shape.

It’s time to actually start roughing in the page design. Here is a list of my standard tools.

• Notepad (text editor)
• Photoshop (graphics)
• Visibone
• sketches of the ideas
• the Internet
• pad and paper

I started off the design by hitting the Internet to see if I could find any base templates, that were close to what I wanted to do. Namely, a three column layout with a fixed column on each side, and a center area that dynamically resizes that spans the height of the page. I google, and locate this site, which has some great info. There are a number of elements that aren’t quite right, but the main philosphy works for my design.

I highly recommend starting with a base whenever possible. Each web browser renders HTML a little differently. Right now, most of the folks that visit this site use Internet Explorer, which unfortunately is the most un-compliant browser, and often requires tricks and hacks to get it to display information similar to other browsers. By having a sample to start from, you can focus on getting your design started.

From here, I started to tweak the code and graphics. I still haven’t decided on the color scheme, so I am using temp graphics for now. At this point, I’m much more concerned with the structure of the page, and figuring out how everything lays out. I’ve tested in Internet Explorer and Firefox tonight, at 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768. There are still some issues, and my code isn’t validating yet, but I’m confident that we’ll get there.

I've also placed colored outlines around the different key components. Each of these outlines represent an important div or container that holds something. I usually keep these outlined until I am happy with the placement. It just makes them easier to keep track of.

Next on my list is to format the text, based on the sketches.

Day 3.5 - Site redesign

How much fun we have working on the site...

This is the last design stage. After this, the front page should start looking like something.

Tonight, I took all of the planning information -- stuff that I wanted to include in the site, or things that I didn't like about the existing design, and sat down with a pencil and paper. Sure, I coulda done the same work on the 'puter, but my eyeballs decided that they didn't really want to look at the monitor.

The important thing is... that I was able to put my ideas down, and they didn't scare me all that much. Some of them seem to even make sense. Take a look at the scans, then go back, and look at the swatches, and enjoy.

Now that I have a pretty good idea where I am going, I am going to start the implementing the design tomorrow. There are still a number of areas that I don't have a handle on. There are also a bunch of new ideas and changes that will be made along the way.

There are three different scans below. The first is the main 'index' page of the site. The second shows the individual article page (like this one that you're reading now). The third image is just some more detailed info on some of the details.

First stages

This is about the first stages of SockapalOOOza. Not to be confused with this site's stages of redesign and build. But there are some similarities between the two.

Like the components that need to be tackled when building a website, there are the planning, development, and the rollout phases to knitting these socks. While Matt is deciding the layout, fonts, and colors for the website, I am researching my pal's preferences for colors, styles, and fiber. I have a list of items that will help define how these socks will turn out.

Life's a patch of Spring grass

Unlike the site development that we see going on here, these socks will take a bit longer than Matt's estimated 10 days. In fact, they have already mostly because I haven't been working consistantly on the socks.

I conducted my research and planning phases in February and purchased the yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Life's a Beach colorway. Next, I decided on the pattern: Pomatomus. (Or this is the current plan, anyhoo.) I've heard good things about this pattern and I like how they turn out, especially for varigated yarns with short color segments.

Ah, sweet sunshine luv

The next step? Development, or knitting the actual socks as it were. I haven't cast on for the socks yet (in fact, I just wound the hank into a cake), and I have four other socks currently on my needles or waiting for its mate. [Eep.]

But no reason to panic. With a little bit of help from my Blythe friend, I think I'm ready to start these puppies. (Boy, I sure hope that my sock pal isn't creeped out by AnnaBeth like SOME people.)

Lounging lovelies

Note: It's officially Spring and the sun is shining, but our weather has gotten cooler instead of warmer. AnnaBeth is flirty in her brown cords and white jacket, but is staying warm under her knit cap and matching scarf. The scarf "pattern" (for lack of a better term) is based on Crazy Aunt Purl's One Very Orange Scarf. (Laurie, if you're reading this - you crack my knit up! hee Thanks, and a big Texas 'Howdy' to ya'.)

I had to fight the cats for this window sill!

I spy with my orange- no, blue- no, green eyes...

Zen and the art of...

The following may or may not be an inspirational story to you. This is my story from this past weekend. All events are factual, or at least true from my point of view and exaggeration was kept to a minimum. No hand knits were harmed in these events, or in the retelling of this story.

This weekend I took the basic motorcycle course (and passed - wo0t!). This is something that I've wanted to do for a long time and had put off for no good reasons. I finally said "Enough" and went for it. No regrets.

The weather here in Dallas was horrible this weekend. Oh, sure - we're spoiled most of the time with sun and warm temperatures, but this weekend was cold (high of 50 Fahrenheit), rainy (constantly), and windy. Just miserable and any attempts to keep warm or dry were short-lived and futile.

The weather combined with the task of learning new skills, techniques, and good habits made me nearly miserable. It was a serious struggle for me on the first day of class. I couldn't seem to "get it" ("it" being turning right and gently rolling on the throttle, aka the power). I became more and more frustrated and angry, which makes it nigh impossible to learn. I went home after that first day miserable, desolate, and so cold that it wasn't until late in the night that I finally warmed up.

I was more resolute the next day that I would conquer and master these skills, and hopefully have a better attitude at the end of the day. The weather was still rainy, cold, and ugly, and the training was still intimidating and trying. But what changed was my attitude! And a big factor in that was my knitting.

Every few hours we would get a 10 minute break. There really wasn't any where to go for shelter and rest besides one's car. So for each break, I would return to my car sopping wet (my front seat is still soaked!) and the windows would quickly fog up. I would drink a little water and eat a light snack too keep up my energy, but then would turn to my knitting for respite. I am working on my second sock of a pair of Gryffindor socks - my own pattern. I had passed the heel (I'm working them toe-up) and this was simple K3, P2 ribbing. (You can see a picture of the first one here.)

These breaks allowed my mind to focus on what I want to accomplish and I could envision myself riding through the turns and the course properly. It gave me a way to relax and reflect on what was enjoyable about riding a motorcycle, instead of thinking about how miserable the weather was. Even though I would only knit between one and four rounds (cold, wet hands = slow progress), it was enough to give me strength and comfort to continue on. And I totally nailed it!

I still have a bit more of the sock to work on (I'm up to the stripes), and I plan on taking the written-portion of the motorcycle licensing test this week. Next step is to buy a bike, then show MattyBonez how much fun this is so he'll get his license, too.

But one thought that kept me smiling during my breaks was imaging the faces of my classmates and trainers if they could see me knitting. (Which they couldn't because of the near-instant window fog and steady rain.) Not the stereotypical idea of "motorcycle momma" or "knitter!" Not that those carry much weight anymore.

May your joy (whatever that may be: knitting, being a "biker", or heck - even scrapbooking) provide you with the inspiration and reflection needed to get you were you want to be, and may life inspire your joy. Rock on!

Day 2 - Site redesign

What will the new design look like?

Today is all about trying to figure out what the new website design will look like, and how people will interact with it. Taking a couple of extra hours to plan this stuff in the beginning saves me an awful lot of time later.

Since there is an existing design, what are some of the things that Nanc and I want to change? Here’s the list of issues:

• We’ve outgrown the current design.
• Too boxy.
• Too blue.
• Need higher contrast between text and background.
• Top logo bar has a lot of wasted space.
• Nutritional content bar for menu is confusing for new visitors.
• Search function should be located higher on the page.
• We don’t have the functionality to add links to sites we like.
• Clicking on the title of an article should link to the article.
• Reduce the number of categories that only have a couple of entries.
• Need a page that is just easier to look at.
• From our side, placing the photo thumbnails in is a pain. There’s too much futzing.
• The post a comment (and the comment area) are unattractive also could provide more feedback during use (highlight the selected field, and so on).
• We can change the way that thumbnails work, instead of opening in a new page.
• How about allowing different types of interaction (at the bottom of the front page, allow folks to browse the 20 previous articles… allow people to view archives by month or by author.
• Use CSS – Faster loading than tables, cleaner design, separates content from presentation. Will be far easier to tweak and make changes.
• Whitespace gives the eyes a break. Make sure that the design allows for this.
• The technology and the average web surfer has changed… The basic user has changed from using dialup on an 800x600 screen to a broadband user with 1024x768 – can increase the load time of the page from now… approx 50k to 100k (double the bandwidth).
• Need to ensure that existing articles don’t break with new design… need to allow backward-compatibility.

Do you have an issue not listed in the beefs above? Add it to the comments.

Layout (3col)

Currently, the website uses a two-column layout. Since the average user’s screen size has increased, I want to use a three column design to provide a more order to the pages.

Ordering of content blocks

Also, I needed to figure out how I was going to order the different portions of content that are on the page. This is something that I will continuously futz with, so using CSS for positioning is going to help out a lot. I will be able to quickly change the appearance of the content.

Font choices

I still like the font that we use for the article text. The font, Georgia, is easy to read and looks pretty good. I do want to change the font of the sub heading and the menu items to a sans serif font, to make it stand out a little more, like a Helvetica font.

Color choices

So, I entered the colors that I have been looking at into an online color generator, and it provided me with a grid of complementary colors. From this, I have a number of colors to play with as I tweak the design.

That’s it for the planning. While inspiration can still strike and changes can be made, I have a pretty good idea of what I want the site to look like. Next, we start to develop the site’s design!

Day 1 - Site redesign

So here we go — I ' ve stripped all of the styles and graphics from the site, and we ' re gonna start redesigning the website. I ' ve scoped it out, and instead of just posting up a new design, I'm gonna do it over several days, and post daily progress.

If you haven ' t ever really considered how to create a site design from the ground up, hop on in,--it might be interesting. Today — The plan

Just to catch everybody up to speed…

Today, I’m going to be planning the site design. In order to do this in the most organized way possible, I’m going to use a project framework.

There are five major components that I am going to be tackling:

1. Planning – today
2. Detailed planning - one day
3. Development (HTML, graphics, CSS) – three days
4. Bug fixing – one day
5. Rollout – one day

In this plan, it will take me one week to finish the project. However, reality being what it is, I expect it to take about ten days.

Scope: I am going to be redesigning the templates for this site. The way that most websites work is like this:
Instead of simply coding every page of the website, a software called a content management software (or CMS) is installed on the web server, and acts as a layer between the website developers (Nanc and Matty) and the HTML layer. All of the content that we write is stored in a database, then inserted into templates that define what the website will look like.

There are a number of templates to consider, such as templates for the front page, for individual article pages, and so on.

Goals: The site should be attractive, easy on the eyes, and easy to use. The ‘easy to use’ part is tricky and consists of a number of items.

• All the parts are in the right place
• It should work in modern browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. It should also degrade well for folks using older computers.
• It should look good, regardless of the screen resolution.

So, that’s about it for the first day of planning. Come back tomorrow for the see the rest of the plan

More baby love

I've decided to "come clean" with you - the internets. I feel that it is time for me to shed this coat of deceit and bask in the glory of honesty, at least for one moment in time. I don't know if you will praise me for my bravery or despise me for my weakness. But this step is for me, not you. (So get over yourselves.)

I. I am not a one-baby kind of woman.

Shocking, isn't it? But true. I've got a fair share of babies that I love on as much as possible. I am not committed to one infant or toddler. And I won't give up these loves - not for no one!

Recently it has come out about my love for baby Benny. And I'm not ashamed. I will stand on the rooftops (or in my backyard) and shout to the world my love for my nephew! Ah, but he is only one. (As in 'singular', not his age - 'cause he's older than that.. but still in month-counting range.)

Mmmm... ika

I've also got sweet, sweet feelings for The Squid. And last night, I got a little of that love in return. [Awwww]

But that's not all! I've got a bit of baby love tucked away in San Antonio with my sweet cousin Jackson! (Ain't he a cutie-pie?!!!)

And there are more. Some have grown into children and young adults, but I still love on them. (Maybe I just don't talk so Googoo Gahgah as much anymore.) And there will be others to love. You can't restrict my baby-love! You can't concentrate this power to one child! My love will go on!

All this for one single picture of The Squid? Yep. I'm crazy like that!