A New Donotremove
- 1st April 2006
- with 17 comments for A New Donotremove
- Filed Under: Weblog, Announcement
This redesign has been 18 months coming. I did the original design over Christmas 2004 but I just couldn't find the time to follow it through. Since then the design has been through several revisions, getting simpler each time. This version is the product of an anti-shadow and -gradient phase I was going through about 6 months ago, when all the shiny new Web 2.0 sites were coming out. I've mellowed a bit since then... I also really wanted to see a return for natural textures. They've fallen from grace since their heyday, back about 4 years, on sites like DNA (now redesigned) and the Hayward Gallery.
For the IA and information design I have experimented with a couple of ideas: zooming content and weighted navigation.
Zooming content, which I'll write up properly another time, is basically content becomming more general as you scroll down the page. This gives easy and intuitive access to recent posts but makes the pages very dense and limits access to older content. To try and balance this I have experimented with the function of search. It's normally an afterthought, consigned to the top right corner where everyone can find it but no one is encouraged to use it. With this design I wanted to try bringing search to the forefront of my navigation so it's given pride of place in the dead center, right next to the primary navigation. This random access navigation is is supported by a fairly standard taxonomy, as well as more granular tagging. I still have about 200-odd posts to tag and perhaps 350 to categorise but I'll be getting on with that behind the scenes over the coming weeks.
There is also liberal use of weighted lists, something I'd resisted up until now. I've used the same treatment for everything: categories, tags, chronology and projects all use size to convey importance. I've not seen them used as extensively as this and I'm not convinced that it will work but we'll see...
The biggest change round here, for me anyway, is under the hood. I've finally diteched the ropey old CMS I'd been using. I wrote it about 5 years ago as a database editor for Access and I haven't updated it since. Not that useful, really... So I am incredibly happy to welcome Symphony to donotremove. It was a long time coming but it's been a pleasure to work with. It's XML/XSL based, which gave me a fairly steep learning curve but now I'm on top of it I love it. XSL is incredibly powerful, even if it is somewhat clunky, and there is no end of documentation available on the web. I've tried Wordpress, Textpattern and Expression Engine, and none come close to Symphony. It just thinks the way I think a lightweight CMS should.
And with Symphony has come commenting. This is a new thing for me so we'll see how that goes...
- 17 comments for A New Donotremove
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17 comments
3 Apr 06 Rik Lomas
Lovely redesign, really really like it.
There's only one small thing that's slightly bugging me and thats the "Coded with…" in the bottom right. Now, it's probably a personal thing, but things like that annoy the hell out of me for some reason. Anyone who knew their stuff would already know it was coded that way or at least check the source! Anyway, that's just me…
3 Apr 06 Andrew Green
Nice work! The colour scheme and texture makes the site really stand out from the crowd.
I'm half-tempted to try swapping Blosxom for Symphony myself now.
3 Apr 06 Mike Stenhouse
Rik: I know what you mean about the line in the bottom right but it's there for credability with people who don't necessarily know. My portfolio's up here and I want to make sure that project manager level people can see that I practice what I preach. It's something that a couple of clients have mentioned to me… I've held off putting on an accessibility link until I can write a decent statement to go with it.
Thanks for the nice comments chaps – you're the first I've ever had!
3 Apr 06 Tim Parkin
I like it a lot… it has a very different feel to a lot of 'blog' sites and it's nice to see some more experimentation with taxonomies..
3 Apr 06 Mark Boulton
Good looking grid Mike. Nice type too!
3 Apr 06 Rik Lomas
Mike: Yeah, I see what you mean, some people need to be told about the build of the site (especially project manager types…). I suppose it's better than having the horrible w3c validation logos at the bottom! Sorry for having a bit of a whinge on your first comment! Still loving the grid…
4 Apr 06 Richard Rutter
Some really nice touches with the information design. Lots of context, and the organisation of the pages works well (related following the post but before the comments, etc.) Similarly the latest > recent > archive with decreasing amounts of displayed information works nicely.
Not sure about the } in the -title- though.
4 Apr 06 Mike Stenhouse
Ah, I think you might be right about that Rich. I changed the title separator from | to } last night, trying to be different… In the cold light of day they do look a bit rubbish! I've changed them back to the old faithful pipe character.
I was a bit worried that the 'zooming' information design would confuse or annoy people but so far everyone seems to get it. Fingers crossed!
4 Apr 06 Andy Beeching
A lovely site, and the first I've seen using Symphony, will have to take a look at that as a potential platform! Just hope they can get a few more plug-ins for all the usual services.
Anyway, I like the wood background, gives a very natural feel, and this is complemented by your chosen palette, as well as a nice grid! Sterling work!
4 Apr 06 Andy Beeching
Just one more thing, my bloglines bookmarklet wasn't able to pick up your RSS feed directly from the page, I had to grab it from your source. Perhaps you could add a small button with an explicit link to it, either in at the top or bottom? I reckon the standard orange graphic might go well with the graphite coloured footer quite nicely…
Just a thought! Cheers!
4 Apr 06 Mike Stenhouse
Hmmmmm. I wonder if I've done something wrong with the link for the feed… I've added a text link to the footer but I'll see about doing something about that auto-detection. Thanks!
Oh, and I highly recommend Symphony. They have a bit of work yet to do on things like plugins but the base is now solid. I love the XML/XSL separation…
4 Apr 06 Fen
A little early for May 1st Reboot.
5 Apr 06 Mike Stenhouse
That occurred to me just after I put the site live! Annoying that. But I was originally aiming this design at the May 1st Reboot last year and delaying for yet another month would have driven me mad.
Looks like I need to sort out short comments. Single liners need some clearing…
6 Apr 06 Olly Hodgson
Oooh, you've redsigned. Very nice work sir.
12 Apr 06 Stuart Charlton
It might have been long in the making but the time attention to detail shows through. It's dead refreshing to see someone like you ignoring the trends and coming through with with something original. Well done.
12 Apr 06 Hint
Good work, Mike!
13 Apr 06 Mike Stenhouse
Thanks chaps!
Looks like you're well and truly at home with CSS these days Stu. Nice one!