Tag: changes

  • UST Web Site Redesign

    I was trying to check the University calendar on the UST Web site for the preliminary examinations schedule when I noticed the redesign and restructure planned for it has already been implemented. Excitedly, I saw some of the things I’ve dreamt of doing for it[1] accomplished on the reboot.[2]

    These include:

    • Porting the site from ASP to PHP; and,
    • Complying with the XHTML 1.0 and the CSS 2 recommendations.

    A very clean design added to its beauty and usability. And, scripting features that makes the layout fluid or fixed, as well as changing the font size according to the users’ preferences, made it more accessible. Two very good steps to have been taken, IMO.

    I remember checking it a day after the said reboot, the news roller was a bit misaligned in Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Safari,[3] but was rendered as desired in Internet Explorer 7. Now, four days later, after browsing it again to continue writing this post, I see they’ve already fixed the alignment problem for the major browsers with the exception of Safari/Win—now I have nothing to rant about the site being made with only IE anymore. Heh.

    The new design also features compliance badges from W3C, which results to only a single markup error that is, IMO, fairly forgivable for an elaborate design and a complex site structure. That error may even be caused by the CMS[4] itself for one of its modules automatically placing a <link /> to a style sheet wherever it was inserted.

    I haven’t seen much improvement in a single reboot for the site as far as I could remember.[5] The move to open source software, Web standards compliance, and accessibility with usability is, IMO, the best direction any Web site could have taken. Kudos to the Webmasters of the new UST Web site!

    Footnotes:

    1. ^ when I volunteered to be a TomasinoWeb member
    2. ^ another term for redesign; from CSS Reboot
    3. ^ all on the Windows platform
    4. ^ namely, Joomla!
    5. ^ with three designs, as of now
  • Redesign At Long Last

    I have announced a redesign more than a month ago, but since WP 2.2 has been delayed, I decided to delay it as well. It’s finished now … well, almost. The upgrading process and the redesign exhausted me. So this post will just be a placeholder. Place your comments here, but I will surely edit this entry later.

    I was just worried about some things the upgrade did to my database, it seems that some non-Latin characters was converted to something else. I will investigate on this matter after I wake up later this morning.

    *after waking up this afternoon*

    After years of having single color accents, I’ve decided to take on dual-color accents to be used on this new design. I just love having complementary orange and blue on almost anything, now they’re on my Web site as well.

    Some pages still wouldn’t work, and some are still being rewritten. The new Projects page will be used to organize all my work including Web development and WordPress plugin development pages.

    This design has been tested on Firefox 2.0.0.x, Opera 9.x and Internet Explorer 7. I may include some bug fixes for Internet Explorer 6 as I discover it, but don’t count on it.

    Credits go to Feed Icons for the standard feed icon, and to FamFamFam for the cute little Silk icons I’ve used throughout the whole site.

    Thanks to Arvin for pointing out that my comment form didn’t work. I’ve only used id attributes on the form elements that browsers handling HTML-compatible XHTML wouldn’t process as query string variable names like what they do on name attributes.

    Criticisms are welcome. 🙂

  • It’s time for some change

    We all have our own problems and we, sooner or later and in one way or another, would know how to take care of them. I just don’t know why I keep myself from solving them. Then, I remember I keep asking God about things I want to be able to do, but one little line from a favorite movie made me think again. It was when God said:

    People want me to do everything for them. What they don’t realize is that they have the power. You want to see a miracle? Be the miracle.

    I’ve watched the film, Bruce Almighty, for over five times now. I hope now it strikes me for good. I really won’t tell what changes I need to undergo. But I hope writing this article would make me remember everytime that there are people expecting me to change. Yes, I really want to…