Metamorphosis

I see one problem (bug). When I scroll through the comments window, the comments disappear when I approach the bottom of the page.

I have IE 6.0.2 on Windows 2000 Professional edition.

Also just an observation; the blue edges on the pages seem to be waste of space.

In Netscape 6.2, the boxes that were once in the left margin of the screen (Description, Information, Recent Entries, etc.) are now in the right margin of the screen, partly overlaying the posting boxes (though the text in the postings is shifted to adapt to the presence of the navigation boxes). Roughly half of the width of the navigation boxes overlays the postings, with half in the right margin. The left margin (20% of the total screen width) is blank.

RBH

Overall, I like the new look. I have to agree with AAB, the sea of blue on either side seems a bit excessive. It's a very nice blue, but between that and the navigation boxes, the center text feels a little squeezed.

Also, any chance of bringing back the "recent comments"? I thought that was one of the best features of the site.

I echo both major sentiments here: (1) shrink down the blue margins and (2) bring back the "recent comments." :)

The recent comments are there. They are below the recent entries.

The layout is designed for 800px wide resolutions. What resolution would you rather I use?

I risk echoing myself, but could there be a link to the "Bathroom Wall" on the main page?

I am also making changes to more than the front page. I'd like feedback on the other pages too.

New look is sharp. Very Impressed.

The layout is designed for 800px wide resolutions. What resolution would you rather I use?

Oh, and FWIW, have you ever seen http://www.cross-browser.com/?

The 800px format is no longer part of the style. The blog now keyed to the windows size.

If you are refering to the light blue boxes, they are supposed to be half in and half out.

If you are refering to the light blue boxes, they are supposed to be half in and half out.

One comment about the color scheme: it seems a bit too "upbeat" for my tastes ... reminds too much of sunshine and blue skies, of heaven, picnics and light reflecting off a stream of pure running water.

Given the purpose of the website, shouldn't the color scheme a bit more satanic? You know, rich bloody reds, maybe some oranges and sulfurous yellows, fading into grey and black, as if the screen itself were combusting from the evil within. We've already got some bones at the top of the page, but I think a panda skull, and perhaps a jackal skull, would be even more effective. Also, I would advise including some naked ladies in the margins. We don't want to ignore the "young crowd," do we?

Other than this minor quibbling, I think the new layout is great.

I am referring to the "URL" and "Comments" edit boxes at the bottom of the page.

— Jon

The xhtml looks fine. Do you know if Opera has any special needs when it comes to tables?

On second thought, I think I know what is causing the problem. Your window is just slightly to narrow. I'll adjust the textarea.

>Why God, Why? I liked the old look much better. The new design is much harder on the eyes. And I hate the floating, overlapping boxes. I'd recommend you keep a design similar to the old one, and just play with the color scheme and other details if you think it needs jazzing up. Like I said, the overlapping right column is totally uncalled for.

I do agree with the unnamed source regarding the overlaps, at least to the extent the overlapping boxes are on TOP of the posts themselves. There is an implied hierarchy when such overlaps are used (i.e., the top is more important) which borders on the ridiculous when the overlapping box contains information as to how many visitors there were to the site!

I'm happy to see that the posters' names are now at the top of the post. That way, when I'm scrolling down, I can see the name first and be able to skip the ones from people who have no idea what they're talking about, and waste everyone's time, which is to say the creationists. The articles here, and the evolutionist comments, are excellent. Keep up the good work. Kudos on the new site.

As far as I can see, this must be the chrysalis stage.

Have I mentioned how good the tasteful use of bamboo looks? And it goes so well with Pandas.

Howdy Reed,

Maybe the hyperlink color could be a bit more distinct (I like traditional blue myself, but that's me)? I can barely tell the difference between regular and linked text (using standard IE6).

Maybe that's just my anomalous trichromacy speaking, however...

Nick

PS: I like the bamboo also.

...@#$*@# X-linked traits...

I've made some changes to the banner: New, Old.

The Bathroom Wall needs to be sorted in reverse order (latest at the top).

Also note that historically, "evolution" meant individual development before it meant transmutation of species...

Maybe the hyperlink color could be a bit more distinct (I like traditional blue myself, but that's me)? I can barely tell the difference between regular and linked text (using standard IE6).

— Nick

The Bathroom Wall needs to be sorted in reverse order (latest at the top).

— John

Also note that historically, "evolution" meant individual development before it meant transmutation of species . . .

The Bathroom Wall encourages multi-threaded discussion. Reversing the order would not solve its size problem nor the multiple context confusion.

Perhaps a message board would be more practical.
If it stays in its current linear form then maybe older scrawls should be discarded.

I'm using IE 5.x on a Win NT platform. The main page is reacting oddly, today (6-15-04): the banner does not appear, the left-hand side of the screen (with links to the various comments, and the Bathroom Wall) works fine, but links on the right hand side (with short portions of the articles do not work.

Odd. I'll have to go home and see if Netscape 7 on a Mac works.

The new look isn't bad, but I think it leaves too much blue on the left side of the screen, whereas the floating boxes trail off the right edge so that I have to scroll over to read them (Opera 7.23, Windows, 800x600 resolution). Could those boxes maybe be moved to the left side of the text rather than the right?

Adam, I reduced the minumum width by 30 pixels. How does it now look?

I should probably point out that I recommend using Firefox to view PT.

Other contributors would probably recommend Safari, Opera or other modern browsers, of which IE is not.

Other contributors would probably recommend Safari, Opera or other modern browsers, of which IE is not.

It does look better, Reed, in that I no longer have to scroll over to see the floating boxes. I still think they'd look better on the left, though.

Jon,

The difference is because I haven't updated the comment preview template.

Adam,

I originally tried on the left, but left aligned boxes overshadowed the left aligned headers of posts.

The difference is because I haven’t updated the comment preview template.

Sorry, Jon, I misread your comment. I thought you were just refering to the difference between the comment and comment preview forms.

I guess I'm going to need to install Opera to figure this problem out.

I've installed Opera 7.51 on my Windows XP machine and the problem doesn't appear.

Hum ... on my Windows 2000 1024x768 machine the comment box is now about 40 characters wide. A little small, but perhaps usable. I don't feel like leaving the air conditioning to check the XP 1280x1024 box {g}!

Jon,

The comment box is set to resize when the window resizes, i.e. it grows as wide as it can. Apparantly Opera 7.51 on Mac doesn't like it. I don't have a mac so it is going to be neigh impossible for me to troubleshoot it, since I don't know what is actually triggering to bug.

I haven't seen a banner since the change was made. Is that intentional? btw, I'm using IE6.

Hmm, when I use IE6, it shows up just fine. Can you send me a screen cap of what your window looks like?

The comment box is set to resize when the window resizes, i.e. it grows as wide as it can. Apparantly Opera 7.51 on Mac doesn’t like it. I don’t have a mac so it is going to be neigh impossible for me to troubleshoot it, since I don’t know what is actually triggering to bug.

Odd, I don;t know what the difference is either. When I checked it in Opera earlier today I was using a Windows XP sp1 box.

test preview

Hum. Now the "Comments" edit box slightly overlaps the boxes that should be to its left (Opera 7.51 on the 1280x1024 XP machine). http://fleming-group.com/Misc/Overlap.png. I don't have the Windows 2000 machine available right now to see what it's doing. Probably tonight.

I am working on addressing the comment box.

I'm looking at the comment box on the 1024x768 machine (Opera 7.51), and it's just right! Nobody move!

*sneeze*