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New layout for my blog.


DarkWater

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Alright, I spent a nice amount of time working on a new layout (I have off school today. :D  I got back from the movies and was like..."Hmm, I should finally make a new layout").  It validates completely, and it's not too hard to look at at all (imo).

Link: http://phpspeaks.com/

 

By the way, in the Who's Speaking? part, that's really a picture of me. >_<  I look really white because of the sun. D:

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The background is really annoying to look at. It actually sort of hurts the eyes. I'm not too fond of that green color either. It's too bright in my opinion. I'd probably also make the sidebar text smaller and give it a slightly larger leading. Otherwise it looks okay.

 

Oh yeah finally, if you don't like the picture then take another one or don't put the existing up in the first place... :P

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I like the background, but I was also trying to think of something a bit nicer. >_<  Any suggestions?  And the green color matches with the blue (imo), so I think I'm leaving that.  What do you mean by a larger leading on the sidebar text?  I will probably make it smaller though.

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Solid background is much nicer than the striped one. I like the colours.

 

I used to make backgrounds, by first creating a tiled pattern, and then lowering the contrast a lot, so it looked almost like a solid colour, but had some barely visible features. You might want to try it.

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K, I was on the fence about that blue line on top.  I'll re-add it.  And I've been on colourlovers all day. =P  I'll check out some more palettes (I had very little luck finding one I liked before that had blue and green).

 

EDIT: How about that color for a background?  If I stick with this, I'll change the nav background to a different blue.  I'm playing around with that now.

 

EDIT2: Any other suggestions then?

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Darkwater, you may want to check your site in webkit-based browsers like Google Chrome or Safari. Your top menu is almost fully off screen.

 

I would consider making the current selected page's tab in the top menu look different.. perhaps making the current selected tab green to match with the background?

 

You have a large central center gap on your page.. as a result, your panels feel disconnected.. no columned structure. I would recommend putting your panels in some sort of 2 or 3 column page layout.. as is.. feels like it lacks purpose . From a layout standpoint, I like your original version better (sorry if I sound too negative here.. not the intention at all).

 

Cheers,

 

NRG

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What's your screen resolution?  There isn't a large gap for me...I guess I'll use percentages rather than pixel values.  I'll make that change in a bit.

 

1600 X 1200. By containing your site in a auto centered div that is either a fixed width (1024 pixels) or a fluid / liquid display using percentages / ems, you have better control over how your site is displayed.. Not all users will share the same screen resolution you have.. you have to account for all users ;)

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Does it look okay with that really light green? (Until I can think up a nice background)

 

@Mchl: Care to show me any examples?  I can't really think of anything that would look nice tiled for this site. >_<

 

I don't think I have any any longer. It was 20th century stuff :P It was just some abstract stuff. Toying with paintbrushes in Paint Shop Pro, some blurring, smearing effects etc. Then just make the contrast really low and cover all with semi transparent colour.

 

I guess it'd be easier now, since GIMP and others have layers :)

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Try to style the byline to make it not look like body text. You could make it smaller, italicize it, choose a lighter color or a combination of those. Also, make the entire tab clickable in the navigation bar. I kind of expect that when people use tabs.

 

The tabs thing was almost next on my to-do list. =P

 

Also, I just switched to percentages.  Any better? >_< (I hope it doesn't look TOO stretched on high resolutions)

 

@Mchl: Okay, just curious. ;)

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Great.  I also fixed the tabs so that they're full-width.  Just trying to think of a non-obtrusive way to make the current page stand out in the navigation.

 

EDIT: Ah, figured it out.  I'm extending the bottom for the current page.

 

Are there any other points that should be addressed?  Other than the By line, as I'm currently working on that.

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