Round Two

posted on june 30, 2003, tag: site

I've been tweaking/adding/removing on and off over the past two days since the launch of this new version. I'm sorry to bore you with all the technical details, but I'm going to. Here are the new changes:

• Removed CSS-based mouse over on the masthead up there, changed it to a simple JavaScript one so that everyone can see it. It's still using PNGs, so if your browser doesn't support them it sucks (also see next item).
• Fixed masthead image's JavaScript preloader.
• Added the BlogShares link to the sidebar (very bottom). There's another interesting thing coming up in a day or two related to BlogShares that you might enjoy.
• Added the search function back in. This time, however, it's different. Now, upon hitting enter, you'll receive a pop-up window that acts as a remote to view results. I rather like this functionality. Tell me if you don't.
• Realized I forgot to add the breadcrumb navigation to the bottom of the page as well, and did that. Now you can actually move around if you've read to the bottom of the page (without having to scroll back up). I will add a "back to top" link as soon as I figure out how to get it to look right.
• Changed the external link JavaScript function once more to properly retarget links posted in user comments (this script is almost bullet-proof now, yay!) (also, see next item).
• Added semi-hidden option (at the bottom of the about page—last FAQ) that allows you, if you wish, to change all link targets (site-wide) to open in the same window. Check the box to retarget all links, uncheck it to restore default link targets (will save your preferrences in a cookie). Note that this will not mis-colour links, so you'll still be able to see which links are "off-site."
• Fixed Opera 7.01 layout bug (thanks to Daniel for the heads up on this).
• Reinstated click-counting for the "elsewhere" links in the sidebar. This shouldn't be noticable for the most part, unless you're on dial-up (if your connection is slow, you'll see that the links go to a local page at maniacalrage before forwarding to their actual destination). Broadband users won't notice at all (see more information below).

The reason for bringing back click-counting: I send a lot of referrals to the sites on my sidebar, and I'm just curious how many people are actually clicking them. I'm writing a small pop-up window that will give me stats on how many times each link has been clicked, and when I'm done I'll add a link to the sidebar under statistics.

I think I've also found a way to make the comment preview spell-check work in Safari and Mac IE, but it will take me a few days to get it going (if it works). I'll keep you posted.

Other than that, not much else needs be done with this design. Now I can stop bothering you with long lists and get back to the real stuff. In a day or two I will be releasing two scripts. One is BlogShares related, the other is the statistics script people have requested in the past. And, if there's enough interest, perhaps I will release the PHP spell-check I wrote for comment preview.

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