You know I couldn’t stay away for very long.

As you can see, the new site is VERY different than the old site, and contains a number of improvements to both the functionality and the design. This post details why I made these changes and explains a little bit about how to use the site properly. So keep reading.

As mentioned, the look of this site is drastically different than the old blog-style site I had before. This new layout is designed more like a magazine with specific categories of posts for better organization. I designed it this way so that I could assign different priorities to each category. For instance, you will notice that the Art News section will always remain on top. This is because the main function of this new site is to organize and display my art for curators and potential exhibitors. In this regard, even if there are 10 newer posts, the older art news will still remain at the top. The video section works in much the same way… it will always display the latest video in the same location. The next section below is the 3 latest “important” posts. These posts include technological ramblings, music news, pictures and important site information. Finally, below the video section you will find the 5 latest posts in all other categories. This includes my own “just for fun” posts as well as your own contributions to the site (like the Free4All, now called Friends). If you have a picture uploaded to your account, you picture will also show right on the main page. I wanted to get away from having a completely separate page for the Free4All. I think your contributions all deserve to be on the main page. Finally, the last major innovation on the site is a live search function. Note that the live search does not work with Internet Explorer, so I highly recommend getting Firefox if you are on Windows, or Camino (or Firefox) for Mac. If you are using an approved browser, when you type in the search box, it will automatically start finding articles that match what you are typing.

Now on to the functionality of the site.

First and foremost, I recommend you all sign up for an account right now. The process is dead easy, and takes only 20 seconds. Just click the link in the yellow box on the main page, fill in the two boxes and submit. You will then be emailed your temporary password to access the site. Simply log in and change your password to something you would prefer using (and while you’re at it, feel free to fill out your personal details and upload a picture). You will not be able to post to the site immediately. I have to approve all new users manually, so once I see you’re not a freak (or at least that you’re a freak I like) your account will be upgraded and you will be allowed to post. Again, I recommend Firefox or Camino as the other browsers are a little quirky.

I think that’s enough of a primer for now. Go ahead and explore the site. Let me know if you notice any major problems and I will do my best to correct them.

A7

Tags: functionality, new, news, site, wordpress

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Site News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.