# My site



## Chevy (Jul 25, 2003)

This is the site for my radio show. It also incorporates info on my business. I used WordPress (blogging app), and found a decent template.

www.csanola.com/radio

Now I would like to dress it up a little. The kicker - I have no clue on what to do. (think dedicated bachelor and interior design).

Any tips?


----------



## v-six (Sep 12, 2004)

Chevy, I'd like to hear more about what kind of aesthetic you'd like to go for. Initially, there are only a few things that need to be taken care of. 

1: The "Computer Solutions Show" at the top is something you could play around with. If you want to keep it as text (not an image), see how you like it as either all caps (instead of faux small-caps.. let me know if you want me to explain what I mean by this) or in title case (Such As This). A sans-serif font is fine though, more Companies that I can count use some variation of Helvetica for their company identity.
...
If you'd rather use a .jpg or .gif for the title, I'd have to hear more about how you want the site to look before I comment on it. It's your site afterall. I think the font and color for the rest of the site are working well.

Cosmetically, that's my only immediate reaction without hearing more about what you want, as everything is looking pretty unified.

There are some smaller nit-picky things that you could choose to issue, if you have the option of making these changes.

Recommendation 1: The right column might be more successful with a fixed size. Right now, it's glitchy when you size down the window to a small width, and at full size on a high resolution ithe line length is too long. (according to academic writing on legibility... not just my dumb opinion.) The size is damn-near perfect at an 800 x 600 resolution. If you want to try a fixed size, try to aim for a total width around 750 pixels. (Itll fit on 800x600, but won't be too small at a higher res.
Recommendation 2: Take everything I say as constructive input that you may choose to play with, or blow your nose with.
-Six


----------



## Chevy (Jul 25, 2003)

Well, let's see:

- I like the overall color scheme. It's easy to read, and looks pretty good.

- While it's the page/site for my radio show, which is light-hearted, I still want an overall profesional look, as my biz announcements will appear here.

- I have a logo for the show (attached)

- Can you nest (maybe the wrong term) CSS files? If so, can I call a seperate CSS for posts that should look different from the norm? HTML tags are fully supported by this blog app.

- I'll have to pick through the php to see where the tables are defined. Do you suggest fixed or % sizing?

- Johnny is sharing 3267 songs via LimeWire and Jimmy is sharing 4340 using Kazaa. If [email protected] the leecher downloads from both sources at an agregate of 420KB per second, how long before Metallica starts another whining campaign?

- Any and all comments/suggestion are welcome.


----------



## v-six (Sep 12, 2004)

_- I like the overall color scheme. It's easy to read, and looks pretty good._
I agree. Add what I said about legibility before and it will be even stronger.

_- While it's the page/site for my radio show, which is light-hearted, I still want an overall profesional look, as my biz announcements will appear here._
A couple things that might add to a more professional feel:
1: A note on borders...
Anywhere you have a solid block of color surrounded by a different color (such as the navy blue container for your dates surrounded by white) it helps to add a 1 pixel border to the container. This grounds the colors (preventing them from vibrating) and gives the page a crisper feel. For a visual example, give this a quick look. The lighter blue border around the edges of your main table are fine as they are... but try them thinner. If you like them thinner, great.. go for thin. If you like them how they are, that's fine too. 

More on fonts:
If you want to go for a dashingly professional look, the font for your dates inside the blue boxes could be changed. That font when used bold is pretty choppy. You could use a smaller font (10-12ish point font) and not loose any visual heirarchy, as the white text on blue already tells you that it's more important. Look at trebuchet MS and Verdana somewhere around 10-12 pt, not bold, and see if you like either.

_- I have a logo for the show (attached)_
It's evading me.
_
- Can you nest (maybe the wrong term) CSS files? If so, can I call a seperate CSS for posts that should look different from the norm? HTML tags are fully supported by this blog app._ 
I'm not 100% clear on what you mean, as nesting with CSS refers to something else... but you could use a different CSS style for posts that should look different from the norm. They just have to reference a different style sheet than that of the normal stuff. Once I understand what you want to do it should be very simple to make it happen.

_- I'll have to pick through the php to see where the tables are defined. Do you suggest fixed or % sizing?_
I'd suggest fixed in this case. If you move to three columns, % would be a good choice, as you'd have more content to fill the space. Fixed sizes give you more control of where things are going, and in this case eliminate two potential problems (see my first post).

_- Johnny is sharing 3267 songs via LimeWire and Jimmy is sharing 4340 using Kazaa. If [email protected] the leecher downloads from both sources at an agregate of 420KB per second, how long before Metallica starts another whining campaign?_
seven minutes, thirteen seconds, and nine lawyers.


----------



## Resolution (Sep 17, 2005)

It's a nice looking site. Everything is well centered and readable. My only gripe (and i'm probably being picky) is the bright yellow for the category links. I find my eyes being drawn to that more than anything on the page. I would use a more "toned down" color, or perhaps a slightly darker yellow.

_On a side note: Wow. Vital Security is still active? I remember that site back when it was first starting out._


----------



## v-six (Sep 12, 2004)

Resolution said:


> It's a nice looking site. Everything is well centered and readable. My only gripe (and i'm probably being picky) is the bright yellow for the category links. I find my eyes being drawn to that more than anything on the page. I would use a more "toned down" color, or perhaps a slightly darker yellow.
> [/I]


I think the politically correct term for trying to read that yellow is _challenging_. Unless you're trying to hurt people, Res's advice would be good advice to follow up on.


----------



## Chevy (Jul 25, 2003)

Ok ... Fixed the yellow links, toned down the post headers, and adjusted some borders.

Now I need to delve into the php (or is it in the CSS?) to adjust the table widths.


----------



## Grove (Jun 21, 2005)

Table Widths would be CSS.

PHP is a programming language that is mainly used for a login/member style website.


----------



## oldmn (Oct 16, 2005)

I like it, It is clean straight forward, good information well presented.
Not like the one I built for the wife. www.crochetnbeads.com  
she did all the line drawings.


----------



## Chevy (Jul 25, 2003)

oldmn said:


> I like it, It is clean straight forward, good information well presented.
> Not like the one I built for the wife. www.crochetnbeads.com
> she did all the line drawings.



I thought the domain for the missus was CROTCHES and BEADS ,,,,  :4-rolling 



> Table Widths would be CSS.
> 
> PHP is a programming language that is mainly used for a login/member style website.



Searching now (well, sometime today).


----------



## DumberDrummer (Oct 27, 2003)

The CSS for table width would just be width. 

EDIT: Upon looking through the CSS, I think the two lines to focus on are these two:
#main { *margin-left: 230px; *padding: 20px; border-left: 1px #000000; }
and 
#left { float: left; *width: 210px*; padding: 20px 10px 20px 10px; border-right: 5px #000000; }

The two bolded areas control the width of the main area and the sidebar respectively. 

Happy hunting!


----------

