What a learning process the design of our new site has been! After much CSS experimentation and reference to the ever useful sources of Stop design, csszengarden and Zeldman, we have, I think, achieved a simple, clean and fresh look with an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Not only that, but it also conforms to W3C XHTML 1.0 Strict recommendations.
By using CSS to control positioning, we have greatly reduced the problem of bloated layout code leading to long download times. Not only do we have “pixel precision”, but no more of those “shifting” page problems that can occur with table and spacer gif layouts. As for decorative images, these are controlled exclusively by CSS so text-only browsers can share the experience without the need for a separate interface
As is always the case with a new site, problems arise when you least expect them. Just when you think your CSS works on 46 browsers there is always a 47th version that will give you nightmares. Through the use of browser-specfic “hacks”, we have managed to bypass most of these problems (although no doubt some more will arise!)
Some key benefits of this approach, I think, are
- Tableless layout (well … just one for the calendar page) achieved entirely through CSS
- Minimal use of images, and those that are used (except content item photographs and screenshots) are controlled through the style sheets and rendered as background images
- Quick page load times with an average size of roughly 20k
- The site successfuly validates as XHTML 1.0 Strict
- Site renders successfully in text browsers
- A simple, clean and fresh looking interface
We like the new site. We hope you do too. If you have any comments or questions about the design and layout, please let us know.
Wow – just tested the site in a WAP browser and it works like a dream…
This is my first visit to this site, but I must say the design looks very clean. I like it.
Unfortunately, the link I tried to follow to get here resulted in a 403 error (link from Seb’s Open research). And it is also unfortunate that these 359 pages in Google (http://www.google.com/search?q=allinurl:www.headshift.com/moments/&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=0) are presenting error pages to your ‘would-be’ visitors. Even a custom 404 page with redirect to the home page would help matters…
Many thanks Mark for the feedback – we had in fact spotted that one and built a redirect system to ensure that all our previous URLs continue to function, so all the Google link should now work.
Phat site!, The site is way beyond its time. How do you sell a relpica site to clients that have little or no idea when it comes to top end applications, design and usability.
Experience has taught me that clients/users sometimes lag behind when it comes to to end stuff like this. We probably move too fast for them.
I can really see that you really envision to enthusiastically integrate timely materials so that you may endeavor to continually leverage other’s prospective information to meet their customer’s needs. Very clever, keep it up.
Very funny
I can see you have come a long way since our first meeting … you remember …. the one with the cappuccino skin hanging from your lip…..