Website Updates and New Layout?

[icarus]

In preparation for remixredux I've updated my website.

The Harry Potter story pages have been updated.
The Harry Potter fic pairings page now has a Gen list, and has been updated from July 2005. *coughs*

PG-13 has 9 new stories, R has two new stories, and NC-17 also has two new stories.

The growing Stargate page has been updated.
I've added five new Stargate Atlantis stories, and two new Stargate SG-1 stories. Since Stargate Atlantis is up to seven stories and Stargate SG-1 now has 17, check out the handy "jump to" links.

I've renamed "Nasty Little Elves" to Nowhere But Up, because the original title was a slapped on mess and scribbulus_ink had a point with the title being the first hook. I was being lazy with the original title.

New Layout?
I'm experimenting with a new layout that seems to work for (and look the same) on various resolutions. The banner is by femmequixotic, with art by lizardspots.

Only one page is complete because, well, I don't know what I'm doing. A lot of the links don't work yet. But the layout of all the pages will be simple: black text on white background, with the information in the center table. A basic 12 pt font. The stories will still appear as separate links so you (and I) can link to them individually.

Users of Firefox and Safari and other browsers, let me know if it looks like utter shit?

Everyone else... do you like the bright and sunny look? I write a lot more humor than Darkfic so it seems to fit, but if it hurts your eyes, tell me. I'd like to go to eFiction, but I don't know how to set it up. So, basic HTML it is.

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

- use that maroon colour in the banner for the heading and/or the links. You could incorporate the murky greeen of the Earth chevron somewhere too.

Done. Oh. I forgot to do it for the heading. Anyway, the links are done.

- I'm guessing your screen res is 800x600? On people with larger screens, everything below the banner spreads across the screen, which looks a tad off. You can put everything into a table and predefine the width of the table to be the same as the banner width.

*stares* Okay, that's assuming much more knowledge of HTML than I have. I've, uh, sort of, uh, wound up with these tables through trial and error. I'm not sure how to get to an end result except virtually by accident.

Also, upload whatever piccie is meant to be between the links along the top! I wanna see. :D

Any ideas? The reason I haven't uploaded it is I'm not sure what to use. Wilderness Guru has a teeny tree there on his site, you see.

Icarus

[lizardspots.livejournal.com]

Ok, if you go to the html of that page, it says:

<TD WIDTH="100%" VALIGN="TOP">

above the code for your links along the top. Change 100% to 850 (which is the width of your banner).

You then have

<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="6"
HEIGHT="406">

above the code for the 'distracting things' links. Again, change 100% to 850.

Then

<TD WIDTH="100%" VALIGN="TOP">

Get rid of 'width=100%', don't replace it with anything.

Hopefully that'll make all the text below the banner be the same width as the banner. :D Also, graphics between the links along the top - I suggest keep graphics to a minimum. Put a * or a | between each link, no need for a tiny piccie. :)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) Won't it look funny, with just a little box of text/images in the upper left hand corner of the screen?

I suggest keep graphics to a minimum. Put a * or a | between each link, no need for a tiny piccie. :)

Deal. *nods*

I've another question: do you know how to create margins around text for Firefox users? My current margins:

<*body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" bgproperties=fixed topmargin="0" leftmargin="-2" rightmargin="-2"*>

Don't register with that browser and I don't know why. The majority of my readers use Firefox. *sighs* *head in hands*

Icarus

[lizardspots.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) Won't it look funny, with just a little box of text/images in the upper left hand corner of the screen?

Oh dear, is that what it looks like? :( I'd intended for the whole block of text (distracting links and all) to be centred under the header. You're right, firefox doesn't recognise your margins, which is why I was hoping the table width code might work. :\\

I'm not quite sure what your -2 margins are meant to look like, I checked our layout in both IE and firefox, and they look pretty much the same.

BTW, you should really try out firefox. :D It's essentially laid out exactly like IE, but it doesn't mess up a lot of website code (IE misreads a surprising amount of code) as well as nifty features which would seem extraneous at first, but within a few days you wouldn't even remember how you survived the internet without them. :D

[lizardspots.livejournal.com]

That should be 'your layout', not 'our'. I'm not that overbearing, am I? :D

[lizardspots.livejournal.com]

<HTML>

<HEAD>

<META> blahblah </META>

<TITLE>............................. I C A R U S . S L A S H . F I C T I O N .............................</TITLE>

<style type="text/css"><!--
blahblah
hr {width: 850px;}
--></style>

</HEAD>

<BODY bgcolor="#FFFFFF">


<center>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="850">

<tr align="left" valign="top">
<td colspan="2" width="850">
<img src="icarus5.gif" width="850" height="250">
<br>
<hr>
<center>
| blahblah links along the top |
</center>
<hr>
</td>
</tr>

<tr align="left" valign="top">
<td width="150">
distracting sidelinks
</td>

<td align="left">
blahblah main text
</td>

</tr>

<tr align="left" valign="top">
<td colspan="2" width="850">
<hr>
<center>
blahblah links along the bottom
</center>
<hr>
</td>
</tr>

</table>
</center>

</body>
</html>

------------------------------------

That'll make the site look like this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Lizard/icarus.jpg) with the text and lines going across being the same width as the banner. But I just recieved the comment where you said you fixed the width. xD Damn. But anyway, have a look if you prefer it like this or the way you've already done it....

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Weirdly enough, the picture as far as I can tell is 900 pixels. *eyes cross*

I think I'd better stop for now. But your layout looks a lot cleaner than what I have so far. I like it. I'm wondering why my lines currently stop an inche from the endge of the banner. Hmm.

I sleep first. Then, I look at this when I'm fresh.

Icarus

[lizardspots.livejournal.com]

Nope, the picture is 850x250px, according to photoshop. But yes, you go sleep first. Nighty night. :D

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

They do look the same: I just fixed the margins for Firefox (hours of uploading fics tonight). They're no longer crammed up against the side.

As for Firefox, I have it, but like a lot of new software my system can't handle it. It takes to the count of twenty to load a single webpage, if it loads anything at all.

Icarus