Anyone reading this blog recently may have noticed the header, footer, sidebar and navigation links had mysteriously disappeared - but just from the blog, not the rest of the site. This was related to my website host upgrading to a new version of PHP, which I use for the bits that went missing. I’ve done some reconfiguring and corrected it for most blog pages; further fixing will have to wait until the morning when I can think better.

Regular readers may also have noticed a lack of blog posts lately. The course I am studying is to blame, as assignments and exam study have diverted my attention. All of that is now finished for the year (very successfully, I’m glad to say), and I look forward to having more time to write.

It was in the pipeline for a long time but has finally been completed - a redesign of my website and blog.

For those not familiar with how it looked before, here are two before and after screenshots of my navel fluff page. The left one shows how it looked before my redesign (click on it to open full-size in a new browser window).

With a few exceptions the content remains essentially the same - the changes mostly concern the organisation and structure, appearance, and some behind-the scenes coding improvements that benefit me but don’t affect the appearance. The changes can be summarised as follows:

• Revised the text of the Snow in WA section and split it into smaller and more manageable pages.
• Added a page about my collection of bakery bags.
• Added a header, consisting of a header image with title and tag-line superimposed, and navigation links.
• Centred the content (was previously left-aligned) to look better on a wide screen.
• Retained the white content background but added a pale non-white background to set the content apart from its surrounds.
• Changed the default font from Arial to Trebuchet. Nothing wrong with Arial, but I think Trebuchet looks a little more stylish while remaining readable. If complaints roll in, it’s easy to change back!
• Increased spacing between lines to improve readability.
• Divided the site into five sections (Blog, Snow in WA, Photography, Writing, Collections) to provide logical structure and better organisation of content.
• Added a contents page for each of the sections, accessed using the links in the header and footer.
• De-cluttered the navigation column on the left - instead of listing every page on the site, it now only contains links to the other pages within the section being viewed (except the Home page which still lists all).
• Improved page printing by adding a print style-sheet - now simply hitting Print button will print the content without the header, footer or left sidebar (check Print Preview to see what I mean). Previously it was necessary to find a “printer friendly” icon, click on it, then print the resulting odd-looking page, which didn’t always work.
• With minor exceptions, all page layout is now controlled using CSS instead of tables. That won’t concern anyone else, but it helps me because the page code is more up to date, standards-compliant, and easier to maintain.

Everything still seems to work, as far as my testing has shown. However if anyone comes across any page that doesn’t seem to display right, or has some other problem, I’d be grateful to hear about it.

It was one of those things I’d been meaning to get around to for a year or two, but kept putting off because I thought it would take a long time. Well, I have finally done it, and it didn’t take as long as I thought.  What I’m talking about is updating my website with some new photos.

The two old pages of West Australian photos have been removed, and replaced with six new pages organised according to location (see links under Photography on left, for “Albany”, “Southern Forests”,etc).  It feels good to have some of my better photos on display, though some of the best are on slides which haven’t been scanned yet.  Hopefully now I will feel motivated to start my New Zealand collection.

Many blog writers add to their blogs every day, but its two weeks since I last added to mine. There are reasons.

I was using public transport while my car was off the road, and this ate into my after-work time. Also my focus has shifted to a holiday I’m about to embark on. However the main reason I don’t update daily is my habit of not saying anything unless I’ve got something to say.

I expect I’ll have much to say when travelling, but on the other hand, I work with computers for a living and it might do me good to have a break from them. So if there are no updates here for a while, it probably means I’m enjoying myself doing some computer-free winter hiking in the spectacular south island of New Zealand.

Another thing I’ve been meaning to add to this website for a long time is printer friendly versions of pages … and I’ve finally done it.

Near the bottom of many pages (not all, just ones that someone might want to print) there is now a “Printer-friendly version” link which creates (via Perl script) a version of the page that is better formatted for printing. Content is the same, but the navigation column and Google search footer are removed, and the width is varied to fit the printed page so nothing is cut off. It wont work on these blog pages, but I’ll try to fix that another time.

Update (Oct’07): I’ve replaced this method with a print style sheet. Any page will now print in a “printer friendly” manner simply by hitting Print - no need to find a printer friendly version of the page first.

Well, I finally got around to putting some of my holiday photos from Tasmania onto their own web page. The holiday was six years ago … but I don’t like to rush!

What struck me most when sorting through my scanned images was not the photos I took, but all the fantastic scenes I could have captured but didn’t (due to miserable weather, disappointing negatives, or failure to visit many scenic spots). The much-desirable remedy is a longer trip to Tasmania with an SLR, tripod, and professional slide film.

I realise I should be grateful just for having had the pleasure of visiting an island as gorgeous as Tasmania, and I am. Many don’t get that opportunity. But the thought of going back and taking better pictures is very appealing.

Of interest to website design geeks … an easy method of applying borders and drop shadows to images, which I accidentally found in this article.

Instead of having to add borders and shadows to every image using a graphics program (as I did for my WA Snow pages), this method applies similar effects to plain images using CSS and a couple of DIV tags around the image’s HTML code. In other words, laborious and repetitive image editing is replaced with a bit of text.

In my example (a Firefox screenshot), the left photo has border and drop-shadow applied using this neat trick, while the other doesn’t. Both use the same source image. Its apparently compatible with most browsers, although Internet Explorer leaves out the white frame.

I’ve applied this effect to my cow photos gallery, and plan to use it on others … such as my new Tasmanian photo gallery which is coming soon.

Many blogs allow readers to post their own comments on whatever the blog writer has written. This input and discussion from others can make a blog much more interesting, however I’ve not enabled it here.

Sadly, forums where the public are freely able to post messages - such as blogs and discussion boards - are open to abuse in the form of spam and offensive messages. This requires somebody to regularly monitor and delete the inappropriate material, and the more visitors a site gets, the worse the problem. Thats why I stopped allowing entries to my guestbook years ago - deleting the pornographic and offensive rubbish started to demand more time and attention than I was able and willing to give it.

Its a shame … but this website is just an occasional hobby, and I don’t want policing it to be a daily headache!

Today I took the plunge and signed up with Google AdSense for some discreet advertising on this website. I haven’t sold out to capitalism; I just want to see if my web traffic can generate a few dollars to help pay some internet expenses. It doesn’t cost, so anything I get will be a bonus.

Some text ads should appear in the navigation column on the left of the screen, below my website links. The idea is that Google will feed ads related to the content of whatever page is being displayed. For example, the WA photo gallery may show ads for accomodation in Margaret River. I’ve configured the ads (maximum of two) to blend in with my website’s colours.

I’ve also added a Google search box to the bottom of every page. This can be used to search just within my website, or a normal internet search. The page showing the search results should also display some Google advertising.

The challenge for Google will be to come up with ads truly relevant to navel lint collecting!

When it seemed as if almost every Tom, Dick and Harry was starting up a blog, or online diary, I felt no compulsion to follow suit. Following the crowd is something I avoid, often as a matter of principle. But a recent examination of some other people’s blogs suggested I may have been too hasty in dismissing the idea … perhaps it could be worthwhile after all.

I enjoy writing, and usually find it theraputic. However I’ll often think of things I’d like to share on the internet, but which go unexpressed because they don’t warrant a web page of their own. A blog is a quick and easy way of expressing something online without having to be concerned with page formatting, and should nicely complement other more structured or long term writing projects such as the rest of this website, or the novel I’ve been working on for many years.

Time will tell if I have anything much to say in the context of this blog. But if I have, my website traffic of 8000 visitors per month (long term average) means there is a potential audience that makes it worthwhile to at least have a go. Thats why I started a blog.