Aphelion

Nearly 2am this time. Slipping already.

Go. Read. Enjoy!

Very cool Rob. All that panicking on the lettercol and you had it under control the whole time. Looks fabulous. I did notice that the Lettercol is undert the 'Forum' tab. Is that to avoid confusion for new people who don't really use the term 'lettercol'?

Gareth

Yeah, it was one of the suggestions someone made in the panic thread that just made sense. You'll note hte forum itself is still called the lettercol, but this way people won't be so hesitant to click on it, I hope.

Annoying questions 'r' us ...

Will the 'Gallery' page be modified to match the rest? I realize that the graphics at the left of the screen might make this tricky. If not, the browser 'Back' button returns you to the (standard layout) screen from whence you came, but a 'Return to Aphelion Index' button wouldn't hurt.

Can the 'Forum' / lettercol screen be modified to more closely match the rest? This is trickier, since it depends on how flexible YaBB is about screen layouts and coding.

Will there be a 'Back Issues' page?

On the technical side of things, will archived material still reside on a different server (logically if not physically), or should Archive links to stories just point to the original locations? (poaching on Tao's territory, but I'm curious)

And finally, is there any way to add a Search function to find stories by author or title? (This function would presumably reside on the 'Archives' page.)

Rob / Dan, feel free to relocate or delete this post if it seems too much like airing Mafia business in public ...

Robert "Never satisfied, unless I'm the one who would have to fix it" M.

Annoying questions 'r' us ...
Will the 'Gallery' page be modified to match the rest? I realize that the graphics at the left of the screen might make this tricky. If not, the browser 'Back' button returns you to the (standard layout) screen from whence you came, but a 'Return to Aphelion Index' button wouldn't hurt.

I tried integrating it. It wasn't pretty. I may get back around to it, but in the meantime I will see about adding a "Back to Aphelion" link, or possibly even an entire navbar for it.

Can the 'Forum' / lettercol screen be modified to more closely match the rest? This is trickier, since it depends on how flexible YaBB is about screen layouts and coding.

This is on my list of things to investigate.

Will there be a 'Back Issues' page?

Goodnesss, I hope not.

On the technical side of things, will archived material still reside on a different server (logically if not physically), or should Archive links to stories just point to the original locations? (poaching on Tao's territory, but I'm curious)

Everything will now be integrated to one server.

And finally, is there any way to add a Search function to find stories by author or title? (This function would presumably reside on the 'Archives' page.)

Certainly possible. I'll add it to the to-do list.

Rob / Dan, feel free to relocate or delete this post if it seems too much like airing Mafia business in public ..

Robert "Never satisfied, unless I'm the one who would have to fix it" M.

Y'know, you've had six weeks to bring all this up. :)

This is the plan going forward. TaoPhoenix has recently joined the staff as our Archives editor, and his first goal is to get the Archives into shape so that they are current. After that is done, we may revisit the idea of having back issues available.

Lettercol and Gallery are now properly embedded into the main site. I love it when the pieces fall together.

I think you did a good job, Rob. Nice, clean look.

It will take a little getting used to, but I really like the ease of navigation, especially with the lettercol integrated.


Are there more improvements to come in future months?

Nate

I think you did a good job, Rob. Nice, clean look.

It will take a little getting used to, but I really like the ease of navigation, especially with the lettercol integrated.

Given that the last time the site had a major overhaul was in 1998 (not counting the 2004 switch to the new lettercol), there was a LOT of cultural inertia to overcome. To be honest, that's a large part of what took me so long to get around to it. There's a good two months of work in this. :)

Are there more improvements to come in future months?

Of course. We're always up to something. Just remember that we follow a magazine paradigm, which means things don't actually happen in real-time, for the most part, they happen in monthly installments. :)

Of course, Rob's dream is that all the old stories will be reHTMLd to match the new template and uploaded into a nice orderly folder structure. Not quite as inspiring as Martin Luther King's dream, but probably more attainable.

(Hey, as long as I'm not the one doing the work, I'm all for it! ;D)

Robert M.

Of course, Rob's dream is that all the old stories will be reHTMLd to match the new template and uploaded into a nice orderly folder structure. Not quite as inspiring as Martin Luther King's dream, but probably more attainable.

Actually, due to the way I designed the site, it's not actually dificult. It's just time consuming.

o/~ Step by step the longest march can be won, can be one
Many stones can build an arch, singly none, singly none
And together what we will can be accomplished still
Many drops can turn a mill, singly none, singly none. o/~