Reboot Complete
Ladies and Gentleman… Allow me to welcome you to the restyle of the century! My new theme - almost four weeks (part-time) in the making - brings a fresh new look to my blog.
What you’re looking at is based on the Dark Theme, which was originally designed by Wolfgang Bartelme. His design was converted to WordPress by iLEMONed, widgetized by Diego Ciconi, and then giving a graphical thrashing by yours truly!
I hope you like what I’ve done with the place - and I really look forward to your comments (positive or constructive) and feedback on what you like or dislike as far as functionality goes! Oh, and if you’re reading this via my feed then you probably have no idea what I’m talking about - so come and see the site in person! 
- Testing Complete
- Another Year Older…
- CSS Refresh Complete!
WOW! What a nice suprise! I kind of miss the old dark look, but I like this new theme as well, especially the DJ banner, the inviting wide layout and the date/comments/categories on the left. And of course, the integration of the Flickr spell on Reflections
Congratulations! Well done!
Hey, what happened here? Has someone turned on the light? Wow - isn’t this a four column layout? Wow, I’m feeling sooo out of style suddenly…
I noticed that the two columns to the right disappear if the browser window is smaller than 990 px in Firefox. (Well, they don’t disappear, they just slip to the bottom. And Explorer doesn’t just continues to scale them down.) 48% percent of my visitors use a screen resolution of 1024×768. Subtract a sidebar with bookmarks…
Nice work, Paul!
I’m liking the brighter look much more than the dark. I just think it’s so much easier to read and more inviting. I also like how you’ve added your mugshot to the top right (something I’ve thought about doing recently).
My own site is far, far away from validating, and I notice you have a few errors too. How about removing the XHTML and CSS links in the footer until you have time for those?
I think you’ve done a superb job from before to now.
My burning, bleeding eyeballs!
I jest! It’s very schmick. I’m appreciating this unusual left hand margin / integrated post-comment-info object as well. That, and the choice of blue where used - very nice shades.
Just a couple of short ones - would recent visitors be more effective as a grid in the same format as the blogcatalog item below? Also I have noticed that on this page (being the perma for the post) shows text boxes for the flickr area instead of the photos themselves. Intentional?
Re,
Tomo.
Paul,
You gave me a verbal taster of the banner yesterday, and I must say that your comments didn’t do it justice!!
I do like the new look of the site, it’s more welcoming (not to say the dark site wasn’t!!) and open….
Mind you - I do have one comment, the mugshot, not the best pic of you I’ve seen for sure!!
“Wtf? Did I click the wrong link?”
You, sir, have done a good job!
I love the way you have used the left margin for metadata for your posts.
(As Tomo mentioned, the Flickr photos aren’t showing.)
One other thing, Paul, that I’ve just noticed when viewing in IE - you’re MyBlogLog widget touches the ReviewMe “logo”. This isn’t noticeable in Firefox.
Hey Paul!
Great job man! I think this cannot be called “Dark Theme” anymore… You just gave it a fresh light style. Really Good!
Will you make it publicy? If so, tell me so I may post about it.
Nice job!
I LOVE it!! Great job with the reboot. Much better than the dark, brooding theme. The color scheme is great.
Hey guys! Thanks for the comments! Let me address them one at a time:
——
Vivien,
I was planning on integrating a vectorised version of the Flickrspell banner into the header - but I just couldn’t get the same level of quality as you get with photos, so I thought the least I could do was use it as an article image!
——
Zep,
I’ve worked on the 80:20 rule, which (for my site anyway) means that the lowest resolution anyone is running is 1024×768, and that anybody running that resolution probably isn’t using a sidebar! However, I *really* want to make it truly scalable - so that it will work on even a mobile platform… It’s on my to-do list!
——
David,
Glad you like the lighter style! I notice that a piccy has sprung up on yours already - glad I’ve provided some inspiration!
I actually worked REALLY hard to ensure that my theme validates fully… The HUGE amount of problems are caused by the MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog widgets - which I can’t fix as they’re pulled via JavaScript.
I’m going to leave the footer links where they are, because I want to draw attention to this! I’m happy to take on the job of coding validated widgets, if anyone from MBL or BC want to give me the job!
The MBL widget touching the ReviewMe logo is another fine example of just how badly IE adheres to W3C standards! I’ve noticed another slight problem when viewing it in IE too, so both are on my list of to-dos!
——
Tomo,
The recent visitors module is appearing as a single column when you view the site because you’re not set up with MyBlogLog. This means that you see an entry at the top labelled ‘You’ - which I seem unable to style. If you set yourself up with MBL then it will fix itself - not to mention all the benefits for your blog of doing so anyway!
I’ve fixed the flickrRSS display. This was caused by me turning on image caching as an afterthought last night. I’ve disabled it now, and it’s working as it should!
——
Paul B,
I thought you’d like the illustration!
I thought the mugshot was quite flattering, considering I’m an ugly overweight 30 year-old with no hair! 
——
Asgeir,
I’d glad you like the new look!
I’ve fixed the flickr thing now.
——
Diego,
Thanks for the compliment! Converting the theme to support widgets saved me a large amount of work - so thanks to you too! I don’t have any immediate plans to make the theme public, but I may do in a couple of months - one all the glitches have been ironed out!
——
Randa,
Thanks! Brooding is the right word for the old look - and I just felt that it needed a breath of fresh air!
Amazing job. I am also using the “Dark Theme” and would love to give it my personal touch. You really did a great job. I love the header and the blend of colors.
Thanks Jose!
Looking good Paul, looking good!
Just seconding Zeps comments about the side bar slipping below the main content. Whilst everyone in the world does have a monitor with higher resolution than 800×600 (they really do), not everyone views their web browser full screen. I don’t.
I’m a firm believer in the 80:20 rule too
- but I’d prefer to scroll sideways than scroll down to see the sidebar.
Other than that I’m loving it. I too like the way you’ve used the left column. Good stuff mate.
Hey great mod! It’s just wonderful!
p.s. Reflections = PvD?
Cheers Aaron!
I’ve based my assumptions purely on Google Analytics stats for the site, run from the day it launched to yesterday. In case you’re interested, the top ten resolutions being used by my visitors look like this:
1280×1024 - 26.20%
1024×768 - 25.60%
1280×800 - 14.37%
1440×900 - 8.36%
1680×1050 - 7.24%
1152×864 - 3.64%
1920×1200 - 3.11%
1600×1200 - 2.64%
1280×768 - 1.93%
1400×1050 - 1.82%
No 800×600 users anywhere - hurrah! I take the point though… I can’t be sure who’s using the full width and who has a sidebar up. It’s on my list of things to fix soon, and double-asterisked now I know it’s a problem for you!
Thanks LEMONed! I seriously couldn’t have done it without your work on porting the theme - so cheers!
I don’t get the PvD reference though… The only PvD I know is ‘Paul van Dyke’ - is that what you mean, with the DJ header?
considering I’m an ugly overweight 30 year-old with no hair!
You lie!! :-p
Nope. I’m an honest ugly overweight 30 year-old with no hair. :p
Hi again - I’m here! Yes a big thumbs up from me! Your redesign gives a much fresher look and is very inviting. I like the colour choices, the header and especially your font selection! (hee hee!)
Did you create the vector illustration?
Now I know what you look like you Essex boy you!
Lovely job, Paul! Very nice! If I were to make one comment on it, it would be to implement the PNG fix for IE6.
I don’t usually use IE6 - however I’m travelling at the moment and am forced to use a corporate laptop from my husbands company… so, here I am - on IE6 and your PNGs aren’t transparent
Other than that - very nice! I like the lighter look
Jo,
Thanks for the compliments! The illustration is original, and heavily inspired by some stuff I’ve seen recently in various music magazines! I’ll never be able to show my face in a Tollesbury pub again!
——
Lisa,
Glad you like it! Excellent point on the PNG fix (which I shall implement shortly)… I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t actually test it in IE6, as I’m running Windows Vista now - and it’s a real pain to get IE7 and IE6 to play nicely together!
You are a talented chappie! Yes I’d better print your mug shot off to display as posters around Tollesbury! The yokels should be warned!
Just had to say huzzah to you for the redesign. It’s beautiful and inviting
I like it better than the “brooding theme,” too, as Randa put it. Although the previous theme did fit really well with the Reflections name. But you can reflect and be happy, too, right? Yes, as this current design says!
Jo,
Save your money on the printing… My mugshot’s already on all the local Police bulletin boards!
——
LaurenMarie,
Glad you like it!
It may sound a little pretentious, but my ambition with Reflections was to have the appearance and content of the blog mirror my mood. The last design fitted in well with what I’ve gone through recently, but didn’t feel right in terms of what is to come… I guess I’ve shifted the focus slightly from ‘current reflections’ to ‘future reflections’ - which has got to be good, right? 
Ah yes, I completely understand. I suppose there’s a bit of an emotional artist in each of us, not in a bad way, but in a very artist way (design vs. pure artistic expression and all that jazz). I’m probably going to stick both of my feet in my mouth by saying that :}
I’m glad that your future reflections (oxymoron, no?) are brighter. I enjoy your blog very much, so keep it up!
Ahh, now that’s where I’ve seen you before! THanks so much for adding me to your blogroll. I will do the same for you.
LaurenMarie,
I don’t think future reflections is an oxymoron… Wanna know why?
An actor will often prepare for much more than simply the role they’re asked to play. They will consider what they think the past history of the character is, invent events in his (or her) life that might have made him what he is, and will construct emotions from fabricated past experiences. They will decide where he’s going, what he wants to do, and why. All of which help the actor to create and portray a fuller character in the present.
As far as I’m concerned… The past is where you’re coming from - the path and experiences that add up to who you are now, and the future is where you’re headed - the path and the experiences you’ll go through if you continue as you are now. In principle both that past and that future are changeable.
If you consider your past and future in this manner, then what you imagine could possibly happen in your future could be classed as future reflections, wouldn’t you say?
——
Jo,
It was tough to reduce my daily reading list of 43 down to 10 entries for my Blogroll - but a pleasure making you one of them!
Uh, it’s different OK. I really liked your Redoable mod. For some strange reason I prefer the darker themes. But I will wear sunglasses reading your blog, that is not a bad thing.
This one is just amazing! Fonts, colours (other than white), graphics (brilliant footer), shadows, etc.
Take care!
Thanks Dirk!
I’ve always liked darked sites, and I’ve had many of them in the past. For me, blogging is about text - and I find that lighter sites usually mean easier reading!
Note for Lisa:
I’ve implemented the PNG fix you recommeded, but I’ve got no way of testing it! Could you (or anyone else running IE6) test it to see if transparent PNGs are now displaying properly?
Thanks!
Interesting. I get it!
On IE6 your photo and the reflections title have a light blue box around them. I uploaded a screen shot here.
Thanks LaurenMarie! I think I found an error in the code I was using. Would you mind trying again for me?
Nice to know that everything else looks perfect in IE6 though - so cheers for the grab!
Well, your photo looks ok, but the blog title is still off. Screen shot, number 2.
There is a Firefox plugin called IE Tab that lets you view IE within Firefox (not sure if it’s available for Mac), so I don’t want any flak for using IE! I am a Firefox fangirl
OK. I’ve found out why it’s not working - now all I need to do is fix it!
It’s happening because the logotext is a transparent PNG set as a CSS background image, as described here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/pnginfo.htm
Bear with me…
Yes, silly IE! There’s a bit of JS code (I think it’s JS, can’t remember now) that makes IE6 play nice with PNG. Is that what you’re using? I think they’ve fixed PNG with 7, but I don’t want to install it because so many people are still using 6 and that’s what I need to test for. Maybe they have an IE Tab plugin for 7 now… have to check into that!
Ah, you know we’re a patient bunch. I think it’s amazing that you’ve fixed all the major issues within the first day of launch! Lots to say for good planning and testing ahead of time
No, unfortunately, there’s no IE Tab extension for FF on Mac - bohooo
Good luck with this fix, Paul. You should write a post about that after the successful fight with this IE beast.
I had a similar problem on my blog, and the way I fixed it was simply saving the PNG file as GIF, and using the conditional statement, display GIF for IE users, and for the more sophisticated ones display PNG.
LaurenMarie,
Yeah - that’s the script I’m using… But it doesn’t work with background PNGs.
——
Vivien,
I try really hard not to use conditional statements in my code, or hacks in my stylesheets - but in this case perhaps it’s the only option! I’m unable to find anyone who’s made background PNG files with transparency work with IE6!
——
As a slight side-note, I’ve just managed to rectify the only validation fault I had for my CSS - so that’s now passing W3C as it should!
Right… Could somebody try it again for me?
I’ve made use of the !important selector bug in IE6. Firefox 1/2/3, IE7 and Opera should all show the decent transparent PNG. IE6 should show the crappy GIF file.
The GIF looks rubbish - but the blue aura around the logo looked worse!
Hi Paul, I’ve only been gone for a few days to find a really cool redesign of your website, how awesome! I discovered a laptop here in Amsterdam and wanted to leave a quick hello from across the channel… Great job you’ve done!
Hey! Thanks Tess!
I hope you’re enjoying the trip - just don’t get too (ahem) relaxed! Actually, that’s supposed to be almost as good as the caffiene and the nicotene - so perhaps you should!
Yeah, it looks ok. My husband says that there is a way to get background PNG to work. He’s gonna tell me tomorrow, though, because he has his notes at work. I’ll email it to you, is that ok? He says it’s a lot of work, but if it’s only for one image, it’s not too bad
Yay!
Goodmorning, thanks Paul, yes I really enjoy being here, although the weather is totally pants, but didn’t expect much of it anyway
With the amount of visits I have to pay these days I won’t be *that* relaxed, trust me, it’s similar to speed-dating just with relatives and friends instead
So I’d rather have the other two you mentioned to stay alert! :9
ps I finally put a link to you on my blog, hope that’s alright?
LaurenMarie,
Any information you can provide (via your Husband or otherwise) would be really appreciated! I spent some time scouring Google last night, and I can’t find a fix for the issue anywhere - so if he’s got something that’ll do it then I’d be very happy to try!
——
Tess,
Speed-smoking..? Could be a new Olympic sport! Links to me are *always* appreciated!
Well, it doesn’t look all that complicated after all. Here’s what he said (I put it here instead of emailing it to share with your readers, since it wasn’t too long):
* html .png { filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src=’test.png’);
padding-top:500px;
}
HTML followed by the CSS. The ‘padding-top’ removes the blue background IE likes to put on transparent objects.
Thanks to Jerrol Krause, my wonderful, smart, talented husband for this info
uh oh… it didn’t put the image HTML in there… how do I make it do that? How can you display code w/o browsers thinking it’s actual page code? Is there a code CSS class?
Delete my last two comments if this one didn’t work :/
LOL! Send it to me by email, and I’ll post it in a comment!
Erm, well your contact form doesn’t like me, I hope you get the email I sent. I sent it to the same address your comment updates come from.
I’ve fixed that glitch in my Contact Form - thanks for pointing it out! I got your email too… This was what LaurenMarie was trying to post:
< img src="test.png" alt="" class="png" / >
* html .png {
filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src=’test.png’);
padding-top:500px;
}
Unfortunately, that actually does exactly the same thing as the Javascript that didn’t work! The inline AlphaImageLoader trick only works with normal image (IMG) tags - and not with background images.
I’ll have to think about restructuring the header I think - to make use of a standard IMG instead of a CSS-set background! Added it to my to-do list!
Thanks for taking the time to try and help me with it though - and pass my thanks onto your other half too!
Paul, I haven’t tested it out myself yet, but here’s what I found on how to fix PNG transparency in IE for CSS background images:
http://bjorkoy.com/past/2007/4/8/the_easiest_way_to_png/
Paul, try this. Hubby said he didn’t realize it was for a background PNG.
code for CSS png transparency
.regular_logo{
background:url(’test.png’) !important; filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src=’test.png’, sizingMethod=’scale’);
background:none;
width:200px;
height:200px;
}
(this better display…)
Vivien,
Thanks for the link. I couldn’t get that working at all - it made the image vanish!
——
LaurenMarie,
I’ve implemented that hack. Would you mind giving it a try again in IE6?
Well now the logo doesn’t show up at all!! Screenshot number 3. Boooo IE6. Is there a reason you cannot make the title part of the image behind it? It would be easier than trying to figure this silly thing out! Oh, I see, the title will overlap the image on the left if the browser is too narrow. Well, in IE it actually scales better (your sidebar doesn’t jump down to the bottom), but again with the title… I guess you just have to pick the lesser of evils here
Blast! Oh well… I think I’ll stick with the GIF for IE6 and PNG for everybody else thing then!
Thanks for trying though - and thanks again to your hubby!
Darn!! Everywhere I look I see that PNG transparency is just not compatible with IE6. It’s supposed to work ok with 7 though. And there are the hacks we’ve found that will allow it to work with everything except background images, which is the one thing you need! Oh well, some day…
Yup… Some day nobody will be running unfriendly, non-compliant browsers any more!
Seriously though - thanks for all the help you’ve provided! It just wasn’t meant to be, but the split PNG/GIF thing will do for now - until the 8% of IE6 users I have get an upgrade!
Wow. That’s all that I have to say…
LOL! Thanks J David!
Paul, allow me to beat a dead horse one more time? With that most recent code, did you define the height and width? Husband said that in his tests everything worked ok until he took out the h & w and then the image disappeared, which is what happened with you… wanna try it? Or are you sick of dealing with this? Heh, I totally understand if you are
Yup - did that… From my own offline tests, I believe the problem comes from two factors: 1) I’m using multiple nested DIVs to layout the header, and 2) I’m using 24-bit PNGs instead of 8-bit ones - and some 24-bit images apparently just fail without reason with the Alpha Loader method.
Grr… well, those IE people just need to switch to Firefox anyway
Maybe to avoid nasty white jaggies with your gif, you could expand the selection to include a bit of the blue, then at least you’ll only have nasty blue jaggies if the browser is too narrow?
Ok, let’s bury the horse now.
The chances are that anybody still running IE6 are going to be doing it on a small screen, so there’s probably not much point in that!
Consider the horse buried.
WOW Paul this is beautiful! I especially like the illustrations, and the stripes(?) or streaks(?)… whatever you want to call them.
Nice way to incorporate some touches of color there. Even small details like the shading on your input boxes all work together to make this a very inviting design. I’ve been out of the loop lately, so the new look was a surprise when I opened your site this morning! Well done.
Awww… Thanks!
I got your email by the way. I haven’t had a chance to reply yet, but I haven’t forgotten about it! 
No problem at all. It’s obvious now you’ve been a busy bee, and I’ve been sorta “unplugged” the past few days anyway. But I’m not going anywhere, so whenever you get time…
Hi Paul,
Hope you are keeping well and enjoyed Christmas with your family!
I’m considering switching over to a fluid width theme and of course immediately your blog (and with that Bartelme’s brilliant theme) crossed my mind. Unfortunately, I cannot find the widgetized version. Can you help me out with a pointer?
Thank you and good luck!
Ciao,
Dirk
Hey Dirk! Christmas was great (if a little exhausting)!
Diego seems to have stopped supporting the widgetised version of the theme, and I can’t locate my original download of the archive.
My best suggestion would be to follow Diego’s instructions on what he did to make the theme widget friendly:
http://diegociconi.com/wordpress-theme-dark-theme-widgets-82/#comment-282
Hope that helps mate!
Hi Paul,
Thanks! I’m not very strong on php (and now I’m overstating) so I am very lucky that I found a copy here: http://limetouch.com/internet/dark-theme-widgetized-bug/
Take care and be careful next Monday!
Ciao
Glad you found a copy Dirk! I’ve downloaded it for my own archive too…
Have a great New Year!
Check out Darran’s update in case you need wp 2.3 native tagging support. Works like a charm!
Hey Paul. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve published the current Bartelme’s theme. Check it out:
http://www.videos-3gp.net/deepblue-theme-release-at-videos-3gp/