DNR Version 1 is Dead, Long Live Version 2
- 10th February 2004
- with Comments off for DNR Version 1 is Dead, Long Live Version 2
- Filed Under: Weblog
Right, I've finally managed to get this redesign underway. It's far from complete at the moment though. I haven't done much testing yet and there are little touches to add as I go along but it's a big leap forward already as far as the site's structure is concerned. DNR v1 suffered from scope creap in a terrible way. It went from being a site for my photos only to something that encompasses my work as well. Rather than starting from scratch I just soldiered on, crowbarring new bits on as I needed them to the extent that I could no longer manage the back-end. The code was a mess, the database contained innumerable unused fields and my views level in the db had become an impenetrable maze.
So I started again. I'm not breaking any new ground with the design - I'm under no illusions there, but I really liked the photo of the burned out car (taken in my local park!) and decided that it fit with the Do Not Remove theme. I had been meaning to turn my home page into more of a portal to the rest of my site for some time now and putting the two together seemed like a good idea.
I spend a while monkeying with Photoshop trying various complex layouts but I eventually settled on one of the first ones I came up with - dead simple, usable, self-explanatory. Links to deeper content and very little else. Clear headings so my different categories of visitor can get what they want quickly with the minumum of fuss.
I sketched out what functionality each section would need based on what I think people are looking for (not best practice I know) and what I want them to see most. Then I reorganised my files, tidied up my database, mocked up the layouts and got to work.
The blog and work sections were the easiest since I had a very clear idea of what needed to be shown and that dictated a layout. I'm still struggling with the photos section... I just can't find a layout that I like. Anyway, I should get that done soon and then DNR'll be fully functional again.
I'd been putting off this redesign for ages but it's proved quite theraputic actually!
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