SPLIT: The official Swordofmoonlight.com 2010 Makeover thread...

[dmpdesign]

OK, loaded this up in IE 8.0.6xxxx and FF 3.0.14...below are the two screens in that order

[Holy_Diver]

Looks fine on 8.0.6001.more_crap for me. Did you change any of IE8's "compatibility" settings? That's all I can think of. It has backwards compatibility settings for old IE designed websites.

Attached below is what it should look like (or better) ...it should not be hard to find something that will work in this dept. It's not the major problem area of the design. For me it looks good on all current version browsers I test for (FF, IE, Chrome, Safari) ...I want to know if it doesn't look right and on what browsers/versions for everyone. This sort of thing is normal for webdesign. No need to worry (yet)

I will support all versions of FF, IE8, Chrome, Safari, and anything else that isn't too much trouble.

[Holy_Diver]

PS: If it looks right and you're using older version or unusual browsers I'd also like to know

[Holy_Diver]

I think I may have fixed most all of these browsers. I put a lot more time in trying out stuff for 800x600 displays.

Scrollbars are such a pain with a centered layout when every pixel counts. I don't know why the scrollbar just can't be fixed in place and not overlap the window. It's really just important that it's usable at 800 pixels.

Javascript corrections might be able to help some if they're not too noticeable (also with it being impossible to make the horizontal scrollbar go away when it should... it just has to go the extra margin distance to the right unless you do away with it completely)

Two things I don't get about HTML is why you can't completely control your own scrollbar (placement/dimension/width/direction) and why you can't seamlessly use any font you want to that can be legally downloaded from your website... in the 21st century!

EDITED: I'd particularly like confirmation on FF2.0 and FF3.0 (prior to 3.5) ...IE7/8 seem fine. Safari/Chrome still the same.

[Holy_Diver]

I cleaned up the interface some for now. It should be safe for you (Todd) to experiment with posting blog type stuff. Blog posts will appear underneath the sticky entry at the top. Just login and try to find your way to the new post writing page and publish something. Afaik you have the privileges. Might as well start by copying over the posts from the phpnuke blog (I forget the url but it's in this thread some posts back)

I think it will be neat to make the front page a little longer at least (plus there is a bit of dead space now)

[Holy_Diver]

The double vision effect is there/works (https://www.swordofmoonlight.com/wp-index.php/)

It will be less distracting when it's toned down and centers on / tracks the scrollbar (so when you scroll the perspective will change)

My only disappointment was browsers don't really scale small fonts it turns out, so I had to lower the font by 94% to make the background font actually smaller. Which was more than I wanted. I'm also not positive 94% actually represents a 94% smaller font. Because adjusting the layout by 94% doesn't perfectly replicate the font layout in the foreground always, but it's the thought that counts / will get better.

It might do better with larger fonts overall or a different font (we haven't thought about what fonts to use yet)

[Holy_Diver]

Todd, can you easily make a png version of this (https://www.swordofmoonlight.com/Images/gridtest.jpg) which fades to transparency instead of black?

I need to do an overlay test. I just want to see how the transparency goes over (since I just realized this probably won't be the deepest layer)

[Holy_Diver]

Here is a four screen screenshot of the new theme thanks to IE8 (/it's weird way of scaling html) ...Maybe someone could do some analysis of this against the "true" (or composited) shape of the Moonlight(s) for us.

PS: The way things are setup now, I can probably devise an algorithm to draw the true curve of the Moonlight in this way.

[Holy_Diver]

The double vision effect is pretty much fully realized now, however there's still a lot of tweaking that can be done (https://www.swordofmoonlight.com/wp-index.php/)

On thing I'm seriously considering is setting the perspective center based on where the window is on your screen. That would be more wow and also lend to the first-person 3D/4th wall effect. I'm also considering raising the center up higher (either on the window or on the monitor) because I suspect more peoples eye level is actually higher than the center. Eventually for logged in users you could even calibrate this to your preference per cookie

^Even turn it off if it gives you epileptic seizures or whatever I suppose

[Holy_Diver]

PS: I really don't get why VRML and SVG have not taken off. I see no reason why the grid (todo) couldn't be a vector graphic and the background couldn't be a 3D model, and that would be that for all the faux 3D stuff. Still the faux stuff forces us to be more clever I guess (even if this stuff ever does finally get off the ground the 2D is a nice backup)