So, what do you all think of the new look? Now that I'm making a business out of web design, I wanted to give Katgal.com a style more representative of my current style and techniques. If you came here to see my time-sensitive style switcher, don't fret. Although I have retired that design, I have kept that design alive on this one page. The original post (from back in March 2007) continues to bring a lot of traffic to my humble little site, so I would certainly not want to disappoint my visitors!
There are still some finishing touches I need to tend to (the gallery, for example). Should have that taken care of by tomorrow.
Labels: graphic design, Just Want to Brag, Web Design
So, I woke up yesterday morning to a wonderful surprise. I've been dug. And with it, my hits have gone through the roof. In just 48 hours, I've had 30,000+ visitors! That's more than I've gotten since I set up the site 5 years ago.
I appreciate all the positive comments and suggestions. I haven't had time to read through them all yet, but I will! I must say, however, that I never claimed to be a programmer or that my time sensitive style switcher was groundbreaking new technology.
The point of my original post was to share something with you all that I had been unable to find after days and days of searching online. If I had trouble finding a solution, I'm sure others have had similar difficulties, so I wanted to share my success.
There may be other ways to do it (and I notice that a few of my commenters have indeed implemented similar features on their own websites). I look forward to testing out some of their other techniques, and if I find one that works better than my current code, I'm not too proud to make some changes. I'll keep you all updated.
One interesting comment came from a guy who tweaked my code to eliminate the document.write (which has been the subject of quite a few derogatory comments by diggers) and made a demo where you can see my site progress through all the stylesheets. (Thanks Joseph!)
Also, I'm so embarrassed that my site is still a bit of a mess. I hadn't quite finished with the redesign, so many interior pages still use the old layout. If I had known I'd be having so many visitors this weekend, I would have been sure to get it all cleaned up! But I hope it hasn't distracted from your enjoyment of my site.
Labels: Digg, Javascript, Just Want to Brag, Web Design
Sunrise
Morning
Noon
Afternoon
Sunset
TwilightWhen I set out to redesign this site, I had an idea: Could I make the stylesheet change based on the hour of the day? Sounds easy enough, right? So, I started searching the Internet for some code I could use. I'm a novice when it comes to javascript and php, so I was hoping to find some "plug and play" code, so to speak.
I found code to switch styles based on day of the week, and month of the year, but not time of the day. The month/day code all used php, which used the SERVER time. So, it would switch styles based on the time stamp of the server where my website was hosted. But, since my styles were of the morning/noon/night variety, that wouldn't work. I was told I would have to use javascript, a client-side code, so it would work based on visitors' local time.
So, I began posting in various forums, hoping to find someone to help me. Still, no luck. I was beginning to think I would have to abandon the idea.
But I just couldn't let it go. I was like a dog with a bone. I kept searching...hoping that somehow I would find a buried treasure somewhere online. I was about to give up when I decided to ask one of my coworkers, a web programmer. I felt guilty asking for his help on a personal project, but I got over it!
Sure enough, in just a few minutes, he whipped out some code and told me to give it a try. And it worked! I was giddy. I awaited the turn of the hour, so I could see the magic in action. At 3 pm, I hit refresh, and voila. The stylesheet changed from my blue "noon" theme, to the blue/orange "afternoon" theme.
I have six different stylesheets. See the thumbnails at right.
- From 5 am to 8 am, it displays the "sunrise" theme.
- From 8 am to 12 pm, it displays the "morning" theme.
- From 12 pm to 3 pm, it displays the "noon" theme.
- From 3 pm to 6 pm, it displays the "afternoon" theme.
- From 6 pm to 9 pm, it displays the "sunset" theme.
- And finally, from 9 pm to 5 am, it displays the "twilight" theme.
Here's the code I used to make it happen:
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- Begin
function getCSS()
{
datetoday = new Date();
timenow=datetoday.getTime();
datetoday.setTime(timenow);
thehour = datetoday.getHours();
if (thehour > 20)
display = "tree_twilight.css";
else if (thehour > 17)
display = "tree_sunset.css";
else if (thehour > 14)
display = "tree_afternoon.css";
else if (thehour > 11)
display = "tree_noon.css";
else if (thehour > 7)
display = "tree_morning.css";
else if (thehour > 4)
display = "tree_sunrise.css";
else if (thehour > 1)
display = "tree_twilight.css";
else
display = "tree_sunset.css";
var css = '<'; css+='link rel="stylesheet" href=' + display + ' \/'; css+='>';
document.write(css);
// End -->
}
</script>
<script language="javascript">getCSS();</script>
You can select a default stylesheet, to account for folks with javascript disabled, by adding the following:
<noscript>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="tree_sunset.css" type="text/css">
</noscript>
Before I go, I must give credit to that coworker I was talking about. His name's Fidel. Check out his website at
http://www.eriwebdesigns.comLabels: Javascript, Just Want to Brag, Web Design
I created a calendar for my family this year. It was a tribute to my grandma, who died in 2004 at the age of 92.
Started out as a simple project, and I got carried away and ended up spending A LOT of time and money on it. But it was worth it. The final product was extremely well-received by my family.
My design was even accepted into the "designer spotlight" at istockphoto.com (where I got the images I used in the design...well, the photos other than the ones of my grandma, of course!!). It's gotten some amazing reviews, too. I'm glad that everyone else seems to like it as much as I do.
If you care, you can follow the istockphoto forum thread and see the development of the design, from concept to finished product.
If you're not familiar with istockphoto.com, you should check it out. And, if you want to sign up, let me know and I can send you a referral email that will get you 3 free credits.
And if you missed my earlier post about "Sara's Virtual Kitchen"... I also made a companion website, where my family can comment on the recipes and share their own family specialties.
Labels: graphic design, Just Want to Brag
Ok, so it's not going to win any prizes, but I got a photo credit!
Labels: Just Want to Brag, Photography
