Blog
6/30/2008
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
9/20/2007
Just finished up a site for our second official paying client, San Francisco Urgent Dental.
This one was fun and not nearly as complicated as the first (Avenues Appraisers). Didn't hurt that the client was an old dear friend of mine.
Like I said before, our web design plates are filling up quickly. Which is a good thing! But we're never too busy to take on new clients, so keep the referrals coming. We really appreciate it.
Labels: Web Design
9/06/2007
As you all know, Bryan and I officially launched BKB Design Group earlier this summer. While we had each been doing web and graphic design as part of our day jobs, we wanted to see if we could turn it into a little money maker, and eventually quit those damn day jobs!
We are very proud to announce that our BKB Design Group client site, Avenues Appraisers, is in the books. Go to http://www.avenuesappraisers.com to take a look. It was certainly a learning experience, and we only ended up clearing $75 on the job. But we're very proud of the final product.
We're also happy to be inundated with new jobs at the moment. Keep 'em coming. We're saving all our proceeds to pay for our wedding!!
Labels: Web Design
6/25/2007
Thought you all might be interested in a new site I've been working on, Blogging Head.
I admit it, I'm a hollywood gossip addict. I have dozens of bookmarks for gossip sites that I visit two, three, four times a day just to see if there is anything new posted. Rather than spending time jumping from blog to blog, I had an idea: Why not aggregate all the feeds in one place?
The site brings you the best of the gossip blogs, all in one place. And the feeds are automatically updated, so you'll always see the most current "news." (ok, it's gossip, not news.... )
If there's a blog you enjoy, and it's not listed here, let me know.
Labels: Gossip, Web Design
3/11/2007
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
3/07/2007
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
2/26/2007
I'm currently switching over to a new design. May take a day or two until all the kinks are worked out. I'll be back to tell you all about some of the cool new features I've added.
Stay tuned.
Labels: Web Design
1/07/2007
I've launched a new website. Check it out:
Labels: Just Want to Brag, Web Design
