kirabug’s idea files

I’m updating the current version of Wordpress and making some small changes to the forum either today or tomorrow. Outages may temporarily occur.

I wrote my first plugin, or rather significantly modified someone else’s plugin, to offer better comic navigation for the comics. If you’re on the homepage, you still have to click the “navigation links” link under the current comic to get to the nav links, but once you do that, you can now navigate through the archive by category — so if you just want to read the Get Outta My Head comics, you can do that, or just the Sketchy Theater, or just the Idiocy on the Internet. And the Comics category stays there so you can navigate through all the comics as well. This makes me happy

Next three orders of business: fix the left nav up because one of my images keeps stepping on it (might be “fix the image” instead) and then add some big ole buttons to access the forum and the store to the top somewhere.

But not right now. This programmer’s going to go get some sleep.

Okay, so, here’s what I did:

• Changed the colors, font sizes, etc. obviously.
• Added navigational links underneath the comic on the homepage.
  • Click “first comic” to get to the first comic.
  • Click “navigation links” to get to today’s comic, only in single-post view, which is where I’ve been hiding the “first/next/last” links all this time.
  • Click one of the archive links to get to the list of comics under that category. (Each comic is in both Comics and a subcategory.)
• Changed the category links for the comics in the left nav, so that they go to a list of comics, not the comics themselves. That way you’re not trying to read the archive backwards anymore.
• If you want to read the archive, click the “first comic” link when viewing a comic and then use the “next comic” link to move yourself forward. You know, like any normal website would.
• Left the Ideas (blogposts) archive alone. It’s a blog, it should read like a blog.

I think that covers 90% of the feedback I’d gotten, but feel free to comment.

And yes, I could apply almost everything I did today to the old layout, if you prefer “manilla folder” to “blackboard”. Let me know.

What better day to work on the site redesign than April 1st? When you visit, you think I’m just pulling some hideous she-went-colorblind prank. Don’t worry, all will be back to normal (or even potentially improved) by tomorrow.

There’s an important poll on the forum that I would appreciate your opinions on. (No registration - or even names - required!)

Now that we’ve successfully upgraded to Wordpress 2.0, I might actually be able to do something about the navigation in this place.

If you think it’s necessary.

Let me know!

I was going to post a lot more tonight - on comics, on life, on how I’m continually baffled by the power of music - but I took two Tylenol Sinus Nighttime about an hour ago and not only can I now breathe, but I can barely hold my head up. Ah, sweet sleep! I long for your embrace!

So you lot are getting the short-short version.

First: I’ve updated the Daily Comic List to include some new comics, including the incredible Anywhere But Here. I also threw in some new blogs I’m reading, and threw a bunch of old favorites down into the “sporadically updating” category because they all *said* they’d be back after the holidays, but they’re not yet….

Second: I found the song “Storybook Love” from Princess Bride on iTunes over the weekend. Instrumental is here and voice is here — it’s not the version from the soundtrack, but it’s the same artist.

And let me just say for the record that yes, the lyrics for the song are stupid as shit, and yet, I’m left in a puddle of romantic ooze every time I hear them.

Third: Forum. Updated code. Running better. Feel free to check it out.

Forth: I’m going to Virginia Beach over Martin Luther King Day. I’ve got one of the two comics staged, other will go up this weekend. Lots of plans for the comic, including a new character (NOT a freaking dragon) who needs to have the most vanilla boring name I can come up with. Feel free to post suggestions on the forum… somewhere… to tired to go make a thread right now.

‘K, that’s it, go to bed. thanks!

So. Wordpress 2.0 is out.

And so is phpbb 2.19.

I’m backing up the database now, and will be running some upgrades over the next day or so.

In case of catastrophic failure (we’re good at those), we’ll be posting long threads of cursewords on the emergency blog as well as status updates.

Some time after that I’ll be doing another redesign, but no point doing it on the current design. whee!