New ACD (topic for techies only)

Post by **Lemming** » Thu 6th Mar 2008 08:17 pm

For the past few months I've been working on a new version of the ACD. For those who know about constructing websites, this version will drop the frames and make extensive use of stylesheets.

I've always rather liked frames and subscribe to the view that they are the way that the www was supposed to look. They have, however, become unfashionable and also make it difficult for users to make links to inside pages.

When I designed the current version of the ACD, soon after its launch ten years ago, CSS was still quite new and only supported by the latest browsers. It's now well established and I'm keen to use its conciseness to reduce page sizes.

I plan to drop the sidebar, which only seems to cause confusion judging by my inbox, and switch to a few buttons leading to key pages. I also intend to have a search facility on every page. Finally, now that the forum is back, I'm thinking of integrating it more into the site and making it more prominent. At the same time I hope to provide the forum with the same navigation controls as the ACD. The crude menu across the top of the page here is a proof of concept in that I've figured out how to hack the forum so, ultimately, I will be able to control its look and feel more.

There is still a lot of work to do but I hope to launch the new look soon. I hope you'll like it when it arrives.

geoffk · Post by **geoffk** » Thu 6th Mar 2008 08:21 pm

I prefer stylesheets, but I guess that's because my wife is a web designer, and I'm always hearing her complain about sites. Other than that; frames seem to load slower, at least for me.

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Thu 6th Mar 2008 09:57 pm

Guess you guys must be speaking some kind of foreign language.??????????

cattales1960 · Post by **cattales1960** » Thu 6th Mar 2008 11:32 pm

hi Lem.. thanks for all the hard work. IM sure what ever way you choose will be fine

AzLaker · Post by **AzLaker** » Thu 6th Mar 2008 11:53 pm

Great to see the forum up and running Lemming.....thanks.

AzLaker

BigRigRob · Post by **BigRigRob** » Fri 7th Mar 2008 01:21 am

Twitch wrote:Guess you guys must be speaking some kind of foreign language.??????????

What he said!.

Tall Guy · Post by **Tall Guy** » Fri 7th Mar 2008 08:29 am

I find those buttons (A-Z, map etc) to be rather confusing - words would be much easier for my small brain.

Lem have you ever considered doing this site full-time?

I'm pretty sure you could make a decent living out of it if you wanted - if the site was spruced up and expanded you could get bigger advertisers and sponsors. Seems like you have a lot of willing contributors right here, and a lot of page hits already. I don't know what else you've got going on, but it seems like a golden opportunity to me.

cocobrova · Post by **cocobrova** » Fri 7th Mar 2008 01:08 pm

So happy you're back, no longer have to suffer the dross that is channels. A real coffeeshop forum iis back again.

hip hip hooray.

geoffk · Post by **geoffk** » Fri 7th Mar 2008 10:57 pm

Lem, you might want to clean up the "spambot" users. It will take a while and you'll probably get carpal tunnel syndrome. If you know a way to do it efficiently, I'd like to know. Maybe you can write something that deletes users with email addys that you know are bunk. Just a thought.

sh@dy · Post by **sh@dy** » Sat 8th Mar 2008 04:14 pm

if you need help with the code you can ask me (if its not too complicated) and if you need buttons or anything else that has to do with design you can ask me as well and I will ask my girlfriend, she is a professionel with photoshop and could give the page a fresh look if you want

Post by **Lemming** » Sun 9th Mar 2008 11:39 pm

Thanks for the info on deficiencies in the present interface and for the offers of help. I'll take the comments into account and I appreciate any suggestions. Here's a sneek preview of the index page of the new site that I'm developing:

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Mon 10th Mar 2008 04:40 am

Looks very nice Lemming.

Puffin13 · Post by **Puffin13** » Mon 10th Mar 2008 06:08 am

I 2nd that! It looks really nice, Lem. I love all the green...background color, I mean, of course.

Will there be a link to click on for those people that want to financially support ACD? I think there should be. Thanks Lem! Peace.

sh@dy · Post by **sh@dy** » Mon 10th Mar 2008 06:53 am

Puffin13 wrote:I 2nd that! It looks really nice, Lem. I love all the green...background color, I mean, of course. Will there be a link to click on for those people that want to financially support ACD? I think there should be. Thanks Lem! Peace.

thats a great idea! make it a paypal link, safest way imo.

the new design is cool.
I have another idea. maybe you could do a section called "news" where e.g. people who want to help in this section can do live-coverage of the cannabis cup, or write other cannabis-related news, because for those things you always have to look on other sites (except some things which are written down in the forum).

Puffin13 · Post by **Puffin13** » Mon 10th Mar 2008 09:31 am

sh@dy wrote:thats a great idea! make it a paypal link, safest way imo.

I agree with sh@dy. Paypal payment should definitely be one of the options.

sh@dy wrote:the new design is cool.
I have another idea. maybe you could do a section called "news" where e.g. people who want to help in this section can do live-coverage of the cannabis cup, or write other cannabis-related news, because for those things you always have to look on other sites (except some things which are written down in the forum).

What type of further cannabis news are you looking for/needing, sh@dy? More EU cannabis news? World wide grass news? It really doesnt take much for US, meaning all the ACD members, to surf different sites and bring the news here. If there is any news or news sites, I can help with, please let me know. Peace & Love.