Advanced Designers: Suggestions?

Thanks for posting comments about the ratings topic. If you've got any more, please continue to post those. This weeks focus: Advanced Design, a.k.a. Using an Outdated Engine to Make a Webpage That Doesn't Look Like A Big Box.

I've been starting to notice that a few galleries out there are starting to dig the last scraps out potential out of the one-trick horse template.

Here's a few links:

http://escacels.rubberslug.com
http://aurora.rubberslug.com
http://lunarcels.rubberslug.com
http://stu.rubberslug.com/

To all the advanced designers out there: What improvements would you suggest? What kinds of annoying things have you run into?

These fall into two catagories: a) things that can be done to modify the current layout and b) things reserved for the next "layout". I'll probably be doing the catagorizing, just throw out some suggestions.

An example of an "A catagory" thing, I noticed that a few people are attempting to use CSS in their pages. Would if help if I delineate and document a few DIV block elements on each of the pages so that you can insert your own style sheers? Would you like more named elements for Javascript/DHTML functionality? Keep in mind that the main template was written in early 2001 when DHTML and CSS weren't really considered standard browser features yet.

A "B Catagory" thing is modules you can add/remove and rearrange on your pages. In the new system -- the one I really wanted to make when launching this site in 2001 -- makes every section of the site a module. The cel catalog, the news section, the links section, etc. would all be able to be turned on and off. The links section, if you have one, is already using the new system. This is why you can nest links within catagories but you cannot nest series in your cel catalogs. The display for the links section is still a little on the amateurish side. I planned to save the real magic for the new template, which would likely provide for DHTML and drop down links instead of just a big tiered list.

Fire away.

(OuO) WOW!

Thanks for putting me on the list!
As for ideas/suggestions... let me think for a little bit. As our Gov. out here in Cali would say, "I'll be back".

Er... don't want to make anyone think that those were the only ones I thought were worth mentioning. I just picked a few I remembered while I was going through the rating rebalancing thing last night.

I personally like the current template. Web design is in the utilization of what you have. As the pages previously showcased prove, the current template, though archaic, can be changed and manipulated to a vast wide array of different styles, and I think it is still adequate for a collector's needs. The only thing that needs refinement, me thinks, is the addition of more sections such as "featured galleries" and "favorite galleries," things like that.

Is there a way by chance to have an on/off switch for the "default homepage banner" (so-to-speak) that shows up when there isn't an image uploaded to the center banner spot? For my gallery, I like to have my title banner on the left instead of the middle and unfortunately it doesn't cover the default title banner. I'm usually stuck uploading a thin horizontal strip that matches the background just to cover it (you can see what I mean on my page). It's not that big of a deal, but it can be a little frusterating. ^^;; It's great for someone who doesn't have the capability of making a banner for their homepage; the off-switch could be for others who don't need it. Is that possible? I can't think of anything else to suggest at this but I'll post if I do.


Hehe, and I never thought of myself as that much of a webdesigner (there are so many others who surpass my abilities), but I'm happy to see that people like my designs. I'm not sure what kind of input I can give but I'd be happy to help if someone wants. Just send me feedback. ^_~