A developer friend of mine turned me on to the Firefox Add-on Firebug. This tool, not only is invaluable for troubleshooting code for developers, it proved invaluable for revising thoughtsparks.net. This nifty plug-in allows one to walk through the code and stylesheet on the fly while looking at a page. In the sea of WordPress styles, it helped to sort out what div was affected and allowed for fairly rapid revision to my blog. I’ve used this tool in a more robust environment as well and can testify to it’s utility across the spectrum. Check it out at: getfirebug.com.
BTW, any thoughts on the newer look for thoughtsparks.net? I take an evolutionary approach to site revision…a little at a time.
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6 Comments
I like it Phil! Nice clean look, and the new logo is pretty cool.
Thanks for the post about FireBug, I will have to check it out. I’m not all that up on my CSS, and this sounds like it may come in handy.
Thanks Mike, Still may do some revs on the logo. It was just too late when I finally got all the stuff rearranged on the page. In any case, FireBug will definitely help w/ tweaking CSS for your blog and troubleshooting issues. Let me know how you find it.
OMG PHIL! I love it! Truly. It’s open, bright, and very much in line with your philosophy (as I read it in your blog…). I love the new logo up top, the colors, and the contrast of the sans serif font and the script. Totally gorgeous. Now I’m jealous. Where the heck will I find the time to mess around with my new software so I can learn how to do this, too? (I got the Abobe professional suite which includes InDesign, Dreamweaver, Illustrator and others…It’s totally challenging and awesome at the same time.) Now I have to check out the Firebug you’re talking about. Will I even get it?
Kelly, I have to confess that I was waiting for your response. It’s a real shift and I like the direction, but I’m a major perfectionist and can obsess over stuff like site redesign. Really, I was up ’til 3 a.m. and back again at 6 a.m. Being a minimalist, the first thing I did was take my blog and do some major stripping of colors, images etc. Then I started in adding elements. The logo went through like 20 revs. before I got it and I just added the gradient as of late. It was nice to clean-up the layout a bit. There is some sort of catharsis that comes with a redesign. It usually means less and more eloquent. The tools are fun, but give yourself a break w/ expectations. I think your site is very you. Sounds like you got some serious literary work to do.
Hey Phil…
I love the look of your blog!
It is extremely professional and clean.
I’m not a fan of those techie blogs that are all covered with all sorts of tech stuff and adds!
Yours is very nice!
JJ
Jen, Thanks for the affirmation. I was really looking to you and other non-major techies for feedback. It is more professional and clean like you said. That was my goal but I didn’t want it to be too austere and impersonal. One of my goals is to be publish a blog w/ tech info with a human touch. Thanks again.
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