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1. Wendel Brume
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   I like the way my site is set up now, but maybe there's just that one thing more...

   It's a two-column layout without comments and a lot of "stuff" in the sidebar. It's a cartoon log (a Clog) with one cartoon/video per page/post so that each cartoon/video can have its own URL for indexing. Which means there's a lot of empty space in the main column under each cartoon:

   http://wendelbrume.com

   The site is a collection of editorial cartoons that I produce. The sidebar has links to news stories at the memeorandum sites, plus links to news sites. I want to add something under the main post/cartoon that is newsworthy and useful to my visitors. Preferably a dynamic link to a news service, or maybe something totally off the wall.

   Any suggestions?

2. jrodgers
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   you need to put something there for people who surf with js turned off, i see nothing...everywhere, not even dead people

3. Wendel Brume
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   you need to put something there for people who surf with js turned off, i see nothing...everywhere, not even dead people

   About the only thing I could say is: Turn javascript on if you want to see anything. It's basic to the site.

4. Dgold
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   Change away from the side-by-side 2 columns. Make your theme have a big 3-column footer. Put all your "sidebar" stuff in the 3 columns of the footer. (Like a Hemmingway theme style footer).

   This will make tons of room at the top for a wider 1-column. You can put the cartoon larger, or center it at the top. That would feature your content even better, and leave goodies at the bottom for those who scroll on.

5. Wendel Brume
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   Thanks Dgold,

   Yeah, I'm looking at pulling some of the material out of the sidebar and putting it under the main content. I'll look at the Hemingway theme.

6. capedshitheader
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   it would be really cool if the video did something. Like if the characters did more than blink and you actually hear them speak.

7. Otto
   Tech Ninja
   Posted 3 years ago #

   About the only thing I could say is: Turn javascript on if you want to see anything. It's basic to the site.

   Bad idea. Too many people use NoScript nowadays. You need to have a site degrade gracefully without javascript.

   JS should only be used for enhancement, not basic display and navigation.

8. Wendel Brume
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   caped - They do speak. Maybe you have audio off? That would be weird if it works that way, it's a video, not flash.

   Otto - The video player is using a JavaScript called SWFObject to load the SWF and then load a FLV into it, using a MySQL lookup table that matches the FLV to the Post ID number. Which makes it easy to make changes to the site by changing just the single SWF that will then change in every post.

   So that's sorta fundamental to the site. But I'm getting less impressed with SWFObject since it displays the FLV name and location in View Source, and there doesn't appear to be a way to hide it or block access to the file. Right now, there's nothing stopping anyone from hotlinking the FLV files. .htaccess doesn't work because the JavaScript is run locally from each user's browser.

   I can hard code the SWF with its FLV into each post, but that makes managing the video players at a global level much harder. I eventually want to join an ad network and add their code to the video player. Much easier if it's just the one SWF like I am doing now, versus re-programming every SWF in every post. Any suggestions?

9. Otto
   Tech Ninja
   Posted 3 years ago #

   Why do you need the SWFObject javascript? What's wrong with outputting a simple <object> tag? You can get the data for it from the database too, with the right queries and such, if you want. Although using a custom field would make more sense.

   I don't really support the use of javascript to do things that the actual web standards already cover. If somebody's browser does something stupid (like IE's annoying "click here to show the object"), then that's the browser's problem, IMO.

10. Wendel Brume
    Member
    Posted 3 years ago #

    Yeah, good question about SWFObject.

    I was so lost when trying to set this up, I hired some help and he wanted to use it. He says it does a better job of asking about the current Flash Player, or something. And it validates.

    I was under the impression that it's mostly purists that surf with JS off, but maybe I need to rethink that.

    There's still about 40% of the audience on IE6.

    If you don't mind, could you elaborate a bit on using the Custom Field, when you get a bit of time? At the moment my blog is on one server and the FLV files are on a separate server, both hosted under the same account. I like this since it splits the load on the servers. Could a Custom Field still go find the FLV files on the non- WP blog server?

    Thanks!

11. Otto
    Tech Ninja
    Posted 3 years ago #

    Yes, it could.

    Start here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Custom_Fields

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