All posts by Robin

I'm a woman in my early thirties living in North Carolina, USA, and I have a lot of varied interests; I love creative writing, music composition, web design, surfing the Internet, thinking out loud, and gaming. And yes, my glasses are crooked. :)
Monday in the HTMLab

What’s a footer for?

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whatsafooterfor
Most are ignored altogether. Some are sparsely populated with a line or two of text. A rare few are overstuffed with information. What is a footer, technically, and what is it for in web designs?

A footer is simply the bottom of your web page. (In some PHP designs, the footer is actually in a separate file, called either “footer.inc” or “footer.php”, and included using the following code: <?php include(‘footer.php’); ?>)

Generally speaking, web designers won’t put a whole lot of stuff in the footer, since it’s at the bottom of the page and most users of your site aren’t going to scroll down that far. But lately, there’s been a trend in web design to stuff one’s footer section with content–anything from author information to a full sitemap, from a collection of photos to a selection of favorite links.

I took screenshots of various styles of footer-formatting to show what I’m talking about, going from smallest to largest:

Mini-Footer


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This footer, from Infektia.net, has tiny text and just a few helpful links to the user. This matches with the overall minimalist vibe of the layout and doesn’t compete with the content for the user’s full attention.

Styled (But Still Small) Footer


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PacificDusk.org’s footer contains a tone-on-tone world-map image (left-aligned), as well as a funky site slogan and a few well-chosen, helpful links. This gives a punchy, graphic finish to the end of the webpage without being overly detailed.

Bigger, Well-Spaced Footer


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Though this footer from Kloud-Nine.com is bigger vertically than the other two footers we’ve looked at thus far, it’s still simple because of all the white space around each of the elements. And, surprisingly, the bigger text size offers readability and simplicity as well!

Super-Detailed, Super-Organized Footer


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Detailed imagery and clearly-delineated content boxes makes this footer from a previous version of EvolvingOctopus.com lots less confusing than it could be. Even though there’s a lot of information present, it’s not overwhelming because it’s organized attractively.

My Personal Footer Style

I’m personally not a big fan of stuffing footers with lots of info, because I often find myself wondering, “How many people are actually going to look at this stuff in my footer?” I would rather put all that cool content into a sidebar where it is much more easily visible when a user first loads my page. But that’s a personal decision on my part, part of my style of building websites. As I get better with web design and better with content management, I find myself branching out into new styles, and one new style may just be a larger footer than I’m used to!

Footer Styling/Content Tips

If you like the idea of putting content in your footer, I would recommend making it simple–a small selection of links that are easily readable, for instance, or thumbnails of some photos that are significant to you. Crowding a footer full of information can be visually overwhelming, but an undesigned footer can be an unsatisfying end to an otherwise cool webpage. Keep it in balance!

If you’re not putting content in your footer, a “back to top” link in your footer can be very appropriate if you usually have long pages full of information. (I generally put a “Proudly part of WithinMyWorld.org” link in my footer, and perhaps a few other links, but I don’t add much else.)

Lastly, whatever you’re putting in your footer, be it links, pictures, content feeds, etc. make it clearly labeled and organized. Your users will thank you!

Summary

As the above screenshots show, footers can be anything you need them to be on your website. For taste purposes, I like a clean and uncluttered-looking footer, but they can be as big or as small as you like. Whatever you do, make it meaningful to your website and easy to read!

Saturday with the Spark

Coming Up With “Novel” Ideas

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novelideas
I am several years into the process of writing my first novel, and it’s a lot slower and more methodical than I planned. But it’s also much easier than I thought it would be, especially when the Muse grabs me by the back of the neck and hauls me merrily along a new plot pathway. I find myself making stories and sub-stories, tying details back together and intertwining plotlines, almost without being fully conscious of it.

Question: Where Do I Get My Ideas?

I haven’t let a lot of people read the novel right now, mainly because I don’t want it stolen from me and I don’t want to show many people an unfinished product. But the people who have read it ask me sometimes, “Where do you get the ideas for your novel? This is a really unique and interesting plot, and the characters are really cool!”

Answer: My Real Life (in Bits and Pieces)!

I know this will probably sound flippant, but it’s true: My real life and the people I’ve met fund the basis of my novel’s varying stories and characters.

For instance, when something absolutely silly or sad or awesome or tragic happens to me, I tend to remember it, and I find myself drawing on that later for plots or subplots. I also draw on old family stories, especially for funny character anecdotes or certain phrases that pop out of various characters’ mouths while I’m writing. This, I feel, is a way to honor my past and my present, as well as make my characters more human.

The Problem with Using Real Life as Inspiration

Of course, the big issue with drawing on one’s real life for inspiration is that you don’t want to make the setting, the events, or anybody’s character too recognizable–otherwise, you may end up like Thomas Wolfe, who wrote Look Homeward, Angel. That novel caused quite a stir in his hometown, and not just a positive stir, either. So much controversy arose because people recognized themselves in the novel that Wolfe was prompted to write a second novel, unsurprisingly entitled You Can’t Go Home Again. Sad.

How I Incorporate Real Life Into My Novel–Sneakily

Instead of porting in someone’s personality directly, I usually combine aspects of three or more people when I am crafting new characters. I may take the looks of one person, the stature of another, the attitude of a third, and maybe with the motivations of a fourth, and blend it up with some imagination to create the character I want. This creates a character in which I can still believe (and more easily visualize), but isn’t recognizable to any of the people unwittingly involved in his or her creation. Doing this forces me to be more detail-oriented and sharp-eyed when I form characters, which in turn makes me better at crafting settings and working the characters into planned plot events.

Also, for story events and plots, I rework real-life stories, rewriting certain parts to fit the characters involved, as well as changing names and rearranging details to make the story even better/more effective. After all, I don’t want someone close to me to recognize a real-life story in the middle of my novel! Plus, with the kind of novel I’m writing (Christian fantasy-based), it wouldn’t quite make sense to have a completely recognizable story sticking like a toothpick in the middle of a cake. (Not to mention that stringing a bunch of random anecdotes together would be a little too A.D.D. to be a novel, LOL!)

These tactics ensure that I’m writing a story that is relatable and understandable, while still being imaginative. After all, if writers aren’t inspired by real life, then what are their stories even based on? Real life is just too full of interest to let inspiration slip by. 🙂

Want to Learn More about My Novel?

Hope you enjoyed this itty-bitty window into my writing process, and if you want to keep up with how my novel is coming along, check out my Novel Progress page!

Friday around the Web

Self-Actualization, Phit, Rock-Paper-Scissors Comic, and Earth in Real Time

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selfactualization
Self-Actualization
Famous psychology professor Abraham Maslow developed these thoughtful principles–read through and discover!

Phit
Fit all the Tetris-like pieces within the yellow area to advance to the next level. Much harder than it looks, kind of like parallel parking 😛

Stop Fiiiiiightiiiiing
Any description I give of this one-panel comic destroys its off-the-wall humor–you just have to see it. LOL

BreathingEarth.net
See a Flash visualization of births, deaths, CO2 emissions, and much more!

Thursday in the Zone

Magic: the Gathering

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mtg
Magic: the Gathering is a collectible, fantasy-based card game, involving decks of at least 60 cards that you construct yourself. The basic premise is that you and your opponent are each given 20 life points to start. In a two-player game, the one who runs out of those 20 life points first loses. The game is about finding ways to protect your own life points while devising ways to take down the other player’s life points.

To Start: Find Your Preferred Way to Win

There are five basic “colors” of cards you can use to build your deck: White, Red, Green, Blue, and Black. Each color has a different philosophy of how to win:

There are also Artifact cards (which can be used with any color) and Hybrid/Multicolor (blends of two or more colors). Some philosophies of winning work well together (Blue and Black, for instance, or White and Green), and some philosophies have a harder time working together (like Red and Blue, or White and Black).

Literally endless strategies are available to be explored–there’s something for every personality. If you like to win by simply blocking anything your opponent tries to do, there’s a strategy for you (Blue and sometimes White). If you like to steamroll your opponent with huge creatures that trample across the field, there’s a strategy for you, too (Green all the way). And if you just like to blow your opponent’s stuff up, there’s a strategy for you, too (Red and sometimes Black).

Modes of Play: It’s Not Just a Two-Player Duel!

Magic: the Gathering does involve one-on-one games, but that’s not the only way you can play. Multiplayer (three or more players) games are allowed–in these situations, the last player left standing wins. Also, there’s alternative forms of the game as well, generally meant for casual play:

  • Two-Headed Giant (teams of two playing off against each other)
  • Archenemy (one player is the “villain” while a team of three players are the “heroes”)
  • Vanguard (special large-size cards with various characters from Magic lore are used to change up the rules of the game slightly)
  • Elder Dragon Highlander/Commander (choose a Legendary creature as your “general” and build a deck around him/her)
  • Mental Magic (pick up a card off a stack of random cards. You cannot play the card as itself–rather, you must play it as another card with the exact same cost. Requires lots of knowledge of various cards!)

For More Information

Visit MagicTheGathering.com for official product updates and informative articles; MTGSalvation.com also has lots of information on the history and lore of the game. I also have a website called The Gamer’s Repose, which has a fairly large Magic: the Gathering section featuring tips for beginners, and gameplay advice.

Wednesday in the Word

Don’t Get Desperate, Trust God

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dontgetdesperate
1 Samuel 24:20-22; 26:1-2
20 “Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.” 22 So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.” 3 So Saul, accompanied by 3,000 of the choice men of Israel, went to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

Saul is temporarily sorry for what he has put David through, chasing him around and threatening his life; however, this remorse doesn’t last even two chapters in the Bible. When the Ziphites warn Saul that David is again in the area, Saul wastes no time in dispatching himself and his men to search for him, ostensibly to kill him. David’s promise that he will not harm Saul or his family, which echoes David’s promise to Jonathan in chapter 20, seems to mean nothing to the dishonored ruler–he continues to seek to remove the threat he perceives in David.

But David is wise; he knows not to trust Saul’s repentant behavior, and he makes sure he and his men are hidden even before Saul goes to seek him again. Even though the Ziphites give up his position not once but twice (first in chapter 24 and again in chapter 26 as quoted), David and his men are hidden in desert strongholds that are quite inaccessible, which frustrates Saul no end. The divine protection that has been with David since Samuel selected him continues, and Saul has nothing to counteract it.

Saul knows and acknowledges to David’s face that “[he] knows for certain that [David] will be king,” yet he is doing everything in his earthly power (which isn’t much) to try to overturn this result. Even though he knows he is beaten, he continues to try to fight–a mark of his desperation and fear of losing the last tie to the God-given administration of Israel, which he knows he no longer deserves. David has several opportunities before and after this passage in which he could take Saul’s life and grasp the throne in that way, but he chooses to spare Saul’s life instead. Thereby, he sidesteps the treachery and back-room politics that Saul is enmeshed in; against the advice of his own friends and allies, he is merciful to Saul, and further proves himself worthy for the throne.

These days, we may not be facing a despotic ruler who is trying to kill us, but many times life situations seem to explode without warning, throwing us into crisis mode. And while we are in that panicked mode, we can forget all about God in our attempts to save ourselves from shame, from failure, from disappointing others. David’s story reminds us that even in our most stressed, harried moments, we can trust God to guide and protect us. Our lives as Christians will not always be easy, but we have access to the Source of peace and strength to carry us through.

Tuesday on the Soapbox

Warmer Temps, Warmer Mood

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blueskydaisies
multicoloredbushes
pinktreeblossoms

It’s amazing how much the coming of spring affects my mood. Even though I know I’ll hate the hot weather when it arrives (usually in late April for us North Carolinians), I can’t help but enjoy the warmer breezes, sunnier days, and slowly leafing and budding plants. It feels like something in my spirit unfreezes–something unfurls and reaches for that first touch of sunlight that bears real warmth.

Could this be Seasonal Affective Disorder? Maybe. But maybe I’m just a springtime creature, reveling in the earth coming back to vibrant life after a long winter of icy weather and a dull outdoor color palette of browns, whites, and grays. When the woods around our house begin to yawn and stretch with birdsong and warm sun rays every year, I awaken with it, and wear my short-sleeved shirts with abandon (and without a coat). Soon, spring will bring waves of pollen blowing into our faces, and later it will leave us with humidity that won’t let even the least bit of sweat evaporate, but till then I will enjoy little buds of color slowly appearing on every bare branch, and the first brave green sprouts dappling across the front yard.

Monday in the HTMLab

Navigation Placement, Part II: New Ideas to Try

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navigationp2
In last week’s post, we looked at 3 traditional navigation placements in layout design, and briefly discussed the pros and cons of each. But there are some tricks to changing up and decorating the navigation itself without making it too hard to use, as you’ll see!

Idea #1: Mix in a few icons as well as text links.

iconfonts
Font names, from left: Webdings, Wingdings, Wingdings 2, Wingdings 3, Stateface, Socialico, Nymphette, Entypo, Bergamot Ornaments, Modern Pictograms.
Navigation doesn’t have to be just plain, boring text links–icons are a modern webdesigner’s friend! For instance, you could use the Facebook icon shown above to link to your site’s Facebook page, or you could use the speech bubble icon to show where users can leave comments, etc.

Most designers rely on icon fonts for this; Modern Pictograms, Socialico, and Entypo (all linked above) are some of my favorites, and there’s a more comprehensive list here. To use your icon fonts, you can either link and style them directly in your CSS using the CSS property @font-face (more about that here), or you can use a graphics-editing program to type out each of your needed icons and save them as individual images. Just make sure your icons all have transparent backgrounds so that they blend in more seamlessly with your layout.

(Note: I included some ornamental icons as part of the above graphic as well, for the purpose of dressing up your navigation if you don’t like the idea of just having clickable icons and no text. Icon fonts are multipurpose!)

Idea #2: Keep similar links together.

A long list of unsorted links down one side of the layout can be a lot of text for your visitors to read when they are browsing your site. How about grouping like pages together within your navigation instead?

An example would be my City of Heroes site, Skies over Atlas–I placed all my site content links going down the left side, and used a horizontal navigation bar underneath the header image for my guestbook links, my contact email, a “back to homepage” link, and the links to the Twitter and Tumblr account associated with the site. Even though the navigation is in the same general area on the page, one part of it is devoted to site content, and the other part is devoted to user interaction.

You could also accomplish this with the old standard three-column layout design. Have your main content navigation on whichever side you like, and on the other side, you could have user navigation, admin area, links to your other websites–just anything that isn’t really related to your main content.

Sorting your navigation this way can help your user more easily pinpoint what area of the site they wish to go to. Of course, be sure to label which area is which so the user does not have to read everything to find out where things are!

Idea #3: Combine your header and navigation for a super-streamlined design.

For the tidiest, most mobile-friendly design, pull your navigation into your header space–in fact, just a site logo or site name text plus a horizontal navigation bar can BE your header! This way, your navigation is up where your users see it when the page first loads, and it leaves more room for your content so that perhaps your pages won’t even scroll so much. Your navigation bar can then be colorful or even patterned to play off the colors in the rest of your design, drawing attention to it without making it huge or heavy with text links.

Additionally, using social media icons alongside text links in a horizontal navigation bar at the top of the page can highlight your navigation further, bringing the user’s attention to it as the rightful central hub of your site. As a user, I love seeing an organized navbar like this; I know I won’t have to worry about searching the rest of the page for info I need!

Summary

I hope the ideas in this two-part series have started your brain percolating about navigation. It may sound like the most boring part of your website, but with these tricks, it certainly doesn’t have to be!

Saturday with the Spark

Studying the Songcraft of Others

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studyingsongcraft
As a singer-songwriter myself, one would think that I’d thoroughly enjoy listening to others writing and performing their own music as well. But oddly enough, when I listen to other singer-songwriters (like listening to 90% of my boyfriend’s collection of music), I end up feeling a little competitive instead, even though I like the music.

Here’s a small sample of what ends up running through my head:

  • “Hmm, how would I have written these lyrics/this chord progression/this melody differently?”
  • “Ooh, nifty turn of phrase! I like it!”
  • “I think the song could use another verse or two to tell the story…”
  • “The use of the minor chord there really heightens the musical tension!”

Singer-songwriter music is definitely not something I can sit and chill out to like he does–I’m too caught up in thinking about it academically rather than experiencing it. To be honest, I used to think I just didn’t “enjoy” this kind of music the way I enjoy faster-paced, musically dense songs.

And yet, my academic appreciation of music is in itself a form of enjoyment. I can’t really turn off my “Music Major Mode” that makes me dissect songs like this, but I can use it to observe how others write songs…which, in turn, can make me a better songwriter. I can study others’ combinations of melody and chord to set a musical mood, or think over how the choice of words in the lyrics tells the story completely and concisely.

This, I think, is extremely important for anyone who writes music–you HAVE to be willing to listen to what other musicians are doing in your chosen genre, and listen critically, observing what they have done and learning from it so you can make your own original music. (This also helps ward off plagiarism–once you’ve heard what other people have done, you can go and do something different with your own music.) Researching and studying how others write music like yours doesn’t have to be boring–in fact, it can be really rewarding and inspiring!

Friday around the Web

Dunning-Kruger Effect, Winterbells, Smart Fridge, and Design Seeds

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dunningkruger
Dunning-Kruger Effect
The psychology behind stupid people thinking they’re awesome and smart people being consumed with self-doubt. Never knew that one of modern society’s charming little quirks had a formally-acknowledged scientific name.

Winterbells
A fun winter-themed game–harder than you think to steer this cute little bunny across the snowy white bells descending through the air!

Smart Fridge is Your New Recipe Card
This fridge helps you cook! Input what you got at the grocery store, and it helps you combine what you have into an awesome meal. Where was this when I was in college?!

Design Seeds
Having trouble finding a palette of colors to use? Browse through these posts and get inspired!

Thursday in the Zone

Why I Don’t Bother with Farmville Anymore

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nomorefarmville
I used to like Farmville quite a bit–actually, I played it for months and got addicted to it (I wish I was kidding). I even wrote a post here showcasing it…but I could not in good faith keep recommending a game that I know now is too ridiculous to get involved in.

Why might I say something like that? Well, there are 3 big reasons for me:

#1: It’s Time-Consuming/Isolating

When I started playing Farmville, it was pretty easy to manage–I had a few neighbors and a few crop plots, and I could usually take care of it all in a few minutes. But once I had played for a while, it got to where I was spending an hour a day just visiting other people’s farms and trying to help them, not to mention time spent “harvesting” and “using” virtual crops. (Also, during the time I played, I didn’t have internet at home, so I ended up having to play at the local coffee shop or friends’ houses–which meant that for at least the first hour of hanging out, I was isolating myself staring at the computer screen. Not really conducive to conversation, you know?)

#2: You Really Have to Spend Real Money to Get All the Best Stuff

Farmville and games like it have really become “pay-to-win” games. When I first started playing, you could end up getting “good” stuff if you were just patient and saved up your Farm Cash from leveling up. But after a while, the amounts of Farm Cash you had to spend just to get the essentials for operating larger virtual farms became ridiculous. There were plenty of ways you could pour real money into the game to get more Farm Cash, but I was simply not willing to invest REAL money in a fake farm!

#3: Clogs Up Facebook Feed with Notifications, Bogs Down Computers

Since I purged Farmville and other such games from my Facebook life, my notification feed is about 1000 times less congested. How liberating! When I played daily, my Notifications would overflow with people asking for Farmville help, requesting materials, etc.–there was literally so much to do on Farmville that I ended up accidentally ignoring the friends who didn’t play!

The other thing I noticed was that my computer would perform slowly while on Farmville. One wouldn’t think a Facebook game could eat RAM like that, but for whatever reason, my computer did not like it one bit. (One more reason I felt liberated when I got out of playing–suddenly I had a fast-performing computer again!)

Summary

For a while, Farmville was a delightful diversion…but it quickly devolved into an obligation, and then into a huge pain, especially when I realized how addicted to the game I had become. I got out of it before I had started paying real money, but I know folks who have gotten into serious money trouble this way. Take it from me: don’t even get involved with this kind of “pay-to-win” game; it might seem fun at first, but that’s how it hooks you. It’s just like gambling or any other kind of addiction–it’ll eat your life if you’re not careful!