Saturday, November 15, 2003
PDF File Added
Done converting the CV page into PDF. Also added the PDF button next to the CV link in the Menu bar.
Curriculum Vitae Page
The Curriculum Vitae page was completedly changed to fit the layout of the page. The menu button leading to the page was also updated and added more shortcuts linking directly to specific parts in the CV page.
Future Tasks for the CV section:
- convert the VC file into PDF.
- create a small icon for PDF file.
Future Tasks for the CV section:
- convert the VC file into PDF.
- create a small icon for PDF file.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Correct Page Title display
Finishing the function used to display the correct page title depending on the folder of the file.
Monday, November 10, 2003
A site in progress
After 2 weeks not working on the site, I am back!
The first thing I need to do is to change the background of the page. Prof. Benton doesn't want the page to be too dark. In my monitor, the colors seem to be brighter, so instead of being a black background like on other computers , it is dark purple. Probably because of the calibration of my display (which I have never tried to adjust) so there is a difference.
I have changed the background to a slightly brighter purple. Also, I'm thinking about adding more details to the background like some textures or patterns. That would be nice but I haven't tried yet.
The second thing I need to do is to create the page title and have it displayed correctly. After that, I will update the index file of the website and add more contents in the courses. There will be a lot of changing in the layout of the pages, how the information is grouped together but I hope everything works out fine.
The third thing needed to be done is to look up for some good PHP gallery scripts and upload the appropriate script to the Library Server. In the mean time, I will have to work more on how to link the images and incorporate the gallery scripts to the site. That is a little tough ... Humh but let's see.
The first thing I need to do is to change the background of the page. Prof. Benton doesn't want the page to be too dark. In my monitor, the colors seem to be brighter, so instead of being a black background like on other computers , it is dark purple. Probably because of the calibration of my display (which I have never tried to adjust) so there is a difference.
I have changed the background to a slightly brighter purple. Also, I'm thinking about adding more details to the background like some textures or patterns. That would be nice but I haven't tried yet.
The second thing I need to do is to create the page title and have it displayed correctly. After that, I will update the index file of the website and add more contents in the courses. There will be a lot of changing in the layout of the pages, how the information is grouped together but I hope everything works out fine.
The third thing needed to be done is to look up for some good PHP gallery scripts and upload the appropriate script to the Library Server. In the mean time, I will have to work more on how to link the images and incorporate the gallery scripts to the site. That is a little tough ... Humh but let's see.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Script to load site contents
A test drive of the loading script. Eveything works fine but more thoughts, tests are needed before deciding the core code. The problem is how to arrange the site so that it's easy to manage/update/add more pages later on.
More details on how the script works
Currently, the page uses a template, the contents will be load to a specific space in the template. The content pages are put in seperate folders. Each folder has a description to help build the Navigaional bar below the page title. The title header, which is also based on the folder information, is displayed accordingly.
For example, a part of the structure of the site is
[homefolder] ->
[data]
-> [cv] ( description is "Curriculum Vitae" )
-> [research] ("research project")
-> [treasure] ("Ellora India")
-> [albums ...]
-> [china] ("China Trip 2001")
-> [favlinks] ("favorite links")
-> [help]
The description in the quote is associated with each folder, so the script will automatically split the path in the URL and display the description correctly. For instance, the path data/research/index.html will be splitted to 1. [data], 2. [research] with the description is "research projects", 3. index.html. The page index.html will be then loaded automatically. Based on the folder information, the correct page title "research projects" header will be displayed.
In this way, we only need to create more pages later on and provide the correct URL path. The template will just go to that folder and load the page.
PROS: easy to manage
CONS: the image urls in the content pages will have to be the urls from the root, not relative paths. I'm trying to find away to work around this.
More details on how the script works
Currently, the page uses a template, the contents will be load to a specific space in the template. The content pages are put in seperate folders. Each folder has a description to help build the Navigaional bar below the page title. The title header, which is also based on the folder information, is displayed accordingly.
For example, a part of the structure of the site is
[homefolder] ->
[data]
-> [cv] ( description is "Curriculum Vitae" )
-> [research] ("research project")
-> [treasure] ("Ellora India")
-> [albums ...]
-> [china] ("China Trip 2001")
-> [favlinks] ("favorite links")
-> [help]
The description in the quote is associated with each folder, so the script will automatically split the path in the URL and display the description correctly. For instance, the path data/research/index.html will be splitted to 1. [data], 2. [research] with the description is "research projects", 3. index.html. The page index.html will be then loaded automatically. Based on the folder information, the correct page title "research projects" header will be displayed.
In this way, we only need to create more pages later on and provide the correct URL path. The template will just go to that folder and load the page.
PROS: easy to manage
CONS: the image urls in the content pages will have to be the urls from the root, not relative paths. I'm trying to find away to work around this.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
randomImages works
New update: the random image function works now. Currently there are only 4 pics but more are coming ...
Remaining task:
Link the random picture to the gallery so that when user clicks on the picture, there will be a pop up window with the original picture.
Remaining task:
Link the random picture to the gallery so that when user clicks on the picture, there will be a pop up window with the original picture.
weblog display error
After posting the previous message, I found out there was an error in the template of the weblog at . I tried to find and correct it but it was getting late. I'll work on it tomorrow.http://bentonlog.blogspot.com.
New Prototype Menu
Site
Professor Benton,
I've tried to put a menu system to work and been successful after almost 2 hours working .... WOW! I feel so great now! I reused the code I wrote for my old website so basicly I saved myself a lot of time rewriting stuff from scratch. I just put here some basic items in the menu to see how things work. Please tell me any suggestion you'd have. We will need to work more on the menu items and the sub categories.
Next Tasks :
Basicly the menu is done for now. I willput next the random image code to make the top image loaded randomly. Currently, I have made 4 images already (this one and another 3), but I'll create more when I work on the Album.
Then I'll try to put the navigation bar below the page title ( the research projects images) to load correctly. This is gonna be tougher a little bit. But hopefully everything will work out smoothly.
For now, I'm going to sleep... it's 12:37am already ... few ... I can sleep really well tonight and enjoy a good 2 hours working...
Regards,
Alex
Professor Benton,
I've tried to put a menu system to work and been successful after almost 2 hours working .... WOW! I feel so great now! I reused the code I wrote for my old website so basicly I saved myself a lot of time rewriting stuff from scratch. I just put here some basic items in the menu to see how things work. Please tell me any suggestion you'd have. We will need to work more on the menu items and the sub categories.
Next Tasks :
Basicly the menu is done for now. I willput next the random image code to make the top image loaded randomly. Currently, I have made 4 images already (this one and another 3), but I'll create more when I work on the Album.
Then I'll try to put the navigation bar below the page title ( the research projects images) to load correctly. This is gonna be tougher a little bit. But hopefully everything will work out smoothly.
For now, I'm going to sleep... it's 12:37am already ... few ... I can sleep really well tonight and enjoy a good 2 hours working...
Regards,
Alex
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Blogger Template Update
PROGRESS UPDATE:
Improvements in the Weblog page at Blogger. Now we have the links to the website and to my computer server at http://sr3d.servemp3.com (However, this address is not always available. )
I don't know what else to add to Blogger. If you'd have some suggestion, I will be glad to add the changes to the log site.
The reason why the above address is not online all the time is that I set up my own "radio station" to listen to music from my own computer while I am working in the computer lab. I usually leave the computer running and broadcasting the music through out the network. Genearally I can go anywhere and still listen to the music from my computer via a special URL, which is http://sr3d.servemp3.com:8000. However, sometimes I turn my computer off because I don't want to run it for too long (it's a little bit too old by the way) . So during these times, the address above, sr3d.servemp3.com will not work simply because it points to my computer and my computer is off.
Improvements in the Weblog page at Blogger. Now we have the links to the website and to my computer server at http://sr3d.servemp3.com (However, this address is not always available. )
I don't know what else to add to Blogger. If you'd have some suggestion, I will be glad to add the changes to the log site.
The reason why the above address is not online all the time is that I set up my own "radio station" to listen to music from my own computer while I am working in the computer lab. I usually leave the computer running and broadcasting the music through out the network. Genearally I can go anywhere and still listen to the music from my computer via a special URL, which is http://sr3d.servemp3.com:8000. However, sometimes I turn my computer off because I don't want to run it for too long (it's a little bit too old by the way) . So during these times, the address above, sr3d.servemp3.com will not work simply because it points to my computer and my computer is off.
This is the first item in the Weblog
