New Website - 2010

[Guest]

As you can tell, we have started work on the new FA Website design.

This is VERY much a work in progress and will be continuing for a few weeks.

The company we use for our template designs has started using a new back-end for their templates, so we decided to switch to that back-end so we will stay compatible with future designs.

For now, other than the colors, the site content and layout is essentially the same. This will be changing over the coming weeks.

Please note: IE6 support is VERY limited with this template. IE6 is no longer supported by Microsoft and has MANY security issues. If possible, you should upgrade to IE8 or even better, use the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox or Safari. All of these have been tested and work without any issues.

Issue discovered so far:

1. The template does use a new java-based menu system which is giving some listeners issues with menus that have drop-downs. Again, most (if not all) of these issues can be traced to an old version of IE. The work around for the Tune In menu, for now, is to CLICK on Tune-In. That will pop-up a generic box that lists all the streams. Click on your stream of choice and it should start the stream. I will be making adjustments to the other drop-down menus shortly.

2. Menus with drop downs are dropping down BEHIND the logo. I have been able to duplicate this in IE8 if I was running entirely in Compatibility Mode. In IE8 please check Page -> Compatibility View and make sure Compatibility View is NOT checked. Also check Page -> Compatibility View Settings and make sure you do not have Display All Websites In Compatibility Mode selected and/or make sure that FA is not listed as a site to view in Compatibility Mode.

New Things

1. We have added a few games to the website. This is just a test. If it works out, I will be added more games. Please try some of the games if you get a chance and let me know what you think.

2. We changed the logo for the station. I am not sure if this is going to stay, but I felt it was time for a change. If anyone has any other ideas for a logo (and tag line) please feel free to share!

As always, thanks for listening to Flashback Alternatives!

[thor]

Is there a possibility of reducing the amount of empty space (i.e. the logo) takes on the page. It seems you have to scroll more than normal to view the entire page compared to the last version.
Btw, I have read that 'white' takes more energy to display than a black background. Just an FYI.

[bambam]

Btw, I have read that 'white' takes more energy to display than a black background. Just an FYI.

Personally I am stunned by the amount of people who believe this, given that the vast majority of people use flat panels that are back lit, technically the monitor will use more power displaying black.

[thor]

Btw, I have read that 'white' takes more energy to display than a black background. Just an FYI.

Personally I am stunned by the amount of people who believe this, given that the vast majority of people use flat panels that are back lit, technically the monitor will use more power displaying black.

Would you like a gold or a silver star for your forehead?

[Guest]

Not that this is going to have any determination as to the background color of the FA website - the real answer depends on the TYPE of monitor you are using.

See this 2007 article from Scientific America -> http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... n-black-is

CRT -> Savings with white background.
Old/Recent LCD -> SOME savings with black background.
New LED Based Monitors -> SOME savings with white background.

All in all, the amount of savings with LCD or LED based monitors seems to be negligible.

Now this is from a 2007 study. Other studies may show something else.

However - as stated earlier - NONE of this matters when it comes to the FA site design so I expect this to be last mention of it.

As for the spacing on the site:

1. I can change the spacing after the logo, and will do so once things are closer to being finished on the site.
2. Where the page breaks, and page scrolling depends on a few things: (a) Your screen resolution (I design using a 1680x1050 screen) BUT the site template is designed for 1024x768 resolution - larger screens just show more 'space' on either side of the content, (b) Which browser you are using. With my resolution, IE and Firefox break after the Cover Art, Now Playing and Chat area while Chrome and Safari break after the Ad buttons as they have a cleaner layout with less default toolbars, and (c) Your font size in your browser.
3. The site is getting longer. I will be adding a few more features/areas that will require scroll down. However, at the bottom of the page is a Return To Top link that will bring you back. Very few people that use the FA site tend to click on any of the menu items other than Tune In and Request (based on analytics of the site) so I am going to try and work more content into the main page - with other mini-menus and articles that will bring people to other pages. We'll see how that goes.

[thor]

The "New Adds" Pop-up won't allow me to click outside of it without screwing up the window tab I'm in, forcing me to close the tab to remedy. However, this doesn't seem to happen with the "Requests in Queue" pop up..

[Guest]

The "New Adds" Pop-up won't allow me to click outside of it without screwing up the window tab I'm in, forcing me to close the tab to remedy. However, this doesn't seem to happen with the "Requests in Queue" pop up..

Which browser?

I just tested in IE 8 (with the option to let IE decide how to open Popup's enabled) and in Chrome. In both, the Recent Adds popped up in a window correctly. Clicking outside of that window caused the window to close (same as if you clicked the X).

[thor]

The "New Adds" Pop-up won't allow me to click outside of it without screwing up the window tab I'm in, forcing me to close the tab to remedy. However, this doesn't seem to happen with the "Requests in Queue" pop up..

Which browser?

I just tested in IE 8 (with the option to let IE decide how to open Popup's enabled) and in Chrome. In both, the Recent Adds popped up in a window correctly. Clicking outside of that window caused the window to close (same as if you clicked the X).

Doh! I meant to include that.
Firefox, just updated.
I did find if I wait about 10 secs, my screen goes blank and I do a refresh and there you are again.. :shrugshoulders:

[Guest]

The "New Adds" Pop-up won't allow me to click outside of it without screwing up the window tab I'm in, forcing me to close the tab to remedy. However, this doesn't seem to happen with the "Requests in Queue" pop up..

Which browser?

I just tested in IE 8 (with the option to let IE decide how to open Popup's enabled) and in Chrome. In both, the Recent Adds popped up in a window correctly. Clicking outside of that window caused the window to close (same as if you clicked the X).

Doh! I meant to include that.
Firefox, just updated.
I did find if I wait about 10 secs, my screen goes blank and I do a refresh and there you are again.. :shrugshoulders:

I just updated my Firefox and couldn't quite duplicate it.

I clicked on Recent Adds, the popup opened with the PDF. If I clicked outside the popup the screen froze for about a second and then returned to normal.

[bambam]

If you click on certain headers - REQUESTS, CHARTS and ON DEMAND an error will be displayed relating to Javascrip, this is because the code on these headers makes a reference to Javascrip (a typo I assume), href = "Javascrip:void(0)" and should be href = "Javascript:void(0)"

The errors have nothing to do with security settings - it is simply down to typo(s) in the code

[Guest]

If you click on certain headers - REQUESTS, CHARTS and ON DEMAND an error will be displayed relating to Javascrip, this is because the code on these headers makes a reference to Javascrip (a typo I assume), href = "Javascrip:void(0)" and should be href = "Javascript:void(0)"

The errors have nothing to do with security settings - it is simply down to typo(s) in the code

I'll look into that and talk to the developer as that is not my code. It is interesting that even with what appears to be a typo, it does work for some (most?) people.

[Guest]

If you click on certain headers - REQUESTS, CHARTS and ON DEMAND an error will be displayed relating to Javascrip, this is because the code on these headers makes a reference to Javascrip (a typo I assume), href = "Javascrip:void(0)" and should be href = "Javascript:void(0)"

The errors have nothing to do with security settings - it is simply down to typo(s) in the code

I'll look into that and talk to the developer as that is not my code. It is interesting that even with what appears to be a typo, it does work for some (most?) people.

My mistake - it was my code. It was my typo. It was a workaround to keep the menu items lined up and I left out the 't' in javascript.

All fixed now

[thor]

Any possibility of restoring "Last time requested" or "Number of times requested" to the Simple Request System? I often enjoy looking for less played tunes from the vast database.
Any possibility of "Advanced request system" returning?
Otherwise, nice work.

[Guest]

Any possibility of restoring "Last time requested" or "Number of times requested" to the Simple Request System? I often enjoy looking for less played tunes from the vast database.
Any possibility of "Advanced request system" returning?
Otherwise, nice work.

(1) The Last Time Requested and Number of Times Requested will not be returning. Those fields only updated when I refreshed the Request Lists - and that generally only happens when I add new tracks. As such, the fields were outdated very quickly, and not very useful. However, I would consider posting a PDF every month that contains the entire FA library including the request information - if anyone would be interested.

(2) As for the Advanced Request System. It won't be coming back. A combination of 1.FM using a MS SQL backend, security issues, and most important, our webhost not supporting remote MSSQL calls is preventing it from returning.

That said, I working on something else that may be an alternative. If it happens, it won't be for at least a month or so.

(3) Thanks!

[Sousaphonic]

I would definitely look at the PDF discussed in the previous post if you decide to do that.