Monday 3 October 2011

Why blogs and websites frustrate me beyond belief

For the most part, this weekend was a website weekend.  Oh, there were a few extra assignments added in along the way, but for the most part, this was play time.  Or so I thought.  For, as you may have noticed, finding something to say is rarely a problem for me.  All you need to do is nudge me in the direction of a topic and I'll wind myself up like a gyroscope and start to spin the topic ad nauseum.
And yes, I'll admit that at times it's as difficult to move me from a discussion angle as it is to turn one of these.

So when I'm facing the design of a new website or blog, I have wonderful visions of what I want the site to do, and what I want the site to say, and even an inkling of what could be done.  So after a little while, I figured out how to structure my website to allow course additions, resource additions, and a tiny bit of organization.  Although it took me a while to get there, I consider this part fun.

The part that frustrates me beyond belief is the decorating.  Add about 2 hours to find the right parchment backgrounds, 1.5 hours to flip through the various templates to find one that didn't leave a white box around everything and didn't highlight links in a reverse white block, and of course the inevitable couple hours to find images that represented me.  I'm a perfectionist ... and I still don't like the front page image.  My wife's reaction to my thoughts of changing the images for the 5th time was a reminder that I could always change the pictures later, and perhaps there were better ways to spend my time.

So for now, here it is.  Raphael's picture of Plato and Aristotle will travel with me wherever I go.  And the quotation was one of my dad's favorites so it will always remain.  The rest will wait for a while until I just can't take it anymore.  And the lure of changing it again is a little strong right now, so I'll end this, close down the website and ... um ... bye.

3 comments:

  1. I hear you, Roy. I always end up spending lots of time fiddling around with the 'look' of websites too. Yours looks amazing!
    Emily

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  2. Thank you very much for the boost of confidence ... and the confirmation that I'm not the only one that can never leave well-enough alone.

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  3. The site looks great Roy. The trouble with a website is that it really does become a labour of love and can be all consuming. Your students will be fortunate to have all of that information available to them.

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