Header Changes

I am working on content still, but it’s a little hard to see since most of it is back-dating.  Ok, it’s only one new post as of this writing, but I have several that need to get out there ~ and some exciting stuff too!

My brother pointed out to me this morning that my header was taking up a lot of important “above the fold” real-estate, and he was right.  So I’ve spent some time fixing that up.  Then I dove into the code to figure out how to bring the post-title size down a bit.

The height of the menu bar was also bugging me, so I narrowed that a little.  But I hit a snag with the search field.  I can’t figure out where it is in the code.  I also played around with the color of the menu bar a bit.  Did you know it’s a gradient?  It’s pretty hard to tell, but I like it.

So, here’s the before image ~ just so you can get an idea of the difference.

I really do like how the site is coming along.  It still has a long way to go before it’s where I’d like it to be, but I can see that I’m learning more and more about WordPress.  And learning quite a bit about what I don’t know.

Up next is the comment form.

 

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Site in Progress

My vision is that this site will hold my three major areas of creativity – jewelry design, photography, AND web design. Right now, my web design is mainly limited to this site, so it’s really hard to note my progress because once the changes are made the old is just gone and the “new” becomes the current “site in progress”.

I don’t take a snapshot of the site because that would be kinda silly. (Although I’ll admit I’ve kinda thought about it.)

So I had this idea of keeping a log of sorts of the things I’ve changed or learned.

Of course, these sorts of changes happen well into the night, so I can’t guarantee that they’ll be very coherent.  And they’re not intended to be very educational, so I make no promises that they’ll make any sense if you don’t have any design experience.

All that to say, today…

• spent way too much time this morning figuring out how to make an excerpt
• spent even more time figuring out that WordPress uses numbers to code categories, which really explains why all the tutorials used numbers – a little fact I probably would have picked up on if I was both good at reading directions and more patient
• decided this afternoon to abandon the idea of having the site formatted how I envisioned before announcing later this week
• instead I’m going to focus on updating content
• sat down tonight and worked on formatting excerpts how I wanted (instead of sticking with the new plan)
• worked with the Featured Image and how to add a thumbnail to the excerpts
• relative ease with formatting – except strange bug with the header and this theme not getting along with large featured images
• toyed with the idea of formatting the Image Template – not worth the time right now
• added the Arm Party graphic and link to the sidebar
• passed my “going to work on this for just an hour” by about 2 hours, I think

So there you go, in short, how I end up getting sucked into web design.  I could literally spend hours doing this without a problem.  Sadly, I don’t think that really impresses anyone. 😉

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Back-to-School

This week I took my first class in a continuing education program on Web Design. I have always said that if I had it to do over again, I would probably go into Web Design and/or Graphic Design. Two things happened earlier this year that kind of gave me the push I needed.

The first was that I took a pay-cut at my job. It’s a tough economy, and everyone is making cuts. I guess I am happy to be able to keep my job, but taking a pay-cut was not exactly an improvement on the career path I never thought I’d be sticking with. When I took my job nine years ago, I thought of it as a temporary move. But things don’t always turn out the way you’d like, and I’m still there after being convinced that I would quit after each of my two children were born.

The second thing that presented itself was a summer catalog that arrived in the mail one day from one of the local colleges. I looked at their continuing education programs and it seemed like something I might be able to fit into my busy schedule while hopefully not putting too much of a strain on my family. I went to an informational session a few months ago, and decided I wanted to try it out.

I haven’t talked about it too much with my friends and family because I’m not really sure how much of the program I’ll be able to complete. We’re just trying it out and seeing if we can fit it in financially and without putting too much strain on our limited family time. Fortunately, my husband is behind me 100% to pursue something that I love.

I have taken some web design courses in the past, so I know it will take a few classes before I’m beyond the basics that I already know. But I’m excited to see how this new venture shapes up!

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