Jack is Here, asp.net findings

It’s soon going to be time to redesign my web site for the “Web 2.0 Age.” I have seriously looked at two platforms, Drupal and Joomla, with which to accomplish this.

Drupal and Joomla offer comprehensive packages that, in the case of Drupal, includes a blog and forum as core modules. Theming these platforms can be accomplished through both CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and PHP (Personal Home Page or PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) code modifications. However, these platforms are complex and learning enough to install, manage, and customize these platforms can be a daunting task.

After studying the two platforms, including using them both on my test bed platform and on the Internet, I decided to take a look at WordPress as a possible solution to my future Web needs. I was surprised to discover that the latest version of WordPress is easy to install, easy to use, and easy to theme.

In this article, I will describe how to customize WordPress 2.5.

STYLING WORDPRESS — THE JAKOB DESIGN

The current design for my personal web site, SelectDigitals.com, is based on work and philosophy of Jakob Nielsen , http://www.useit.com/. Nielsen’s work has been dedicated to making usable web sites that deliver content that is easy to find and easy to read.

Nielsen's site design (and my site is with permission) is simple and elegant, and the main purpose of content delivery. WordPress is the main purpose of content delivery. So, my first WordPress design is the added feature of interactivity and visitors to maintain the appearance, look and feel of our site and we are striving. I will be referred to as Jacob's designs for this purpose.

There are six major components that make up the look of the default WordPress blog:

1. Header Graphic,

2. Blog Title,

3. Tagline,

4. Page,

5. Background,and

6. Footer.

In order to make the Jakob blog load quickly, I decided not to use a header or footer graphic; and since the design will essentially be the default WordPress theme with a new coat, only a little graphic design work needs to be done. In fact, I only needed to create one graphic to to generate the blog page with it’s two column effect. The blog page will “float” centered in a dark-blue *body* background that will serve to frame the page.

Creating the Graphic

A look in the image directory for the default WordPress theme shows the default images used for the Kubrick look. For now, there is only one file of particular interest: kubrickbgwide.jpg. For the Jakob design, the other Kubrick images are not needed but will be needed for the “Fancy”, more complex design.

The blog’s page will be created from a “slice” through the center of the new design. The slice is a narrow image the width of the blog page.

I began my design by laying out a basic page (760px X 600px) in Adobe Illustrator. I like using Illustrator for artwork of this kind, although other programs could be used, too.

I filled the basic page with the page’s background color (not to be confused with the dark blue *body* background). The light background color will will “show-off” colored text, such as the blog’s title and tagline.

I overlayed the page with two rectangles, or “columns.” The left-hand, 510px-wide column is filled with a pastel yellow color; the right-hand column, 230px wide, is filled with a pastel blue color. The two columns fit within the basic page with a 10px border of page background around them.

In Illustrator, I then placed a 760px X 40px rectangle on the page and used this to make a slice. A slice is nothing more that a representative piece of a larger image, in this case, of the blog design. I saved the slice as kubrickbgwide.jpg. Kubrickbgwide.jpg will be used to generate the blog-page background. As new content is added to the blog page, copies of the slice will be stacked vertically to “grow” the two-column background. This is the only image needed by a browser to generate the blog’s home page. The Blog will, therefore, load very quickly.

Pretty easy so far, right? The rest of the design is accomplished through the theme’s CSS file and/or through the WordPress administrative interface.

CSS Changes

The default CSS file is in the WP content_themes_default directory. The following CSS text display code changes to style.css file. Before making any changes in the default CSS file, I always save the original copy. CSS file, and can open any text editor. The text will be removed as shown in square brackets. New or revised text will be displayed without brackets.

/* Begin Typography & Colors */

body {

[background: #d5d6d7 url('images/kubrickbgcolor.jpg');]

background: #636f89; /* Set the Body background color to blue */

}

#page {

[background-color: white;]

[border: 1px solid #959596;]

border:none;

}

[#header {

background: #73a0c5 url('images/kubrickheader.jpg') no-repeat bottom center;

}

#headerimg {

margin: 7px 9px 0;

height: 192px;

width: 740px;

}]

#footer {

[background: #eee url('images/kubrickfooter.jpg') no-repeat top;]

background: #fffef2; /* Very light yellow */

}

h1, h1 a, h1 a:hover, h1 a:visited, #headerimg [.description] {

text-decoration: none;

[color: white;]

color:red; /* Make the title red */

padding-bottom: .5em; /* Put a little space between the title and tagline */

}

.description {

text-decoration: none;

color: blue; /* Make the tagline blue */

text-align: center;

}

/* End Typography & Colors */

/* Begin Structure */

#page {

[background-color: white;]

background-color: fffef2; /* Very light yellow */

[border: 1px solid #959596;]

border: none;

}

#header {

[background-color: #73a0c5;]

background-color: #fffef2; /* Very light yellow */

}

/* End Structure */

After making and saving these changes to the style.css file, the newly designed blog page is accomplished.

STYLING WORDPRESS — THE FANCY DRESS DESIGN

Although I like the simplicity of the James blog design, it will not appeal to everyone. Many people love

First of all, it should be noted that the background of the default WordPress page uses header (kubrickheader.jpg) and footer (kubrickfooter.jpg) graphics. These graphics are not filled with a solid color, as in the Jakob design, but with gradients. There also appears to be a very small drop shadow under the page.

Because of the complexity of the default page, additional graphics are required and, thus, more slices will be needed. Additionally, when a more complex body background is desired in which to “float” the page, a “seed” image for this might also be required (this is what the kubrickbgcolor.jpg image is for).

As before, I created a drawing of the blog page in Illustrator. The page, with rounded corners, floats on the default WordPress background, has a yellow gradient, and has a small drop shadow.

I first created a 760px X 600px rectangle on the Illustrator artboard. I filled this rectangle with the background color (C:8, M:6, Y:6, K:0).

Next, using the Rounded Rectangle Tool, I drew a 736px X 584px rectangle and filled it with the yellow gradient. Essentially, I made the page as large as possible within the background while leaving enough room for the drop shadow.

Finally, I gave the rounded rectangle a small drop shadow.

To ensure that the discs have fused perfectly into the body * is the background, I have a 60px X 60px square of the same background color (C: 8 M: 6 Y: 6 K: 0) and save it as kubrickbgcolor. jpg. The small picture will be used to

Creating the Slices

Using the Rectangle Tool, I placed a 760px X 200px rectangle on top of the layout described above. I positioned this rectangle at the top of the layout and used it to make a slice for the header graphic. Before doing this, I disabled stroke and fill.

I saved the slice as kubrickheader.jpg.

I created the footer and page slices in a similar fashion and renamed them as kubrickfooter.jpg and kubrickbgwide.jpg, respectively. Kubrickfooter.jpg is 760px X 63px and kubrickbgwide is 760px X 40px.

There are two other Kubrick images in the images directory: kubrickbg-ltr.jpg and kubrickbg-rtl.jpg (left to right, and right to left). These images are the same as kubrickbgwide.jpg. So, I made two copies of kubrickbgwide.jpg and renamed them accordingly.

CSS Changes

The default CSS file is in the wp-content_themes_default directory. The CSS text below shows the code changes to style.css. Square brackets show which code to delete and new code is shown without brackets. Before making the change, I copied and saved the original file. For the Fancy design, the CSS changes are minimal.

/* Begin Typography & Colors */

body {

[background: #d5d6d7 url('images/kubrickbgcolor.jpg');]

background: #e7e7e7 url(‘images/kubrickbgcolor.jpg’);

}

#page {

[background-color: white;]

[border: 1px solid #959596;]

}

#header {

[background: #73a0c5 url('images/kubrickheader.jpg') no-repeat bottom center;]

background: #e7e7e7 url(‘images/kubrickheader.jpg’) no-repeat bottom center;

}

#footer {

[background: #eee url('images/kubrickfooter.jpg') no-repeat top;]

background: #e7e7e7 url(‘images/kubrickfooter.jpg’) no-repeat top;

}

h1, h1 a, h1 a:hover, h1 a:visited, #headerimg [description]{

[color: white;]

color:red; /* Make the blog title red */

padding-bottom: .5em; /* Put a little space between the title and tagline */

}

.description {

text-decoration: none;

color: blue; /* Make the blog tagline blue */

text-align: center;

}

/* End Typography & Colors */

/* Begin Structure */

#page {

[background-color: white;]

background-color: #e7e7e7;

[border: 1px solid #959596;]

border: none; }

#header {

[background-color: #73a0c5;]

background-color: #e7e7e7;

}

/* End Structure */

After the design and CSS work, the WordPress shows it’s new clothes to the whole Internet.

STYLING WORDPRESS — THE NO-GRAPHIC DESIGN

Nothing every goes wrong when a browser loads a page from the Internet, right? Even if this were, in fact, the case, it is still wise to consider how a page will display in case the graphics can’t be found.

In the case of Jakob-design, if not downloaded kubrickbgwide.jpg get, for some reason the page would not appear acceptable. Because of the bright background for the header and footer are used, they usually show on the dark blue background of the body are transmitted. However, the content is hard to read: it is almost lost in the dark blue background. A bright background for the body could have been a far wiser choice.

The creator of the Kubrick design solved this problem by assigning alternate background colors to be used if the graphics were not available. The assignments are made within the style.css file:

body { background: #d5d6d7 url(‘images/kubrickbgcolor.jpg’); }

#header { background: #73a0c5 url(‘images/kubrickheader.jpg’) no-repeat bottom center; }

#footer { background: #eee url(‘images/kubrickfooter.jpg’) no-repeat top; }

If the images are not available, the alternate RGB color value will be used.

If the graphics are not available, the default WordPress blog is still presentable and usable. For an initial page redesign, starting with the basic Kubrick design, without graphics, might be a good place to begin. This can be accomplished by simplifying the statements above:

body { background: #d5d6d7; }

#header { background: #73a0c5; }

#footer { background: #eee; }

The colors can then be changed to try out various blog color schemes. Just change the RGB color codes, save the CSS file, and refresh the browser to see the changes immediately.

Yours for a more successful blog,

Royce Tivel

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THE BASICS OF BALANCE IN DESIGN AND DECORATING

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The design and all other aspects of life balance is an important element.

At one time or another, all of us have been in homes, offices, rooms, stores or hotels where we could not wait to get out of. Something felt uncomfortable, awkward, overwhelming, or boring. Balance is a facet of our lives that makes us feel comfortable and grounded. In design, physical balance is achieved through the position, color, texture, shape, size and the direction the eye follows. It takes into account the shape, architecture, size and lighting of the room, home, or place, the furnishings, materials, and accessories.

Rhythm and harmony go hand in hand with balance. Rhythm is defined as “A regular or harmonious pattern created by lines, forms, and colors in painting, sculpture, and other visual arts”, (it can be said that interior design and decorating are visual arts), and harmony is “A pleasing combination of elements in a whole or the way parts combine well together or into a whole”. The three together create a physical, psychological, and pleasant aesthetic visual order.

There are different types of balance, the design of the three most common are:

• Symmetrical (formal) balance – one side is the mirror image of the other. For example a central focal point that shows a sofa between two side tables and the same lamp on each side. Each side is mirrored in color, shape, size and pattern. This is the easiest balance to achieve, but be careful, too much symmetry becomes dull and monotonous, boring to the eyes.

• Asymmetrical (informal) balance – there is no mirror image and the focal point may not be in the center. There may be two different items next to each other, similar in weight but different in color, shape, or size. An asymmetrical room is harder to put together. Proportion and scale play a great part in informal balance.

• Radial balance – all elements seem to radiate from a center point, or the elements lead your eyes toward the center or focal point. It’s not the most common in design, but very interesting when well done. There is repetition of form and color.

Balance considers the scale and the proportion of sizes and shapes of objects.

Proportion refers to the relationships in size, one part to another or to the whole, and it also refers to the relative size of each item.

Scale refers to “the size of objects in relation to one another and to the human body. In decorating, good scale is the result of eye pleasing relationships between furnishings and other objects and the space they are used in.”

Furniture and floor plans as well as the size of the room, and must be proportional to the functional, attractive.

When designing or decorating there must be flowing transition around a room or between rooms. There must be space to move around without bumping into tables, chairs, or other items, and it is more pleasant to go from one room to another that has a similar flow without abrupt changes.

The transition can be created in the furniture, patterns and colors, uninterrupted lines, the curve angle and the rigid hard-line formation pattern, or color and style over the contrast between the room.

Some people use Feng shui, pronounced “fong shway” or “foong swee”. Feng shui means literally wind-water and is the Chinese Taoist art of arranging the surrounding environment: space, objects and places around us to achieve energy, harmony, and balance, and promote the free flow of chi.

Contrast is used to add interest to a room and it works best in small increments. For example a striped pattern and a flower pattern pillow of similar or same colors on a solid color sofa; a black sofa against a red wall; a round table and stripe covered chairs. Well combined geometric forms and patterns can also give a fresh contemporary look. Too much contrast is overwhelming and too much repetition is boring.

Accessories need to be balanced as well. Control your urge to put out everything you own or “love”. Too much of something, no matter how lovely, it’s just simply too much, but a well placed collection as/in a focal point might be very attractive, such as glass bottles of different colors and sizes; ceramics; art work, etc.

It is uncomfortable and unsettling to look all over the place without a focal point. The focal point may be as common as a fireplace, a window, or a piece of art where you arrange furniture and items to direct the eyes toward it. The focal point provides reference and stability to a room.

Don’t forget the ceilings; they don’t always have to be white! If you have green walls the ceiling can be painted in a much lighter shade of the same color. If the room has a great source of light, especially natural light, the ceiling can be painted darker than the walls. Use decorative molding, trim, or wallpaper. The room looks unbalance and unfinished when the walls have a rich color and the ceiling is just white.

One the most important things to remember is to have fun. Find a style you like, experiment, try it out, arrange and rearrange. Don’t be disappointed if it does not look like the picture of the design magazine. However, don’t ignore reality: if there are children or pets a light cream sofa it’s not going to work very well; the traffic patterns may not allow room for the big beautiful stuffed chair; and grandma’s needle point pillows may not fit in with your new contemporary style.

Before you start your project make a plan. On a poster board collect pictures of furnishings, paint chips, fabric samples, tile and wood flooring samples, wall paper, and anything else you might want to use. Place it side by side; check the colors and textures and see what works for you. Your local home improvement store should have most samples of what you need. Decide what items, accessories and furnishings, you are going to use before you choose the paint color. Look in the internet for pictures and ideas. Sometimes, vintage stores have wonderful pieces of furniture and accessories that with minimum modifications can be adapted to many styles and designs. Of course you have to like what you are going to do, but make a decision based on what you need and why versus what you like and want, in the long run you’ll be a lot happier.

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The popular view decorative designs are modern, country, tradition and transition. Particularly suitable for the wall to paint them in colors streamlined, living with modern design patterns. Next generation homes are typically, bind with the white color and enhanced with clocks, paintings, and modern murals.

Using the design of elementary schools, you can climb in the innovative design of the living room only. Such as strip lights and vanity, but as an accessory use lighting to help highlight the furniture as a decorative accent lighting, new order is required.

Modern Living Room should be stalwart and perdurable as this is virtually where the household inhabits. Seating is an essential component of living room furniture so make certain it is cozy yet stylish. While picking out furniture for work or your living space, make sure to look for such sets up that gel with your feel of fashion, comfort and beauty. Select every single piece of furniture after deliberate thought and close particularization of exquisite modern classic furniture, making a harmonious atmosphere in your own dwelling.

The important thing is to create the face of the modern world. This is such a soft silver color and modest means of grace to use bright accessories, gray, pattern, or black.

Most modern designs are now patterns in abstract patterns. The modern work of art to provide a high spirit to make the perception of the various topics. Therefore, the integration of these things in the modern living room designs will give emphasis to a contemporary look in your local area.

An overview of what modern living room designs to expend, the next step is to see them happen in your living room. It is time to cease designing and initiate applying these design guidelines to your vantage.

Are you all set to launch your home remodeling project? Here are 10 interior design ideas to expand your horizons and help you on your quest.

Color Me Beautiful

From the white, white and beige, so that your life in some of the colors (and your walls)! Click Designer Dave Bromstad, from HGTV Design Star and HGTV's new show, Color Splash, host big winner in color. "I think Brown is a great color, because it looks great, in many combinations: brown and yellow, brown, blue, brown and orange. This has been hot for the past five years, and will continue to be hot. White and blue color, are also great, you can with the red and orange a big impact, "the rising star. But he also warned not to be too matchy, matchy. If you decide to go to the red walls, there is no red quilt on your bed needs!

Rock the Casbah

Moroccan design is welcoming, warm, inexpensive and relatively easy to pull together, all wonderful traits for those interested in Moroccan-style home decorating. “Moroccan styles are timeless,” says interior designer Vanessa De Vargas. Morocco is known for its handmade works like carved doors and columns, hand-woven carpets, intricately painted tiles, lanterns, leather goods and silver tea sets. The color palette is warm yet cool. Earth tones combined with various shades of blue and pink are common, as are texture and pattern.

A modernized version of Moroccan style is popular in the U.S. because it successfully takes classic Moroccan-design motifs, materials and styles and gives them a fresh spin. Traditional Moroccan design is heavier and more ornate.

Back to Nature

Use Indoor plants to bring nature into your home!

During the 1970s, there was a new appreciation for the great outdoors. Consequently interior decorating incorporated macram?redwood and anything in shades of oatmeal, green or brown. In keeping with the back-to-nature movement, homeowners did what they could to bring the outdoors in. Although the days of green and brown printed wallpaper are long gone (or so we hope), plants and flowering plants are still the rage in interior design.

Wallpaper is Back!

Wallpaper has been getting some really bad press in the past few years, while solid colors and wall patterns were hip and in. It seems like wallpaper is coming back, bigger and better than ever! Traditional block printed ‘paper’ wallpaper isn’t the only option. Fabric wallpaper is also available and will add a luxurious touch to any room. Other materials include those with a metallic luster and paper that gives the appearance of silk.

According to Karen Beauchamp from Cole & Son, we are exploring new ways to use wallpaper. The following guidelines recommend how to leverage more patterns in your surrounding environment:

* Cover only one wall (its trendy, and you can be more adventurous).

* Add some color to doors and cupboards by putting wallpaper on panels. Choose the scale of the pattern carefully though: if the space is too small and the scale too large, the pattern will get lost.

* For the really adventurous, add a twist on tradition by wallpapering a ceiling. This works particularly well with high ceilings, such as those in period properties.

Everyone Feng Shui!

Take the mystical out of Feng Shui design and learn its practical uses. Decorating using these principles will help you create a simple, balanced living environment. Real Feng Shui is extraordinarily specific, and complex. The only way to do real Feng Shui is either to become a student of this art, and painstakingly learn the many principals and subtleties it requires, or to hire a professional to do an analysis and work over of your home. However, Feng Shui does teach us something that is very useful when decorating your home.

* Color: Pay attention to how colors make you feel. Color has a huge effect on our mood and energy, but is also very individual. You may be the type of person who is comfortable in dark colors, while other people may find it depressing. Colors also affect the nature of interactions, and when you enter a new space you should always pay attention to the way people behave to one another. If there is a room in your home where people tend to get into arguments, reassess the colors in that room. Bright or extreme colors can irritate people’s eyes and increase their metabolism, making them more likely to fight. Painting a room in dark colors is know to create a lethargic atmosphere and encourage bad moods in people.

* Flow: In traditional Feng said, our goal is to maximize an area of positive chi flow. Think of a three-dimensional space as the space and try to picture people how to move objects and locations will be placed. If you feel a good flow – you have the right to have a positive energy. The process you want to do is the essence of the room. You hope this is easy to move through the room of people, as well as in and out of it. The object you want to be able to get rid of their storage, at the same time use, they will not add confusion. This is a flow of a mixture of the organization and design, on the elimination of barriers and allow them in various fields, the focus of a simple movement.

Island Fantasies

Whether you make yearly pilgrimages to the white-sand beaches of the tropics or merely travel via daydreams, interiors inspired by the ocean, sand, and gentle sea breezes bring the feeling home. Simply designed rooms, filled with light and fresh air, enchant the senses and have the ability to transport you to another headspace. Think of it as an exotic take on spring cleaning.

Imperial Beds

The Four-Poster bed is a timeless piece in any bedroom design. To avoid being heavy, new four-poster beds have thin posts, and are airy enough to be considered modern. Since four-poster beds are the most romantic of beds, a romantic design, soft, comfortable, and inviting, is highly recommended to accompany this fantastic traditional bed.

Classic White

The establishment of a white monochrome elegant space, sense of purpose is peace, quiet and complex. In a white white, you have more freedom to do different things. "Clutter and keep your distance and everything should be hidden, said:" Ammie Kim, a Beverly Hills designer. The color of all unnecessary items or things that should be moved. It is a very complex but very few look at.

Kitchen Freestyle

Because we’re spending more and more time in our kitchens and baths, there is a move away from the all-or-nothing “fitted” look of continuous counters. Look for more freestanding pieces of furniture or features with furniture-like qualities. These details won’t be fussy but will further the notion that the kitchen is a room to be lived in.

Country Living in the City

Do you miss the open spaces, the country roads, and the peace and quiet that comes from being away from New York for more than a week? Why not transform your city apartment and go country? Combine the best of city sophistication and country rustic, and see how much nicer it feels to eat in that dining room you never use!

Many people like gardening, and as a hobby to take care of their lawn, working with their own ideas, viewpoints, a beautiful outdoor space, work is very meaningful. Production of a beautiful landscape garden design, it is difficult for a new gardener or an experienced gardener.

Creating a landscape garden design, which means each port corridors for plants, garden beds, trees and create the perfect outdoor space rock and blade of grass. Can seem overwhelming or daunting task for this, it does not need to. There, you can continue to make a space, just because they do a very basic form, without eliminating a lot of work, it is not fun anymore.

Themed Gardens

Most of the landscape garden designs are on a theme of some sort, it could birds, relaxation, scent, a favorite plant or flower, a favorite color, or just about anything else. The point that is a topic to create a pattern tie and POI with the landscape garden design for the viewer too.

This can be subtle or obvious focus. The key is pattern and repetition. The human eye would like to see patterns and repeat patterns, which can be in the landscape and color, size, type, or an external common garden design is completed, such as animals, plants will attract.

The color is an important tool for landscape garden design, using bright and cheery colors, a very different feeling than subdued cool colors or neutral colors can. With bright colors in combination with cooling or neutral may increase a parent issue.

If the target was to attract butterflies and landscape garden design, garden beds on either side of the road feather flower garden, flowers and plants to grow by creating butterflies fill the need to breed You can reflect this. To strengthen the butterfly, the wings of the flowers will not only attract more color in the color of the garden, which I feel could be used to reflect the shape of a butterfly is intended.

Most landscape garden designs allow for paths and section planting areas into beds or by other likenesses. To create a unique garden space one can create lines with plant height, plant color, plant type, and the garden paths to create an over all affect that is pleasing to the gardener and their guests.

Preferably with the butterfly garden, for example the selection of plants of a certain species of butterflies and work around the colors, they mate with the same color or plant height dimension to a pattern or a pattern to create the garden, the unique effect.