Spring.03: Strictly XHTML
The busy Newspaper look
This was the first major site redesign built with standards compliance in mind. The target was to have a valid XHTML codebase, and following that logic, a site that would be viewable and functional in the major browsers while degrading gracefully among browsers with limited support.
Design approach
Spring.03 was developed to meet a list of desired features that went something like this:
- Standards compliance
- Structured content
- Fluid, skinnable layout driven by CSS
- Graceful degradation in older browsers
- "Replay value" from good content and interactive features
Content is King
The old saying on the Web is that content is what drives people to sites, and good content at that. This version of the site was developed with this in mind as the focus is on the content rather than the design; a fluid layout was used to maximize use of browser real estate, which also allowed a greater amount of content to be crammed into the design without making a mess of the whole thing.
Organization is up there
I think a site can have a lot of great content and still be a mess if it isn't logically structured. Spring.03 was split up into columnnar groups for this reason as well as fluidity in the design. Some information is from external data sources relating to other parts of the site (ie. the Arkanoid high scores and recently-submitted levels,) and is a neat way of tying in past projects to the current design.
Interactivity adds replay value?
A site that's dynamic in nature and can have its content changed by users' contributions makes it more interesting and fun. This is part of the reason why interactive stuff is a big part of the site - it adds to the fun and consequent "replay value" of the site. If you can create your own Arkanoid level and have it show up on the site for everyone to see and play, that is pretty nifty.
The end result
When finished, I didn't quite end up with a 100% XHTML-valid site. I had a few issues with ampersands not being escaped, and illegal nesting of block-level elements within paragraph tags. (I am unsure as to the logic behind the last rule's existence, but I assume it will come to me one of these days.) The site was initially valid, but grew to have a few issues as content was added over the course of the year of its development.
This version of the site ran for one year after its launch in March 2003 - the longest-running one yet. I think it was a success because of its flexibility for adding new content, although it was becoming quite crowded after a year of development involving new projects and the addition of small features to the layout.
There were a few bugs on the Mac that I wasn't able to solve (and Opera had a few issues with the multi-column layout,) but overall the code was fairly clean and did not rely too heavily on CSS hacks. It turned out very well overall, and will probably be one of the best sites I have developed for quite some time in terms of content and usability.