Another B2 format change

by BD Pisani - 2005 nov 07

Within the next several days, a new version of The B2 Journal will be launched. From the tippy top of its lumpy, scar-laden skull to the very bottoms of its tar-encrusted, road-scuffed flip flops, The B2 Journal, Version 5.0 will be cleaner, leaner and sporting new attire. However, this latest version of the journal will be a melding of old and new.

Before I forget, let me add that although the scripting is not complete, I decided to publish early because of maintenance issues. This new version is simply easier to edit -- important when you are Old School and still do all your coding by hand. So if a few links are not operating yet, you now know why so I don't want to hear about it.

Old and new

I say old in that it is still B2J's mission to:

  • 1. Provide me an outlet with which to relieve stress;
  • 2. Opine about societal or topical issues;
  • 3. Rail against the disingenuousness of today's biased media; and
  • 4. Offer glimpses, mostly humorous but occasionally less so, of personal insights and experiences for the benefit of kith and kin.

New in the sense that the journal is being re-launched under its fifth version. I originally undertook maintaining a personal Web site in 1997, but under a different name. Those of you who remember the Web when there was no color, let alone glitz, understand me when I say that by 1997 I made certain that version 1.0 incorporated every annoying color, bell, whistle, and gimcrack imaginable. Site content? I included everything and anything, so much so that the site became so unwieldy that it was nearly disfunctional and impossible to maintain.

Progression of changes

Version 2.0 resembled an athlete after giving up anabolic steroids; It had the same name but was gaunt and deflated. I had also incorporated the dreaded frames for navigation and content tables for a uniform format. I had tables everywhere. However, by this time I began to pay attention to proper formatting and new Web standards that seemed to be popping up daily. Groups such as the Web Standards Project and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) opened my eyes to expansive and often controversial insights regarding Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML) and a flurry of new scripting methods. I learned what I could and did my best to keep up.

Several sub-versions of frame-based formatting followed as I discovered new and exciting (for the time) methods of content presentation. Still, I had a real life in a very demanding profession and maintenance of the site was an ongoing burden. Too much content, too many pages to individually revise, and too little focus.

In late 1999, friends had a hand in the change to B2 -- coincidentally it was the time I first began to hear about and see Web examples of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The concept that one could separate structure from presentation intrigued me, but personal issues prevented me from following up. Mind you, that didn't stop me from toying with color schemes, navigational gimmicks, and other hacks.

However, by 2003 I became so enraptured with all of the beautiful CSS presentations flooding the Web that I took the plunge and thus version 4.0 was born. My vision was driven less by the quest for beauty but more by the desire of maintainability. CSS allowed me to centrally update pages and modularly apply styles wherever I chose. Alas, excessive content was still a problem.

Making life easier

Which brings us to today. Version 5.0's new look is simple, clean, easier to navigate, and highlighted with my favorite color theme. Thanks to comments offered by friends and visitors alike, suggestions and/or complaints were weighed for merit and incorporated where justified.

The best part is that its architecture is nearly all CSS-driven, save for two diminutive JavaScripts, with page content handled by validated HTML 4.01 (I am gearing up for XHTML 1.0, but have a lot of pages to edit). Although I am still learning its intricacies, I will never stray from style sheets until the W3C and true Web gurus develop a better design method. Excessive content? Gone. B2 is now strictly focused on my articles and new business. I have included a few goodies and image galleries for variety, but maintenance, while still a colossal pain, is now manageable.

I have purposely chosen to avoid the weblog format with its interactive user comments -- responding to my own email is trouble enough. That being said, comments are welcome and I always respond, sooner or later.

Whatever makes B2's life easier is a beautiful thing.