The Site
The whole site is pretty much hand-built with the strictest XHTML 1.0 and CSS Level 2, with backup from PHP/MySQL. The editing duties were carried out using my long-time weapon-of-choice: Helios Software Solutions' TextPad, and for the graphics, I used good old Adobe Photoshop.
The CSS
Default Style
The default site layout is originally based upon this 3-column fixed layout by Douglas Livingstone of redmelon.net.
The main menu is based upon ProjectSeven's Uberlink CSS Rollovers, with some small amendments.
Autumn Eve Style
This layout is basically a pretty standard fixed-width, 1 or 2 column design, similar to many that you may have seen. One major difference, however, is that the XHTML markup is identical to the Default Style with the only changes being within the CSS - that, in fact, was the challenge behind the design. The drop-down style-switcher up at the top-right of every page allows you to alternate between the styles.
The stylesheet here makes use of the commented backslash hack, the Clearfix hack, inspiration from the Leahy/Langridge image replacement technique, and a fix for another Mac IE5.2 bug at La Chatte Noire.
Due to the prevalence of one particular web browser with an 'alternative' attitude towards web standards - 5 minutes Googling should tell you that the guilty manufacturer's name starts with 'M' and ends in 'soft' - both styles have called for the creation of extra, browser-specific style sheets accessed through the use of Conditional Comments.
The Weblog
This is powered by Movable Type, with the assistance of Brad Choate's Regex plugin to clean up some of the HTML code within individual entries.
Image Credits
The images used on here originate from a variety of sources - if you feel that any have been used unfairly, please let me know and I'll remove them before you can say "litigation"!
Default Style
Alexander The Great is from 'Abacci History'.
The Drip Filter Coffee Maker is from 'The Roast And Post Coffee Company', and the mug of coffee is from the BBC's 'Healthy Living' pages.
The wine glass is part of Magellan Traders Tradicional Mexican Glassware range.
The eye on the About Me page is from my face!
The log pictured within the Weblog pages' header is from a Google search for images of logs (in other words, a weak pun!)
The Formula One car on the Testing page is from F1 Racing Live.
I'm not sure where the chain in the header section of the Links page is from ...
The stamp in the header section of the Contact page is from Mark Sargent (G.B.) Stamps' 'Surface Printed Stamps of Queen Victoria' range.
Autumn Eve Style
Only one image used in the stylesheet - the header, Autumn Afterglow, from the wonderful collection of desktop wallpaper images at Photo Decor.
Testing
The site has been tested in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5/6.0, Opera 7.54, and Firefox 1.0.
I have also utilised the services of Browser Cam (unfortunately, it only tells me whether the site looks OK - not how it functions). I was pretty happy with the results shown for the various browser/OS combinations - most page layouts are consistent across the board, and the few inconsistencies are perfectly usable and 'inoffensive'.
I'd appreciate it if you'd get in touch if you see/experience any problems using the site (please can you let me know your browser name/version, and your OS).
Note for users of Mac Internet Explorer 5.2 and Konqueror browsers: if you notice that the header or body content is mis-aligned (header to the left of the screen for IE 5.2 and body to the right for Konqueror), please read this explanation before contacting me!
Finally, as Ten Thirteen Productions would say: "I made this"!