Ok, so since I now have searching working (for the posts, I'm adding the project searching tomorrow) I thought I would take a break and show how this website came to be. This is just going to be a really quick look at the design of the news and main page.

Before I start, though, you should take a look at the projects page. It has all my current (and some of my old) projects. It's fun!

So, with this website I started by creating a list of things I wanted it to be able to do. This was just a bulleted list and was very simple.
As you can see from the image, I started to realize that I needed more information, so I just expanded the smaller parts.

Once the requirements were created, I started an initial sketch that allowed me to lay everything out. This was very rough, but ended up looking very similar to the final product.
I was originally going to use a block "f" in the top left, but the script looked really good. Also, I was going to have a search button that went with the input field in the top. But after having some friends test it, I decided it was simple enough without it, so it was omitted.
And that odd cactus looking thing in the top-right of the post, yeah, that's me. Like I said, rough.

With the rough draft now in hand, I set out to create a mock-up site in photoshop (my personal weapon of choice).
A mockup usually is identical to the final product (unless I do something stupid or impossible). In the mockup on the left you will see the search button has been removed. Also you will see the menu at the top is teeny tiny! I really liked it small, but trying to fit a search-field that was readable in that small space was near impossible. So I ended up expanding it.
Also, you'll see the tags which I haven't added yet. Those will be coming next.

I guess that's all for today. I'll update some more tomorrow.

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Well still working on this website.
I believe that most of the work on the posting/commenting system is finished (yay). I'm going to be tackling the rest of the site now (about, projects, ect). I'm actually really happy with how all this has turned out! My next blog is going to be on how I exactly made this site (took about a day) from the ground up. I need to scan my diagrams which is why I'm not doing it now.

I still need to add a tagging system to my blog. I have everything set up on the back, I just need to code the php to allow you to search via tags.
I'm still waiting to hear from AT&T. They are pesky and have managed to avoid all my calls.

Whhhhaaattt? Emoticons?!
Yup.
I set up tinymce on my website today for my posting. It's awesome! With all the plugins, you can make any textarea act like word!

Well, I think I better call it a day.

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Well, I finally got mySQL to work! My entire backend is created, all I have left to do is get the front comments working so people can start adding comments to my blogs!

Also, I need to add the Atom Feed for everyone. But I'm super excited that this is working!
Tomorrow I'm spending some time with an old friend. We're going to see "Ice!". It should be fun.

But, as you can see from the timestamp, it's time for me to go to bed. So goodnight!
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