The Snarkpit Relaunch

Ok guys, there is now an option when uploading a new map to add a discussion topic for that map.

This will create an automatically formatted new topic in the map forum for your map (complete with clickable thumbnails to your map images), as demonstrated below: There will be a link to the topic placed at the top of the description on your map's main info page.

There is a new bbcode tag which isn't really intended to be used by normal users - its just there to enable the clickable thumbnails in the auto-generated post. The tag is [ mapimg ][ /mapimg ] and works in the same way as the normal image tag, except it takes the path to your map screenshots minus the image extension, eg:

[ mapimg ]http://snarkpit.net/maps/HL2/images/3078_1[ /mapimg ]

[mapimg]http://snarkpit.net/maps/HL2/images/3078_1[/mapimg]

Shows the thumbnail image for that map 3078's first image, which when clicked brings up a popup showing the full image. Hopefully its easy enough to decipher, because once the topic has been created thats it - it ain't gonna change if you update your map with more/fewer screenies... although I'm gonna have a think about ways to improve this.

If you have an existing map, you can create one of these linked topics by editing your map and selecting "add discussion topic". The Edit map page has also been redesigned to be more clear & resemble the add map page more closely.

Any issues, lemme know.

Cheers.

Ok, I've developed a better way of handling map screenshots in forum posts. Forget the mapimg tags above, they're disabled now.

To display a list of iages for any map on the site, simply use the new [ mapthumbs] tag as follows:

[ mapthumbs ] 3104 [ /mapthumbs ]

The number is the id of the map, which can be found appended to the URL in the address bar when looking at a map. Here's what the new tag produces: A list of current images is displayed for the map, and because it is generated dynamically it will automatically update if you edit/alter any of the screenies on one of your maps.

Hope thats useful for everyone!

I've rewritten quite a bit of code across several parts of the site to get this to work, so if anyone finds any bugs please let me know!

Corrected some css errors and layout issues - you may need to CTRL+F5 refresh your browser to reload the new stylesheets.

If the main banner at the top (with the snarkpit logo) is not being centered then you need to do this.

Sorry for any inconvenience!

Nice Job Larchy.

You used my map as an example :D. Good stuff Larchy ;).

Anyway, I think we are having some database issues. It seems that it is clearing the number of times a forum thread has been viewed, I noticed this the other day too.

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Aaron's Stuff

Yeah I know, I noticed that too quite a while ago and fixed a few weird counts... not sure what's going on there. I changed the way the count gets updated this morning, so hopefully that should prevent any more silliness like this thread having 200 replies and 100 views :P

sighs
I still cannot bring myself to admit things look/feel better.

Be that as it may, I am attempting to recode the birthday listing in my profile. Worry not as I have backed it up on my laptop.

Also, methinks that the link to PreFabLand needs put to rest since the site is permanently defunct. It will be missed.

Luv'sYas Bunches

[EDIT]

PLEASE, do not lose my pit. It is hosting a plethora of items... Including all my map links of my own making.

I do not particularly need my pit reactivated at this time, considering I have no active internet connection, but would like it reactivated someday.

[EDIT2]

Sadly,50% of my tutorials are missing. I can only assume permanently. All that hard work... Gone.

[EDIT3]

I found part of the problem. I am being forced to use Firefox. I hate Firefox, and don't like being coerced into using it, just to be able to "SEE" things at Snarkpit.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

sighs
It seems that the double posting dohicky has been disabled.. Turning it back on, may need to be considered.

Sorry for double post.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Hello!

This site has given me much help in mapping. I appreciate it. But....
I am wondering why every link I click on is now broken? I was trying to follow some links in a thread but every one of them was broken. Just curious what happened, and when this might be fixed. Thanks!

-Beef

Can you give us an example? I imagine it's because the sites file structure has changed with the redesign.

Yea, that could potentially be a big deal. I mean, every hyperlink someone would have posted linking to another thread on the old site is now broken. Any links in front page posts or user posts or posts in editing threads linking to their relevant map threads are now broken. I can imagine this could become very frustrating for people searching for help in the forums.

-The worst part is, I don't think it's possible to fix this unless we reverted to the old site.

Larchy, is this possible to fix?

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Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
Twitter:@Riven202

Issue #1: This site does not keep my login. Every time I visit the Snarkpit, I have to re-login. I only come here about once a week to check on things, but each time I do, I have to re-login. Does this site not keep me logged in anymore?

Issue #2: Also, you cannot switch to the "Black Snark" layout if you are on the main page (index) when you try and click the snark. If you are in the "green" layout and want the "black" layout, you click the snark, and it takes you to a blank "http://www.snarkpit.net/index.php&ss=sp_black" page and does not redirect me. I have to click on some page other than the home page and click it again. then it works. It does the same thing if I am in black mode and wanted to get into the green mode. When clicking the "green" snark to go into "green" mode while in "black" mode, it sends me to "http://www.snarkpit.net/index.php&ss=sp_black" as a blank page.

Issue #3 (possibly linked to issue #1). this site does not keep my layout preference. Every time I come back to the site, it is in green mode again, and I have to switch to black mode (layout, whatever).

EDIT:

I am running Vista Ultimate and use FireFox 3.0.2

Odd, the site keeps me logged in (and therefore my black preference) just fine.

I'm having an issue with my Pit. I can open it, look at the backed up files currently residing in it, can edit them and delete em etc. However, I cannot create new folders or upload new items. I click the buttons and nothing happens. I'm guessing either there's bugs or I don't know how to work it, which wouldn't be the first time.

PS: I use IE6, and if the solution is to update IE or get a nerdbrowser there's gonna be hell to pay.

Ok, I just had to log in again, and I was here yesterday. It kept my black theme layout, but not my login, and I think I know why. I go to a community college campus here in town, and in my computer class, I visit this site. Does this site log me out just because I log in somewhere else? Is that the problem? The old site did not do that I'm pretty sure.

Yak_Fighter said:
I use IE6, and if the solution is to update IE or get a nerdbrowser there's gonna be hell to pay.

I only use firefox because of the much needed spell checker :D. Maybe try upgrade to IE7, I know anchors don't work in IE6... oh wait, you have like a 33kb connection right :P?

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Aaron's Stuff

aaron_da_killa said:
I only use firefox because of the much needed spell checker

IESPELL works mucho goodness.

Site kept me logged in, and I haven't been here in a week.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus said:

aaron_da_killa said:
I only use firefox because of the much needed spell checker

IESPELL works mucho goodness.

Site kept me logged in, and I haven't been here in a week.

Well with that in mind from Orpheus, who AFAIK was using highway/remote net access, I assume, Dark Tree, the problem lies with the cookie settings at your college.

Yeah, I am in Murrieta California using a borrowed wireless connection and my laptop.

Internet is still not an economical adventure where I live. I hope to have it soon though.

The good thing is, without the net, I have no ambitions to get a new computer, so I am saving 1,000's on hardware.

Sadly, My main PC is down and I cannot even play ofline games because the vid card fried out on me.

I am currently investigating an ATI 3850 AGP 512 card made by Saphire. It seems to be the last of the big AGP cards made.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus, how you doing you old dog? Long time no see.. I am glad to see your alive and kicking.

Orpheus said:
Yeah, I am in Murrieta California using a borrowed wireless connection and my laptop.

Internet is still not an economical adventure where I live. I hope to have it soon though.

The good thing is, without the net, I have no ambitions to get a new computer, so I am saving 1,000's on hardware.

Sadly, My main PC is down and I cannot even play ofline games because the vid card fried out on me.

I am currently investigating an ATI 3850 AGP 512 card made by Saphire. It seems to be the last of the big AGP cards made.

i've got a fairly decent AGP somewhere, not sure though that its still here. If it is, I will send it your way.

The pits don't work properly Gwil- the upload page has errors and doesn't work. I use IE7. Msn me if you wanna know more, but would be good to get the ability to add to my pit again

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

I resorted to downloading firefox to use my pit, and of course uploading works

Unfortunately it seems that when I upload things there's a period added to the end of the file (ex: dm_torque.jpg turns into dm_torque.jpg. ) and I doubt that's intended.

It would also be nice if we could upload multiple files at once. Having to individually upload little thumbnail pictures and having the pit page refresh take longer than the upload is rather annoying.

Hi, sorry I've been real busy these past few weeks and unable to check back in here.

Yak_Fighter - I apologise for the issues with the pits. The problem with the upload/edit/delete links not working with IE has now been fixed - this was caused by IE not handling spaces in the javascript function which opens the popup windows, and the inline link descriptions (eg "edit folder" or "add file") were breaking things.

I see there are some layout issues with IE and the pits page though, so I'll try and fix that up when I get a chance, and I'll add a multiple file upload form too.

Right now I have no idea why a period is being appended to the uploads - this did not happen on the beta site and does not happen with my local development version of the site. The process for saving the files is the same as for maps etc, so I shall have to look at this more closely first chance I get.

Orpheus - I would like to make it clear that no content has been lost from the old site, be it your tutorials or anything else. The database has been reorganised, but the content is exactly the same, as are all the files. There are also backups of the original database and most files to ensure that nothing would be lost. If you are unable to find anything then please tell us what it is so that we can check whether it is in a different section or if a section of the database is not being displayed correctly. Many articles (especially older articles) were not associated with a particular user id and some did not have categories etc - therefore the articles simply may not be appearing under your name, or there may be some orphaned articles that aren't being shown amongst the current categories. If I do not know what has gone I am unable to find and fix the issue, so please let me know!

Also, I do not wish for anyone to feel that they are being forced into using a particular browser. However I have coded firstly for standards compliance (although I am bound to have made mistakes in places) which means that the site should render correctly in Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Safari, Opera, Konquerer and basically any Webkit or Gecko based browser.

IE's rendering engine is notoriously fickle, and while I can code one version of the site and have it work on all the above browsers I then have to go through and code an IE6 version, and IE7 XP version, and IE7 Vista version (IE7 acts differently on XP/Vista), and IE8 'compliant' version.

This can take quite a bit of time, and I may not catch everything that isn't working as my main focus is not this area. This is also why I asked everyone to try and help as much as possible by using the beta site, but feedback there was unfortunately limited and there have been developments since the site has gone live.

The site has specific code for detecting browser versions, and rather than trying to force you to use FireFox there are actually IE specific bits of internal code and IE specific stylesheets. Visit the main page on IE and style_ie.css and news_ie.css are loaded for example, along with some differently formatted sections by the internal code, rather than the normal style.css & news.css . Thats 4 different stylesheets just for the index page, and then 8 if you consider the alternate stylesheet. Then theres places with _ie7.css etc.... you get the picture

I am sorry if my lack of attention to the latter has caused you problems, however my main focus has been functionality for the majority of users. I will continue to work at providing legacy compatibility with IE, but I hope you can understand that I am working from a standards-first base and IE tweaks will take time to find and implement. The support is there though, and I will get things working.

If you have any bugs or layout issues then please TELL ME what they are - if I know what they are I can fix them more quickly.

Flood control is enabled but the timeout limit is pretty short as it is mainly intended to prevent spamming. Increasing it will prevent double posting, but probably just annoy everyone else.

Dark Tree - all the issues you list seem to be related to cookies, so check something isn't causing them to be cleared for this site. In FF3 go to tools>options>privacy>cookies and look down the list to "snarkpit.net" and see that they're being saved ok. Feel free delete the entry then revisit the site to check that they're being recreated ok.

Broken Links - I had hoped that most would have been fixed... I wrote some scripts to convert old links to new ones and for the most part these work (else you'd notice a lot more broken stuff!). If there are bad links please post them and where they appear - chances are that if they are of a particular pattern it should be no problem at all to fix them and all similar links like them.

Larchy said:
Hi, sorry I've been real busy these past few weeks and unable to check back in here.

Yak_Fighter - I apologise for the issues with the pits. The problem with the upload/edit/delete links not working with IE has now been fixed - this was caused by IE not handling spaces in the javascript function which opens the popup windows, and the inline link descriptions (eg "edit folder" or "add file"smiley were breaking things.

I see there are some layout issues with IE and the pits page though, so I'll try and fix that up when I get a chance, and I'll add a multiple file upload form too.

Right now I have no idea why a period is being appended to the uploads - this did not happen on the beta site and does not happen with my local development version of the site. The process for saving the files is the same as for maps etc, so I shall have to look at this more closely first chance I get.

Orpheus - I would like to make it clear that no content has been lost from the old site, be it your tutorials or anything else. The database has been reorganised, but the content is exactly the same, as are all the files. There are also backups of the original database and most files to ensure that nothing would be lost. If you are unable to find anything then please tell us what it is so that we can check whether it is in a different section or if a section of the database is not being displayed correctly. Many articles (especially older articles) were not associated with a particular user id and some did not have categories etc - therefore the articles simply may not be appearing under your name, or there may be some orphaned articles that aren't being shown amongst the current categories. If I do not know what has gone I am unable to find and fix the issue, so please let me know!

Also, I do not wish for anyone to feel that they are being forced into using a particular browser. However I have coded firstly for standards compliance (although I am bound to have made mistakes in places) which means that the site should render correctly in Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Safari, Opera, Konquerer and basically any Webkit or Gecko based browser.

IE's rendering engine is notoriously fickle, and while I can code one version of the site and have it work on all the above browsers I then have to go through and code an IE6 version, and IE7 XP version, and IE7 Vista version (IE7 acts differently on XP/Vista), and IE8 'compliant' version.

This can take quite a bit of time, and I may not catch everything that isn't working as my main focus is not this area. This is also why I asked everyone to try and help as much as possible by using the beta site, but feedback there was unfortunately limited and there have been developments since the site has gone live.

The site has specific code for detecting browser versions, and rather than trying to force you to use FireFox there are actually IE specific bits of internal code and IE specific stylesheets. Visit the main page on IE and style_ie.css and news_ie.css are loaded for example, along with some differently formatted sections by the internal code, rather than the normal style.css & news.css . Thats 4 different stylesheets just for the index page, and then 8 if you consider the alternate stylesheet. Then theres places with _ie7.css etc.... you get the picture

I am sorry if my lack of attention to the latter has caused you problems, however my main focus has been functionality for the majority of users. I will continue to work at providing legacy compatibility with IE, but I hope you can understand that I am working from a standards-first base and IE tweaks will take time to find and implement. The support is there though, and I will get things working.

If you have any bugs or layout issues then please TELL ME what they are - if I know what they are I can fix them more quickly.

Flood control is enabled but the timeout limit is pretty short as it is mainly intended to prevent spamming. Increasing it will prevent double posting, but probably just annoy everyone else.

Dark Tree - all the issues you list seem to be related to cookies, so check something isn't causing them to be cleared for this site. In FF3 go to tools>options>privacy>cookies and look down the list to "snarkpit.net" and see that they're being saved ok. Feel free delete the entry then revisit the site to check that they're being recreated ok.

Broken Links - I had hoped that most would have been fixed... I wrote some scripts to convert old links to new ones and for the most part these work (else you'd notice a lot more broken stuff!). If there are bad links please post them and where they appear - chances are that if they are of a particular pattern it should be no problem at all to fix them and all similar links like them.

Wow, good on ya Larchy. You hired the right guy Gwil :D.

Its been mentioned before by one of the members, but you can't change your colour scheme for the way you see the Snarkpit on the front page, it will just load a blank page and do nothing.

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Aaron's Stuff

Fixed the frontpage style switch problem, also made the dark theme default as the lighter theme doesn't seem to be getting much good feedback.

Fixed various Internet Explorer 6 layout issues on the front page, forums and pits section in the control panel. Done a little bit of other code cleanup.

The pits now let you upload multiple files at once (up to ten). The issue with a period being appended to the filename has been resolved. Timestamp information has been added in the file list.

If you have many files in a particular directory the page may take a little longer to load because it takes time to retrieve the directory listing from the server. Normally the file listing would be cached so that subsequent refreshes are quicker, however because on that particular page you are performing file operations the cache has to be cleared before loading the page, else you would add/delete files and not have the changes appear until the server decided to refresh the cached file listing.

Usually this isn't a a big performance issue, but we all know the hosting is slow so unfortunately things may not always be ideal all the time.

I've tested that the pits are working in IE as well as Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome and haven't spotted any problems, but let me know if you encounter any further difficulties.

Also, in case anyone missed it, the gallery of horror is back. Find it ont he bottom left corner of the memberlist page.

It would be nice to have a "Who's online feature" like on the old 'Pit as well.

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

I second that!

Gwil said:
i've got a fairly decent AGP somewhere, not sure though that its still here. If it is, I will send it your way.

If its better than an old ATI 9000 send it to me. I'll reimburse you, or if need be, I'll send you the money in advance. Either way works for me.
My phone number is my profile. My mailing address is:
Jon Rickenbacker
P.O. box 2147
Muldrow Ok
74948

Also, as luck would have it, I lost your mailing address Gwil. Please make sure that you include it so I can send you that, assistance I promised you.

Larchy, The tutorials are missing, I assume because they were only marginally helpful to Snarkpits furtherance of assistance toward mapping. Since they were only of moderate use, I assumed they were removed on that basis.

/me waves at MS..

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The best things in life, aren't things.

larchy said:
[lots of fixes]

Pits seem to be working great now, thanks! I haven't run into any more trouble yet.

As for my bitching about IE6 issues, part of it is because I'm a self-centered jerk and part of it is because it is important that the Snarkpit is available to the widest number of people possible.

another potential pit issue:

I can't seem to upload html files. After hitting upload on the popup page the pit will refresh but the file won't be there. I've uploaded other files (ex: css, jpg, png, gif) no problem. This is while using firefox.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before already, but the previous site allowed forum threads to be divided into several chapters. These chapters appear to be inaccessible now - which means quite a few map threads only contain alpha- or beta-stage posts, because later versions had a chapter of their own.

Perhaps you could simply append those chapters to their respective threads?

Issue with pits handling 4 character file extensions fixed.

Online User List added.

Since you have done that so quickly and efficiently how about making users posting history accessible through their profile for them :P This really is a vital feature since one can follow up any replies and pull up old topics for reference etc which is far quicker than trawling through the forums for them. Infact trawling through the forums for them is so difficult it is impractical unless you posted something a few days ago.

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

Fixed a small bug in the maps page.

Flynn - be assured that everything that gets mentioned gets added to my 'to do' list for this site, and I hope I can get everything people want added eventually.

The posting history page will be quite a bit more complex than the online users page, but I've had a plan for it written down for a while now. I shall do it when I can, possibly tomorrow if I get a chance!

Also working on a few other things that may or may not see the light of day... I will try and add more stuff over time though, even if it is at the risk of being burned alive by some of the forum's more militant traditionalist members :P

OH LARCHY! Thats Awesome! Love that look.. needs a little orange in there, but yeah man.. NICE! If you need any help with that man let me know. I may not be able to code much.. but I can help with graphics on the interface.

That's a mad oldschool style, from before I registered. If I desired black text on white I would definitely use it.

Its just in the very early stages... I had wanted to do a blue/white theme for the initial release, but it was one thing too many at the time. I'm thinking about a black/red theme to look more like the old site a bit more closely too.

Muhnay - go for it m8. If you can produce some good graphics for any parts of it then great! The main logo is 300x60 and the nav bar 1200x30 (so the full header is 90px high) Dimensions are easily changeable though, so don't feel constrained in any way!

Colors:

Dark blue background: #00416C
Standard blue (text, header background): #0062A3
Light blue for links/highlights: #8DC2FE
Link hover color/standout colour: #D23F37

Again, don't feel constrained though, just thought they might help as colour matching off a .jpg image is iffy

Its a bit wider than the current themes... was thinking of possibly doing a 3 column layout for the main page and shunting the latest updates/posts boxed up onto the right hand side.

Wow, that blue theme looks fresh! You've done amazing work on this website Larchy .

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Aaron's Stuff

Cool.. thanks.. I will work some stuff up.

Do you want it to be in that Font if so, can you link me too it?

I am excited to be able to contribute!

Its not really a big deal, you can use whatever you want... I was just playing around and wanted to find something that looked modernish but was still legible.

The one i used was just a free one called Bauer, but as I say feel free to experiment.

The logo and navbar vectors are here:

http://www.pc-t.co.uk/nav_links.png

http://www.pc-t.co.uk/header_logo.png

...in case you want to copy the fill gradients/effects settings

The navigation bar is a big single graphic and each link shows a section of it for its background. On mouseover the background gets moved up a few pixel to show the bottom half... thats how you get the rollover effect using css, just so you realise why its done the way it is.

I've been working this morning on some new stuff which I hope to get implemented soon because its really cool

larchy, I tried this afternoon to sort a request I had from Flynn whereby he wanted his reg date revised to Oct 2004 to reflect an earlier username. I assumed it would be the "regdate" and the timestamp needed changing accordingly, but no such luck.

My feeble attempt has fallen flat!

No you've done it right m8, its just that to ease the load on the database info like that gets cached - so you won't see it change until you close your web browser and then revisit the site

Thanks, it was a month earlier though (sept) which I asked to be reflected but I am not going to ask you to go back because I know what databases are like

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Just Kidding

Just Kidding

So I would need to copy the format for the buttons like you have there? Also the part where you log on can that be a different BG than the header.. the reason I ask is because I have an idea for the long bar.. all the way across.

Do you want to remain flat.. no raised areas on the interface?

If you've got some ideas its probably best just to produce a 1200xwhatever mock-up of the page and see how everything fits together.

It doesn't have to be exact and I should be able to write the code for whatever layout you want - so don't feel constrained by anything that I've posted. Start with a blank canvas if you like

Elements can be moved around/added/changed, so just whizz something up and if it works and looks good we can work on the code & final graphics formats.

OK, big update. You may have to refresh your stylesheets (CTRL+F5) or you may experience weird layout issues - sorry!

A couple of months ago after the new site went live there was a bit of discussion about map screenshots being pixellated.

I explained that this was down to a mish-mash of different existing screenshot & thumbnail sizes, as well as the new sizes used by the new site. I had a good think about how to improve the situation as people seemed to be throwing up the issue of poor screenshot quality quite a bit.

I have been working since then on some new backend code which takes the fullsize screenshot images of a map and dynamically generates a resized thumbnail of whatever dimensions are required.

If you now look at any part of the site with map screen shots - ie any of the maps pages or front page spotlight - you should now be seeing perfectly sized, good quality screenshots.

I also had a good think about how to improve the layout, and have removed the old jumble of tiny thumbnails alongside larger thumbs. There is now an inline backwards/forwards menu next to all thumbnails, allowing you to cycle through all screenshots a map has. I have had to resort to javascript to do this (I generally don't like using it if I can avoid it as it can restrict access to content for those who block it/don't run it or when it goes wrong), but I really think that it is worth sacrifice and shouldn't really affect anyone.

Clicking a map thumbnail on the main page of a map will pop up a new window gallery which will allow you to cycle through all images at full size.

I have also taken the opportunity to improve the layout code for the front page, all the map pages and in particular the layout of map info pages.

I have only just uploaded all this, and will be actively looking at/fixing any issues I can find this evening (I've already spotted that I've neglected the page showing a specific user's list of maps which is messed up, so that is a priority). Please let me know of any issues/problems - hopefully things should be working ok though.

The blue theme has also been uploaded, but it is very much a work in progress. You cannot yet access it from the normal theme changing button at the top right, but have to manually appen '&ss=sp_blue' to the url, or click here to view it. No IE stylesheets have been done yet, so only non-MS browsers will have a chance of working. A lot needs doing to make this theme complete though, so don't expect it to be useable just yet. You can return to a normal theme by clicking on the normal theme switch button at any time.

Enjoy!

Here is what I was thinking Larchy..

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/MuhnayShot/Web%20Design/sp_blue_orange.png[/IMG]

Snark Pit Orange Box Edition.

On the buttons you have now.. use an Orange Glow instead of the white.

The Buttons in the message editor should also be something besides green.

Here is a Light version..

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/MuhnayShot/Web%20Design/header_logo_snarkmetal.png[/IMG]

Here is a Blue..

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/MuhnayShot/Web%20Design/header_logo_snarkmetalblue.png[/IMG]

The Buttons..

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/MuhnayShot/Web%20Design/nav_links_snarkmetal.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/MuhnayShot/Web%20Design/nav_links_snarkmetal_alt.png[/IMG]

I want to spruce up the right side.. do you have that section for me to play with Larchy? I need to work on the buttons some.. hummm I like the glow you have.. think I'll try making some gem buttons.

OK I admit not my best work.. I have been away from photoshop for too long.

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/MuhnayShot/Web%20Design/header_logo_snarkblk2.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c149/MuhnayShot/Web%20Design/header_logo_snarkblk.png[/IMG]

You should be able to get everything by switching to the blue theme by clicking on the link I posted above.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the right side" - there are no graphics on that side of the page

I quite like the second set of links you posted above (nav_links_snarkmetal_alt.png)

I was thinking about maybe sticking to a more clear typography though... maybe using something like myriad or garamond alongside little icons... it might not fit in right though.

I think the high contrast orange/blue at the top would be a bit too strong, but I do quite like the curve... how about doing that in gradiated grey/blue glow with a drop shadow?

Maybe something like this...