New Guild Layout and Software Issues

Hehe, what is wrong with me? I can't stop making layout for the guild. It's really fun playing with the layouts. The coding part is good too but I prefer the graphic editing part :)

Here is how the graphic for the layout looks like:

(Click on image to view it full size in Photobucket)

Pretty isn't it?

The graphics are free and easy to get. I usually get my images from the Full Screen, Collectable Cards, Sketches, Tiled, Images, Shop Blogs, Screensavers, Music and Gift Tags sections available on Neopets. But of course, you can pretty much get cool graphics from every single page there too. All of the graphics are only free to use on Neopets though.

I wonder if the layout I make would look better if I use any major graphic programs like Adobe Photoshop. Currently I'm using MS Paint as always. I do have the installer for Adobe Photoshop though courtesy of my previous diploma course session but it's the pirated version. I'm feeling a bit guilty of using it because I didn't pay for it. I feel like I'm robbing someone's paycheck.

It's the same with Macromedia Dreamweaver too. That's the major reason why I didn't update my website (real website made for an assignment in during my diploma course) even though I should. Yeah yeah I know, there's NVU and a lot of other freely available to use programs but I haven't try any of those yet.

Anyway, because of this complicated issue, I rarely touch those two programs. I used to have a lot more pirated softwares installed on my computers since everyone use them and most computer shops pre-install these free of charge. It's like a custom here. Only companies will use legit version and that's probably because they are afraid of being sued. I really feel guilty though so I removed the others except for these two because I need them for practice.

I am so hoping I can remove these or buy the legit version as soon as possible. Free softwares can be as good as the paid commercial softwares but the learning curves can be harsh. That's why I keep stalling.

Okay, enough of that rambling and back to the layout. Since the last layout I made and coded for the guild is just 5 days ago and it got very positive response from guild members, I am not going to replace it with this one yet. But, I did show this layout to Nikki and she said she totally love it! :) Me too. It's kinda hard to believe I'm using MS Paint for this.

Ha~ I so wish the day I could make earth-shattering layouts will come soon (unlikely)!

New Guild Layout

I updated Guild Homepage Layout yesterday. It looks really good, way better than before :) The side house is a nice touch. I think it's really match our neohome themed guild. Other guild members gave very positive responses. I love it too!

This is the original graphic for the layout (before I break it to slices and tweak it further):

And here is how it looks like on our guild homepage (after further tweaking on both graphics and codes):

(Click on the image to view it full size on Photobucket)

See the differences? I added some space in the header for the menu. I don't know how to do this in the previous layout so some functionality has to be sacrificed for the sake of beautiful layout. I'm sure other guild members share the same feeling with me because I am so very glad the navigation menu back! It makes it easier for me to move around the guild. Other than that, I also added copyright notice in the footer graphic.

My only complain about the layout is I can't make it compact without ruining the look. I want to make it compact so people don't have to scroll down the page to find various things. The problem is there are just too much stuff stuffed in there. So I quit trying to make the compact version of this layout for now.

I'll try to make a compact and nice looking layout next time but I might need to remove some of the stuff. In fact, right now, I'm studying the codes of other guilds' homepage layouts to learn more about it even though I'm sleepy.

But, I don't think I get to learn a lot like this. :) Maybe I'll just go to sleep. Unfortunately, I'm scared! I'm alone at home now. Mom's staying at aunt's house. I don't think I can sleep tonight. Thanks goodness only 4 hours to go before morning.. :Z

Or... I could just leave the PC on (sorry, electricity!). I'm going to sleep. Sweet dreams!

New Guild Layout

On my previous post, I mentioned that I've been working on the new guild layout. This one is different than my previous guild layouts I made because I completely remove the outside world from the homepage. Not only that, I also edited header, footer and background images using MS Paint. I've never done these before. It actually turned out good. Well, it looks good on my test page.

Here is what it looks like on the test page with different browsers:

<< In Chrome         << In IE

Google Chrome shows the border the way I want it to but IE handles this differently. Okay, so the border is only 1 pixel so it's hard to see on the picture. So to show how different it handles this, I add my own border up there just to give the idea.

2 days ago I tried the layout on guild homepage. It ended up looking quite different that the ones on the test pages. O_o

It became quite different because I need to tweak the codes and I'm not sure how to fix certain parts. I have vague memory, I don't remember which part I'm talking about but it probably has something to do with the Neopets html filter or the graphic does not repeat the way I want it to.

It doesn't look bad like this but.... I didn't get that "Wow, this is an amazing layout!" feeling. ^^ Oh well, I won't stop trying until I get that feeling. I do feel like I'm untalented but I like this kind of thing. Since I have no talent in anything, why not just choose the one I like best? :) Yay, go me! Try your best!

On another related event, I applied for my first serious job yesterday after being coaxed (forced) endlessly by my mom. I guess she's right. I'm just trying to run away but I seriously think I have no talent in IT especially in web designing. I'm just a regular people who know just a little bit more than normal housewives. Is that something to be proud of? I don't even dare to apply for IT related job.

I know people have been telling me that I'm a good student, fast learner, good in programming, and drawing.. but I can't help feeling like a nobody. Wherever I go on the internet, there are just endless people who are better than me in whatever I'm doing.

Anyway, I applied for a Web Designer position. My mom said that my resume is actually impressive and what more impressive is that they actually CALLED ME today for an interview this Thursday. I'm really nervous right now. What if I can't do what they tell me to do even though I have the right qualification? Sure, I would do my best but.....

Haihhh, why can some people be happy-go-lucky and I'm one of the worrywarts, gloomy, shy, negative people? I tried, I really do try to be more confident but sometimes I ended up being overconfident which is worse. So I am always worried.

I hope I would do well. I hope I'll get this job and I hope this job will last for a long long time. I hope they will like me. I hope I will be happy there. I hope I'll be a better person.

Advent Calendar Day 24

Well, today's Advent Calendar animation isn't that... exciting. So I procrastinated and coded a guild layout instead. I haven't tried it on the actual guild homepage yet so I don't know if it'll work. This is my first time editing pictures for background slices. I think it looks really great.

I am taking the screen shots right now. They're all really big in width and height so I'm gonna post them in different post. O_o I'm still worried Photobucket would reduce the size though... Why do I have to be so detailed? That post is gonna be really long. :P :)

Today's Gifts:

Like usual, skip this if you don't want to ruin the surprise. Go visit Advent Calendar instead. :)
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.... Okay, that book is cute. The Acara with the presents is cute too. But, am I being mean when I say that Shoyru should cry because its her fault for doing last minute shopping? I know things happen.... but I still don't feel anything except for the Acara. She's really nice!

Updated Guild Layout For Thanksgiving Day

Today, I updated the guild layout upon request by broncosfan1000 :) She wants to put turkey in the layout because Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. I don't celebrate it but I like this kind of stuff so why not :)

Here is what it looks like:

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Time Taken: Less Than 1 Day
Coded By: islah88
Images: I used free images from Christmas Graphics Plus and Cool Holiday Graphics.com

Yay! It looks good! I hope you like it, broncosfan1000!


Related Posts:
New Guild Layout
Trainings and Manufacturing in WLO, Joining New Guild in Neopets
My Current Goal on Neopets

Related Links:

Guild: Homepage
Guild: Meet The Members Page
Guild: Extension Page
Christmas Graphics Plus
Cool Holiday Graphics.coms

New Guild Layout

My guild is called Neohome: Classic Edition. We used the original layout and just changed the colors. Our Halloween theme layout doesn't look bad at all but for some reason the_awsome_2x2 changed it. She says something about cannot use it forever. I missed that layout and I regret not taking a screen shot. Oh well...

She changed the layout colors to skyblue, gray and dark gray. I don't remember if there's any other color. Anyway it's depressing and looks really bad and awkward especially after we rearrange the stuff on it. So since I got nothing to do anyway and this thing really bugs me, I took the challenge to create our own guild custom layout. I'm still a newbie (NOOB!) and this is my first attempt at guild layout.

I took about 8-10 hours to finish it (I know I'm slow). Then it takes another 1~2 days to tweak it after receiving some response from the_awsome_2x2. Here is what it looks like now:

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Pretty nice, huh? The other four boxes slide down when the mouse hovers on them.

I'm still not sure how to remove or rearrange components like moving the poll box to the right side, remove the council box and such. And then, I'm not sure how to make my own layout using any paint program.

I want to try painting and coding other type of layout but the_awsome_2x2 said she really likes this one *excited* so I maybe I should wait for another season or year before I do that. Right now.. I'm practicing my CSS on Gorgannnn's petpage but it doesn't look like anything right now.

I hope someday I will be able to create great custom layout :)


Related Posts:
Trainings and Manufacturing in WLO, Joining New Guild in Neopets
My Current Goal on Neopets

Related Links:

Guild: Homepage
Guild: Meet The Members Page
Guild: Extension Page
Gorgannnn's Petpage (I practice my HTML and CSS skill here)