The New Website - and free stuff!

[Toby Frost]

Hello!

Right then, the first of what I hope will be some good announcements over the next few months.

I've got a new website! It's for me, rather than Space Captain Smith, and while the Smith website will remain (and grow!) the Toby Frost site is going to have related stuff, including links to things I like and a picture of me grinning like an idiot.

Also, I've put up the first chapter of a fantasy novel I wrote a while ago and have revisited in the wake of comments in the critiques thread. It's a tale of revenge set in a supercharged Renaissance state. Expect flying machines, clockwork tanks, seedy princes and a lot of backstabbing. It's over here: http://www.tobyfrost.com/toby-frost-city-of-knives.php

In order not to keep spamming people with unneeded stuff, I've decided that if people are interested in seeing the next chapter, I'll put it up. So, let me know if you'd like me to put up the next installment.

I hope you like the site!

Cheers,

Toby.

http://www.tobyfrost.com/

 

[Ursa major]

At the moment, Toby, the grey rectangle containing links - Home, About Me, City of Knives, etc. - is slightly obscuring the associated text. Okay, only thin characters, such as an i, are fully covered, but it doesn't give a good impression.

(I suspect Isambard is behind this: he doesn't want you to have your own website. )

 

[Toby Frost]

Hmm. I'm not seeing that on my computer. I'll check...

 

[Ursa major]

I'm using IE9, if that helps.

 

[The Judge]

It's fine for me, if that's any help. I'm using FF.

A good-looking site! Nice photo, too!

 

[Toby Frost]

Why thank you!

I'm told that "clearing out the cache" is the answer to the problem. I have no idea what this means, however. Let me know if it works (or if you know what that actually entails).

 

[Timba]

I looked at it using IE9 and saw the same problem Ursa identified. Looked at it through Chrome and it looked really good. Tried deleting cookies and all in IE9 and it still had the problem.

 

[Abernovo]

It looks really good on Chrome, as Timba says.

Good site.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Good to see you pushing on your fantasy, Toby.

Have you considered posting something of the fantasy up in the Writing Group for feedback?

Also, have you had your agent look at the manuscript and provide feedback/suggestions?

 

[anivid]

Hello TF - got yourself a website - good for you
I visited it with IE8, FireFox and Chrome.

With Chrome it looks fabulous - congrats !

With the other two it looks a bit weird, as there's a big empty space in the left part (where the grey box is in Chrome) - the right part consist of the grey box (far too close to) and the txt.
Beneath is the charming photo

The displays in IE8 and Firefox are similar - which indicate something systematic on your part.
(yes, my cache is cleared )

Hope you'll be able to use the infos for something

 

[icundell]

Hello chaps and chappettes.

I'm seeing a small number of reports of layout issues but can only replicate in IE8's compatibility mode (which no-one should use anyway).

Codingwise, there is nothing special about the site - HTML5 complaint etc etc and the default font is Helvetica and it renders fine on My Mac (FF, Chrome, Safari) and Windows XP (Chrome, IE8) installs and on iPad/ iPhone (with custom CSS) as well as Ubuntu (FF).

Screenies to see if it is a consistent issue or differs from situation to situation would be helpful.

Ta.

(To reiterate: you should not use Compatibility Mode in ie - it serves no purpose other than to encourage developers to continue using obsolete, non-standard code.)

 

[Rodders]

Looks good to me.

 

[Timba]

Hello chaps and chappettes.

I'm seeing a small number of reports of layout issues but can only replicate in IE8's compatibility mode (which no-one should use anyway).

Codingwise, there is nothing special about the site - HTML5 complaint etc etc and the default font is Helvetica and it renders fine on My Mac (FF, Chrome, Safari) and Windows XP (Chrome, IE8) installs and on iPad/ iPhone (with custom CSS) as well as Ubuntu (FF).

Screenies to see if it is a consistent issue or differs from situation to situation would be helpful.

Ta.

(To reiterate: you should not use Compatibility Mode in ie - it serves no purpose other than to encourage developers to continue using obsolete, non-standard code.)

I am using Windows 7 and IE9 and I do not know how to give you screen shots to show the issue. Without compatibility it is a bad layout, with compatibility it looks fine. Problem solved on my end by adding the site to my compatibility list.

 

[icundell]

Are you sure the toggle is the right way round (it is confusing in IE8, but haven't seen IE9 for ages so not sure how it works)? On the other hand it would be very MS to reverse the purpose of the toggle!

I know IE9 HTML5 support has a few issues, but nothing that should break a site this straightforward.

 

[Timba]

Are you sure the toggle is the right way round (it is confusing in IE8, but haven't seen IE9 for ages so not sure how it works)? On the other hand it would be very MS to reverse the purpose of the toggle!

I know IE9 HTML5 support has a few issues, but nothing that should break a site this straightforward.

Well it says at the top of the dialogue box "You can add or remove websites to be displayed in compatibility view."

I took it at face value and when I added his site the view corrected itself to look like what I saw in Chrome. I think the rule of thumb here should be if you are not seeing it correctly try adding compatibility mode and see what happens. Since in IE9 you can just add it to the specific site you are viewing it keeps everything else non-compatibility mode. If you are using IE8 why not update to IE9, as I understand it there is improved security and hey, its free.

 

[icundell]

Yeah, but Win 7 isn't and I don't have occasion to use 'doze in daily life so am stuck with XP for now.

It seems Microsoft's famously opaque relationship with the English language has come into play. "Compatibility" used to refer to sites relying on IE6 (ie non-standards compliant) code. Now it seem to refer to everything else (ie standards compliant). Old habits die hard!

Still have been unable to replicate the one report of problems in Firefox (have tried old and new versions on multiple platforms).

Many thanks for the feedbank. Keep it coming peeps.