Poll: Form and Function

[thefourthvine]

So, I've finished tagging all my entries. Notice my index posts that allow all of you, including anonymous users, access to all my tags.

Notice that they look fucking awful. And the print is tiny, so I'm not even sure anyone will use them. Plus, I seriously do not want these to be the top entries in my journal for however long it takes LJ to put a "Tags" link on the info page; looking at them depresses me, and I'm probably the only person who actually looks at my journal regularly outside of a friends list.

But, on the other hand, I did tag all those posts. I have no idea what the point was if I can't find a way to let everyone use them to search by fandom and theme. So this poll is asking, basically, for you to identify the lesser of the evils, because they all look fairly evil to me at this point.

And while you're here, could you weigh in on other appearance aspects of this journal? I mean, if I'm going to pitch a major wobbler over the hideousness of my index posts, surely I could also spare some time to worry about the fact that my journal is, well, pretty darned hideous? And that it may also make other people's friends lists hideous?

I mean, OK, I'm going to spare that time anyway, so I guess what I really want is for you to spare enough time to form an opinion. I would greatly appreciate it.

But mostly, please god someone tell me what to do about this whole tags issue, because - the horror. The horror. My dogs are averting their eyes from the screen, here. Dust mites are scoffing at my primitive grasp of website design. It's all very very bad and wrong. Help meeeeeee.

[Poll #518389]

Comments

Re: Probably Too Late

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Oh my GOD, that is the coolest thing EVER. It is - it is just a whole new world of shiny. Please do keep me updated on this project, because - wow. Just, really, wow.

I'm speechless with admiration. I have spent whole minutes gazing on the wondrous vision of nested tags appearing in the sidebar automatically, and many more imagining what I could do with that kind of tool at my disposal. It is just...wow. Really shiny.

Also, if it's OK with you, I'm going to tell makesmewannadie about this, because she will definitely want to know.

Re: Probably Too Late

[murklins.livejournal.com]

In the face of such enthusiasm, how can I resist? :) The progress, such that it is, is that it works...mostly. Bugs remain. Poor wistfuljane got sucked into using it in her layout (thereby becoming my unofficial tester) and reported a troubling run-time error. But she also added scrollbars!

Anyway, my code is available behind the cut-tags at http://www.livejournal.com/users/murklinstest/. There are versions for Generator and Flexible Squares. I'll be updating both versions to allow a scrollbars option later today, probably. If you try the code, I'd be interested in any modifications you make or bugs you find. You can leave a comment in the code posts.

And tell whomever you wish. I'll probably be posting it to some layout communities when it's more stable.

Re: Probably Too Late

[murklins.livejournal.com]

I have gone public with my code for nested tags in the sidebar. I developed two versions, one that allows unlimited levels of nesting, the other which only allows two levels (as that will probably be the most common number of levels used) but maybe operates a bit more efficiently.

For the Flexible Squares layout you can find my posts at s2flexisquares: Multi-Level (http://www.livejournal.com/community/s2flexisquares/44089.html), Bi-Level (http://www.livejournal.com/community/s2flexisquares/44381.html). There are also versions for Component at component_help: Multi-Level (http://www.livejournal.com/community/component_help/757837.html), Bi-Level (http://www.livejournal.com/community/component_help/758182.html).

I would not say that the code is airtight. I think it could use more testing that I just don't have time for (and am really, really reluctant to do). I'm hoping that if people decide to start using it they will let me know of any bugs they find. Then I shall fix them and post the revised code to the communities. If you're reluctant to add possibly-buggy code to your layout, I suggest keeping an eye on my posts to see if any bugs are detected and/or solved.