TechNation v2

Jonty · Sep 18, 2003

After almost one year in the making, featuring a team assembled from around the world, we are proud to present the re-launch of TechNation

Featuring a team of industry professionals, TechNation seeks to become one of the premier technology websites on the net. From the very latest news and reviews, to hands on guides and projects, TechNation need by your only source for the latest in technology.

TechNation also hopes to go beyond the usual humdrum, and provide you with in depth coverage from the latest trade shows, as well as personal analysis from the writers in their own columns. All this, combined with exclusive articles from industry 'giants', means TechNation will provide you with all the information and coverage you need in an ever-changing marketplace.

Lead by Editor-in-Chief Xavier, and supported by a team of writers, a dedicated art editor and a gifted webmaster [

] TechNation is much more than 'just another hardware site.'

So come along, have a look around, and give us your thoughts. All we ask is that you are a little patient as the reviews database is gradually built up and the last of the bugs in the website are found and resolved.

This week on the site brings with it live coverage from the Intel Developer's Forum in San Jose, as well as some extremely exclusive reviews coming next week, of some next generation kit that you won't find anywhere else on the net

http://www.tecnation.co.uk/

Kind Regards

Jonty · Sep 18, 2003

Just on a more personal note, the site's design may look quite simple, but it does get rather complicated. If you encounter problems with it, just let me know, since it's still being refined.

And finally, just to reiterate, the site has been launched relatively early, despite being in production so long. This means that a lot of content isn't up yet, so please don't judge us too harshly, all this takes time. But rest assured, we do have some very exciting things on the way

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. Please accept my apologies for cross-posting

Uncle Sick(tm) · Sep 18, 2003

Bookmarked - very nice.

mank · Sep 18, 2003

*pins a medal reading "King" to Jonty*

Jonty · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by mank
*pins a medal reading "King" to Jonty*

lol, flattery will get you everywhere

But seriously, though, this isn't my brainchild, I only came on board part way through and designed the site (plus the logo above, before our extremely talented art editor came along). But apart from that, you have Xavier to thank for his industry links, and Wilier and all of the staff for their time and efforts in making this a reality. I'm just a cog in the machine; but it's a very cool machine to be in

Kind Regards

MYstIC G · Sep 18, 2003

Very nice & everything, but you should probably buy a new domain or drop the "h" tbh

Teh Krypt · Sep 18, 2003

Cool

mank · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by Jonty
lol, flattery will get you everywhere But seriously, though, this isn't my brainchild, I only came on board part way through and designed the site (plus the logo above, before our extremely talented art editor came along). But apart from that, you have Xavier to thank for his industry links, and Wilier and all of the staff for their time and efforts in making this a reality. I'm just a cog in the machine; but it's a very cool machine to be in

Kind Regards

*makes more pins and distributes them*

~Mobius~ · Sep 18, 2003

Good work, hope it goes well.

Gef · Sep 18, 2003

Commodore is spelt wrong in Wiliers profile...

Jeez I really need to get out more

Jonty · Sep 18, 2003

Jonty
King of Hardware & Hosting Moderator

LOL!

Thank you *blushes*

As for Wilier's profile, I'll update it now

Thanks Gef

Kind Regards

FatBusinessman · Sep 18, 2003

But....but.... he doesn't look like Norman Lovett! :eek6:

FatBusinessman · Sep 18, 2003

P.S. Jonty, you are (for want of a better phrase) a fucking Web-design GOD!

Jonty · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by FatBusinessman
P.S. Jonty, you are (for want of a better phrase) a fucking Web-design GOD!

Thou shalt not worship false idols

hehe. Anyway, your kind words are appreciated, even if I haven't truly deserved them.

If anyone does have trouble with the site, then please feel free to get in touch. It's been tested on three operating systems and on around 27 different browser versions (literally) and there are a few known bugs, but hopefully those will be fixed soon.

Take care

old.Kez · Sep 18, 2003

Do these known bugs include:

1. Being a ridiculously large fixed width for no good reason - what the fuck is up with that? The only reason it expands is for a banner advert placeholder - are you living in 1999? No-one wants or takes notice of banner adverts, and its stopping the site fitting in my browser window (hey, fluid design, maaaaaan!)

2. Claiming to be XHTML valid, which its not. The most viewed page is not compliant - and you're blaming automatically generated content (presumably because it doesn't write ascii characters to their browser-safe alternative, or something). The columns page has block level elements within block level elements (heading in a paragraph). Buhhh?

Jonty · Sep 18, 2003

Hi Kez

Thanks for your comments. Firstly, TechNation has conducted extensive surveys and has found that the vast majority of its target audience use 1024x768 or above. Furthermore, studying other leading hardware sites shows a tendancy to use this width over the older, 800x600 standard.

It should be noted that when viewed in 800x600 resolution, the whole content is visible, as is the navigation. Only the sidebar is off the edge of the screen, and since this is not vital to the navigation or reading of the site then the minimum inconvenience to the user is caused.

Furthermore, the site was designed with a fixed resolution in mind, not because we simply had to have an ad-banner there. This is a commercial venture, and we need advertising revenue in order to further our aims and to pay homage to those companies who are happy to sponsor such an innovative project as TechNation. We are proud to be associated with the people who will be advertising with us.

Viewing the site in plain text mode is another option, which renders exactly the same content but which is far more flexible. Another stylesheet, not quite as advanced as the premium version, but offering more structure than the plain text version, will be available shortly.

As for being XHTML 1.1 compliant, the site's fundamental design is sound, but sadly the need to use automated output limits compatibility. It is simply not feasible to expect people to hand write content, convert special characters into HTML entities, and generally be fluent in coding when writing something so simple as news. The staff are very skilled, but ultimately their time is precious and their expertise lie elsewhere.

As for using headings in paragraphs, there are no such occurances in the columns, since paragraphs are not used at all due a limitation of the news output script.

Rest assured these conerns are being addressed, but we're not talking about a small, simple, personal website - but a fullblown database driven entity which has to rely on thirdparty scripts which don't care as you or I do about standards compliance.

Kind Regards

Bym · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by FatBusinessman

But....but.... he doesn't look like Norman Lovett!

Aww, no he don't, he's gorgeous (then again I AM biased)

Deadmanwalking · Sep 18, 2003

Bym · Sep 18, 2003

Ewwww, horrid photo

mank · Sep 18, 2003

yeah, it's all blue.

Xavier · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by Deadmanwalking.

ooh, careful, tis the girleh Scoobs said I was imagining... well she seemed pretty real when I pointed a camera at her, cringed with every shot and ran off screaming when I showed her the result

Personally I quite like the photo, and Tsuki as Jonty said, is a graphical god

pg_exoshear · Sep 18, 2003

Very nice site.

My only gripe - Light blue links on a white background? My eyes feel like they're gonna pop!

Jonty · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by pg_exoshear
My only gripe - Light blue links on a white background? My eyes feel like they're gonna pop!

Good point

Thanks for your comments

Kind Regards

Deadmanwalking · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by Xavier
ooh, careful, tis the girleh Scoobs said I was imagining... well she seemed pretty real when I pointed a camera at her, cringed with every shot and ran off screaming when I showed her the result

*Rummages around for Playboy shirt pic*

And yes those graphics are indeed very nice.

Wilier · Sep 18, 2003

Originally posted by Gef
Commodore is spelt wrong in Wiliers profile...

Jeez I really need to get out more

Jonts, can we have a spell checker on ALL the pages please. Or hire Gef

gremlin · Sep 19, 2003

Agree with what Meg said, either get a new domain name or drop the 'h'. I can never remember which way round the situation is when I want to visit the site.

Do you have an RDF feed? If not, why not?

Looks good, keep the content fresh - dont let it lapse like v1 did.

P.S. yarr!

gremlin · Sep 19, 2003

Originally posted by gremlin
Do you have an RDF feed? If not, why not?

Ah you do, super!

(Shovel) · Sep 19, 2003

FatBusinessman.

Jonty.

(Shovel) · Sep 19, 2003

The site is super-smashing though.

Will be nice when all the content appears

FatBusinessman · Sep 19, 2003

Originally posted by (Shovel)
[pic]
FatBusinessman.

[pic]
Jonty.

TechNation v2

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Uncle Sick(tm)

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mank

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MYstIC G

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