I like the <big> tag
Why does <big> get the short end of the stick? It’s been deprecated while <small> gets to continue.
I know X/HTML purists would say none of the ‘phrase element’ tags are needed. Sure, all of the same effects can be done in CSS with styles attached to <span> (or you can make a site entirely in <div> tags), but there are some good arguments for simple emphasis markups like <small>, <i>, <strong>, <code>, etc.:
- They’re semantically rich and descriptive. Even <b> and <i>, which often get little respect, have appropriate uses when you just mean to bold or italicize something. They are exclamations in a way, although <strong> and <em> (emphasis) are even moreso.
- They’re useful for people who don’t know HTML, but still want to style their text in a blog comment or forums post. Most people understand small tags like <b> = bold. <big> and <small>, they’re self-explanatory.
- For web designers, it’s easy and efficient to allow the simpler markup tags on input. We can filter out all of the attributes and have one less worry about XSS & injection exploits. Don’t make us resort to BBCode (*ugh*).
- They’re convenient and they don’t harm anyone. They’re warm and fuzzy. I really cannot fathom what <big> did to get itself booted from the HTML club. If it was too large I could understand, or if it annoyingly blinked or scrolled like a marquee, sure. But it’s just a little more emphasis than strong.
Usually I’m on the side of standards, but on this one little (<big>) thing: I’m tempted to skip markup validation in order to provide my users with the convenience of an easily recognizable tag.
Note: Of course I can just present the tag to my users and convert it to <span class=”big”> but shhhh, I’m trying to make a point here. ;)
Gameslate v5 on August 1st
Complete or not, I’ll be releasing my revamp of Gameslate on August 1st.
I have the basic layout done. I’ve worked out the bugs and quirks in the tabbed interface and it’s working great, it really does feel a whole lot more like a program than a website now. It’s responsive and dare I say it, a bit slick.
I’m currently fleshing out the other features of the site, stuff like: inter-user messaging, spammer blocking, point tracking and even achievements. I’ve got logins, registration and migration (from the old Gameslate site) working and I’ve integrated Gravatars as a replacement for the old Gameslate icon system (which was broken on the old site).
Gates Motel the web-game, is where I’m lagging behind, but it’s also the code I’m most familiar with. It may or may not be ready for August 1st. If it isn’t, I’ll keep Oldslate running until the new Gates Motel is fully operational.
Digging into jQuery
I’m a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to web design. I prefer clean uncluttered usage of HTML & CSS, supported by server interaction (usually PHP). I’ve occasionally dipped into Flash, JavaScript / ActionScript, XML and even back quite a few years some VRML. For the most part though, I’ve treated the programmable extras as something between toys and necessary evil, JavaScript especially.
It’s not that I’m old fashioned or clinging to the basic building blocks circa ‘93. There’s just so much bogged down crap and clutter out there using / abusing the toys.
Case in point, Bell Mobility uses AJAX heavily throughout their customer support website: It’s dog-slow, tedious in cases where it should be simple and often hangs (in the middle of their long process of choosing a plan, I wonder how many customers that’s cost them?). Not to get too distracted by the awfulness of it, that’s just one example of bloated web suckage among many.
jQuery is turning all of my opinions about JavaScript around.
I’ve only just started with jQuery (I’m reading “jQuery in Action“) but already it’s been a treat for creating quick and painless JavaScript. It’s hella efficient and easy to use. I know I’m a bit late to this game, jQuery made its first splash about 2 years ago, but count me as a convert.
That isn’t to say you can’t create bloat with jQuery, that Bell page I mentioned uses it heavily, too heavily. The ease of making animations is probably too tempting for many to just cover their sites in perpetual motion. The same goes for AJAX, which should be more efficient and slick, but it’s too often used inappropriately. Some people just can’t resist clanging every bell and tooting every whistle.
That said, when the tools become a joy to use, it sparks creativity. And I’ve been feeling creative lately. I’ve let my old Gameslate site slide for years, to my own embarrassment and the disappointment of its users. It’s a hobby for me, so I need to feel motivated. HTML 5 and CSS3 paired with jQuery have got me excited and productive again.
I’d been wondering what to do with the old Gameslate stuff. It was too walled-garden-ish for me. I felt foolish slamming the social network sites while I had this little web-game community project languishing in the basement. Then, after looking at jQuery, that lightbulb lit up. I decided to stop treating Gameslate like a page, portal or community website and start treating it as an application to get into the games (at this point, just one: Gates Motel). That thought was enough to get me excited to start reworking the site, which will relaunch on August 1st.
I’ll post more particulars later regarding Gameslate, but for now I just wanted to express my joy at learning and working with jQuery.
Dividing my time: Games & Web
My gaming time is currently divided between UT3, Left 4 Dead, Supreme Commander and some casual fare (Plants vs Zombies, Mirror’s Edge, etc.).
Even moreso, my development time is eating into my gaming time. Mostly web development, since I’ve been dipping my fingers back into projects both personal and (semi) professional. There’s gaming overlap in my web stuff of course, so it feeds the same needs for me. Gameslate will be getting a much needed facelift.
I also intend to get back to working on my UT3 level, I’ve been away from it for a couple weeks.
I’m burned out on LOTRO, since I’m not an alt kinda guy and the Endgame leaves me dry. It’s a shame, I feel bad about sorta abandoning guildmates, especially Nelg as he just reaches the level cap. But burned out is burned out.
Champions Online will probably be the game that brings me back into the MMO space, I’m definitely going to give it a good shake when comes out September 1st.
