2017 Update Notes
— From newest to oldest —
Today, I updated the normalize.css (style sheet) file from version 3.0.3 to version 7.0.0. The normalize.css file is not my work, but the work of Nicolas Gallagher and a group contributors. The normalize.css file is free for anyone to use. You can find it at github.com/necolas/normalize.css.
What normalize.css does is help make a web page work better between different web browsers and devices, among other things, to help a web page look as consistent as possible between different web browsers and devices.
Since I do not have access to all of the devices that could possibly display one of my web pages, I have no way to design pages to look and work the same on all of those devices. It is also true that my CSS writing skills are not at an advanced level yet. So I use the normalize.css file for a base starting point for this web site.
I do write my own style sheets too though. In fact, normalize mostly just sets, or adjusts, a lot of defaults and does bug fixes for how flaky some web browsers display different page elements. The normalize.css file does not design my web pages. It is my HTML and CSS files, that I write myself, that make my site look the way it does.
Without the normalize.css file, my web pages would look the same as they do now, after, of course, I made some adjustments for page elements that would be negatively impacted if I removed the normalize.css file. That is something I could do, readjust things to reset the design and layout back to what I want. However, without the normalize.css file, I can only design pages for the web browsers I use to check my work with. For example, I would not know what might not be working right in an iPhone, or Android phone, because I do not have either of those (silly me, I bought a Windows Phone – what a mistake that was).
Using the normalize.css file on an existing web page can have a negative impact, or otherwise cause problems. You may end up having to make a lot of adjustments to your web pages after you plug it into your site. For me, I started using the normalize.css file when I was redesigning this page from the ground up, and I was still at the foundation level. That was the perfect time to test out that normalize.css file. I was able to adjust my pages for it right away, without a lot of time and effort.
I did notice that some style settings were adjusted, or missing, between version 3.03 and version 7.0.0 of the normalize.css file, that did impacte my web pages today, but it was only in a small way that was easy for me to fix. When upgrading the normalize.css file, it is best to keep a backup copy of the old version, so you can see what has changed, and if one or more of those changes did impacted your page in a negative way, as it did mine, just find the missing, or altered, CSS elements and write them into your own CSS file (or files). Problem solved.
Moving on now.
In other news, I have now finished the polish work for this site, and I am now ready to get back to working to add more content and content pages. The expanded Bio Pages have been built (but not posted online yet), now to work on the content for those pages. Then, when I am done with the Bio Pages, it will be time to start work on those new gallery pages (after I spend a few days working on my other sites).
Michael A. Crane, Jr.
Artist/Webmaster/Writer
Over the last week or two, I did do one more pass at refining this sites layout and design. I am still working on some polish work now, but I do not currently plan to do any more design changes, not even small ones that few would even notice had happened. However, sometimes, I do make a small change here, or there, that I like enough to implement throughout my site, and there I go again, reworking every page, yet again.
My goal is not just to make cool looking pages though, but to also have the HTML and CSS looking spiffy, for myself, and for those few others out there that also care about such things. When I am building web page, changing designs and layouts, and adding content as I go, in the early stages, I tend to not pay too much attention to how neat and tidy the HTML looks, but it would save a lot of time, later, if I did pay more attention to aesthetics from the beginning. In fact, I think I will try harder to keep my HTML clean and tidy looking spiffy from the start, from now on.
Once I am done with the HTML beautification process, only visible to those who look at the raw HTML (web page under the hood stuff, so to speak), that I am working on right now, I will get back to work on finishing the Bio Pages. The current Bio Page is just the abbreviated version. The new Bios Pages will be a set of web pages, with expanded information and more pictures. And even though it will be far more in-depth than the abbreviated version of the Bio, it is still a very condensed version of my life. The rest of the story will have to wait until I get back to work on my creative non-fiction book, that I started years ago, but never finished. I do plan to get back to work on that book sometime though, and I hope I do get to it before it is too late.
After I finish the new Bio Pages project, my next planned project for this website is to start work building Gallery Pages, for my art, poetry, and prose, but I will need to take at least a small amount of some time to update my other web sites first. I only plan to do a few, badly needed, small updates at my other sites, and then get back to work over here, at the Mini-Verse² site.
I think I have too many web sites to keep up with, but I hate the idea of giving up on any one of those other sites, and I am definitely not giving up on this new version of MACJR'S Mini-Verse² site. I could, in theory, consolidate my sites into one, but I really do prefer that each one have its own domain address, because they are all so different from each other in personality and content. I guess I am just a bit complex, too complex for a single web site to fully express myself with, but it is very time consuming trying to keep all those sites updated. So some sites tend to get neglected for too long before I get back to them. I also have other projects that keep me busy too, like family history research, and scanning family pictures and then digitally remastering them, to make them look there best, and get the best digital cuts from the scans.
Well, I keep myself busy, and dust does collect on some projects, as my focus changes from one project to another, and then another, and so on, but I really would not have it any other way. I like keeping my mind busy, focused, and alive.
Michael A. Crane, Jr.
Artist/Webmaster/Writer
After a pause of about a year and a half, I finally started working on the mini-verse.com web site again, on .
On , I uploaded a refurbished version of the 2005 version of MACJR'S Mini-Verse² into the newly created website "Archives."
On , I uploaded a revised and expanded version of my old Bio Page. The original version can be found in the 2005 Archives pages. The new version can be found by clicking the new "BIO" button on the mini-verse.com home page.
I also added in some supporting pages, like a Terms of Use page, for my art and other content that people might want to use, and a Privacy Policy page, which is just a long winded way to say, "I am not about snooping on you, my visitors, or selling you out to the sharks that make money by buying and selling people's personal information and online activities." I value my privacy, and am not interested in invading yours.
I am not done yet. There is more coming.
First, there is a set of new Bio Pages coming. The Bio Page, that I uploaded yesterday, is the “Abbreviated" version, that will be kept as an alternative page for those who do not want to wade through the more comprehensive set of Bio pages to come.
Second, now that I finally have the supporting pages in place, and the structure and design of this new version of the Miniverse more or less set, the next step, after I finish the new extended Bio Pages, is to start work on the first new gallery pages. The gallery pages will have art, poetry, and prose, both new and old. Some of my better older works, and some new art, poetry, and prose as well.
Michael A. Crane, Jr.
Artist/Webmaster/Writer
I suspect that my audience is a rather small group of people, with a few stragglers who wander in here every so often. Of those who do check in, at least every so often, only a small number of those probably care about my site update notes, but still, there are a few, or at least one person, who misses the frequent site Update Notes that I used to post. They made that person feel like I was talking to them. It made my site, to that person at least, feel a stronger connection to me and my work.
I really should try harder to update my Update Notes more often, like I used to do.
My biggest problem with doing frequent site updates is that as I aged, my long list of projects just kept growing longer as the years passed, and several of many of my projects take huge amounts of dedicated time, focus, and energy. When I am working on a project, I often exclude most everything else from my mind as to not loose my focus on the current project. And once I am ready to take a break from one project, with so many projects to choose from, it can take a long time to get back to any one of the other projects waiting to be worked on again. And still time keeps flowing forward, and dust starts building up on things too long neglected.
Sooner of later though, I do dust off a long neglected project and get back to work on it, or at least post an update note, like I am doing now.
My current plan is to look over all of my web sites and do at least some minor updates to all of them. I would also like to add at least some new content here and there, if time allows. There are things going on in my life that have been, and still are, major disruption factors that are bogging down my ability to get much work done, but I am going to try to endure through those disruption factors and continue on with my work anyway, at least a little here and there, when I can.
Oh, and I did dig out and process a lot of my old Update Notes, that I mentioned in the last Update Note post. Unfortunately, I left that project unfinished, but that project folder is still their waiting for me to get back to it. Those old Update Notes are not a priority at the moment though, but I will, I hope, get back to them eventually. If I remember right, they were almost ready to post, but something distracted me, and I failed to get back to do the final work needed to finish up and get it posted.
Michael A. Crane, Jr.
Artist/Webmaster/Writer
