(Web) Standards: Apple is Doing it Wrong

Standards are not about vendor lock in (or in the case of Apple, vendor lock out), they are about interoperability. Apple’s recent HTML5 showcase, more appropriately named Safari Showcase, reveals Apple does not understand standards. Locking out browsers, as Apple does in their showcase, is not a best practice or in any W3C specification. Apple’s quest against Adobe and flash is not noble—don’t get me wrong, I hate flash. They are not embracing standards, they are embracing something they can control.

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Cran-Berry 2 Mockup 1

Just in the initial design stages of Cran-Berry 2. Layout wise I want to experiment with things a little and doubt the final release will look much like the mockup. This was mainly an exercise in using Photoshop to make grungy textures. It also was a bit of a test with ICC profiles for my HP LP2475w. I like the color scheme and it or a variation of it will be what is used in Cran-Berry 2.

A incomplete, grungly look at the next berry theme?

A incomplete, grungly look at the next berry theme?

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]

Cran-Berry Build 100

A little late, but fully functional. School work prevented the intended release date for Cran-Berry. Several styling, and code fixes were implemented which should provide a more uniform experience for most browsers. This includes new code for centering the content on the page, and some other general fixes. This release is not a full ‘stable’ release like a one for Breadcrumb NavXT, but this should be usable for advanced users. In the zip is two folders, one containing the theme, the other containing the modified version of WP-PageNavi. The other two recommended plug-ins should be downloaded from their respective home pages. Naturally, Berry implements support for these plug-ins in a safe manner–not having them will not cause PHP errors or warnings. Upon activation of the plug-ins they will display immediately (in most cases).

To change options, look in the functions.php and there will be a $berry_opts array of options a la Breadcrumb NavXT. These are documented in the source right above the corresponding option. Additionally, the sidebar is WordPress Widget aware.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]

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Something Lighter

The future of Berry, naturally. Right now, though fairly light, Berry’s next iteration will be lighter still. Blue may or may not be the dominate color of the theme, it all depends on how the WordPress 2.5 administration interface will turn out. In case the connection hasn’t been made yet, the header and footer (as well as most of Blu-Berry) were based on the WordPress 2.2 and 2.3 login form’s style. After about a year, themes tend to lose their luster. Blu-Berry, if some work would be put into making it look as it originally did almost a year ago, still is eye catching. Cran-Berry, the next iteration will follow a much more open development process. It will be available for download, and its development will begin around the launch of WordPress 2.5.

The first stages of developing the new iteration are already underway. It all begins with finally taking some time to reorganize and categorize the posts on this blog. This allows for the current dysfunctions to reveal their hideous heads while navigating the site. Next up is a replacement for Enhanced Live Archives needs to be found, one promising title exists. Then that little Attachment NavXT plug-in needs to get revised and released for mass consumption. The new design may more or less support it in a nice manner.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]