The HTML version of the site is moving to a new template! The new code features leaner CSS, javascript  rounded corners, animated columns and more. There will still be some tweaking going on over the next couple days, but hopefully the transition will be a smooth one.

In addition, some new items will be getting added to the portfolio (finally) and lots of minor copy changes. So, look around. Kick the tires. Be kind. And Enjoy.

After only about 6 months of using its own proprietary MySQL/PHP system for posting and displaying news items, the news section of the xhtml/CSS version of this site has made the switch over to using the amazing, open source WordPress 2.0 “semantic personal publishing platform” and it’s been an immensly pleasant process.

It’s not so much a move due to the previous system not working, but rather was motivated by the ease and extensibility of WordPress. With all the client work to do on a daily basis, making improvements to this site can often take a distant back seat, so this change should speed things up a bit keeping the content fresh and timely.

Of course, it’s a work in progress and there are bound to be some bugs here and there, but hopefully those can be squashed sooner rather than later.

The choice to use Adobe’s Flash Player 8 for the Flash version of this site wasn’t necessarily an easy one. Sure it had all the latest technologies just waiting to be tapped including superior text editing and improved CSS support, but when work began it had only been out for a month or so and therefore wasn’t widely used.

That’s why it’s great to see the new Flash Player 8 penetration numbers released today showing that after just 5 months, Flash Player 8 has reached a penetration of roughly 50%. This news will propel site development towards even richer experiences with much more use of video. If used correctly, these new technologies may even mean a whole new way of experiencing content online.

Emmy Huang of Adobe has further details.

OK, so work wasn’t being done for the entire 2 plus years, however that was the last time the Flash version of this site was updated. That version (number 2!) garnered many encouraging words from visitors from all over the world including Mexico, India, Japan, Australia, and everywhere in between… But in the internet world over 2 years seems like an eternity and the site was looking pretty dated.

Thankfully that all changes with the new and improved Flash 8 version launching tonight. If you’re not already looking at it, head over there now. On first glance, it may seem very similar to it predecessor, but this new version is actually a considerable evolution. Gone are the brackets and other elements that felt stylistically old and they’ve been replaced with an understated efficient interface geared solely towards getting users to the content they’re after quicker than ever. Of course a rewrite wouldn’t be complete without bells and whistles, and this one has tons of them under the hood. The Flash 8 text engine is utilized for amazingly crisp text, Actionscript 2.0 is implemented, XML parsed from a mySQL database provides the majority of the content, animation is dynamically generated with code, Flash CSS styles text, and, somehow, it still all manages to squeeze into a 77k package easily.

As exciting as this is, there’s still some ways to go before this new design is 100% done. There are a couple minor bugs (hopefully you don’t notice) and some missing sections (like downloads), but expect to see quite a bit of development on this design over the next few weeks where bugs will be squashed and new features added.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Starting today, you can now stay up to date on the latest news around here with a handy dandy Patrick Bennett RSS feed!

Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is a format for syndicating news and content of news-like sites. Popularized by blogs everywhere, it allows users to have their RSS feed aggregator software check websites for updates. Then the user is alerted to new content without having to check the site themselves. It allows users to stay informed without having to constantly make manual checks of their favorite RSS enabled sites.

If all this sounds very complicated, don’t worry, it isn’t. Check out software like NetNewsWire for Mac (free version available as NetNewsWire Lite), Apple’s own Safari browser or the cross-platform RSSOwl.