About The Redesign
The current design of the Paly.net website was created in 2004 by then-student Andrew Pouliot.
Features
Content
With the redesign, the entire webpage was rebuilt from the ground up, eliminating outdated content and adding new information.
Framework
An innovative approach to editing, keeping maintainability and transparency high.
- Files stored on server are only html pages with no include directives; files are parsed automatically and sidebars are inserted
- Improvement over old system with one dynamic file and one static for each page
- High ease of editing–no special tags to insert
Navigation
- MySQL database–driven
- Navigation is easy to control&ndash a single page allows a quick glance at all levels and sublevels;
- Software automatically opens correct list of subitems based on current page if page is in database; otherwise, the author may set a simple PHP variable.
Contacts System
A custom-built contacts system constructed from the ground up for use at paly.
- MySQL database
- Written in PHP with security in mind
Front Page News
- MySQL database–driven
- Selects random story, but allows user to see others available
- Draws from many news sources on campus to provide an intriguing photo and text snippet
- Intelligent credit generation
- If author URL is provided, a link is made
- If author and image creator are the same, page shows "Story and Photo: " then the author's name
- Allows a link to the full text of an article
- Allows a source to be cited and linked
- Stories may be started in disabled mode, allowing the editor to compose and perfect the story before adding it to the rotation
- Preview of stories in disabled mode
Style Guide
A style guide is provided to assist webteam members in making the transition to CSS/HTML4 Strict.
Template
A template is provided, which assists team members in remembering proper coding practices and doctype. Yeah, that really is all there is to it.
