Version 4.0 has been a long time coming, as I’ve been sitting on the design for at least 3 month now. The idea popped into my head sometime in May, just something snapped and the idea began to grow. By the time I came back from holiday I knew exactly what I needed to do. Unfortunately due to work and life just getting in my way I was forced to put it on hold.

Reason for Redesign

Emmortel was a failure. Not for anything other than the fact that I just couldn't force myself to take care of two websites, and provide them with the same attention and loving. It's a change of philosophy for the this site as I effectively will be my blog and portfolio at the same time. It took me a good long while to accept that this was the proper route to take. I truly admire Joen for being able to consistently push out his monthly installments without fail. That sort of commitment is something I can only hope and dream of achieving. This is effectively my attempt at that.

The one section of the site that is still in active development is the Gallery section. I’ve got an slight idea of what I want however I’m not 100% there yet. Hopefully that should get sorted out in the coming days.

Code

Originally I was planning on doing what I've done with the previous 2.5 code designs, which is mainly taking Rin or Manji and hacking them to death. So how this didn't feel like the right way to go for this particular version, and I went about writing the code from scratch. One of the main reasons I love doing a redesign anyway is because it improves me as a designer and coder. I can see the steps I take forward every single time I decide to go down that road.

This project also marks the first time I’ve used PHP Designer 2005 and HTMLGATE. Both fantastic applications that deserve your attention. Sure they’re not perfect as there are several bugs that need to be ironed out, but as website development tools go they’re both exceptional tools.

Inspiration

Yeah right, like I came up with this stuff without nicking ideas of people :). I just wanted to take the time and acknowledge the works of several people that inspired me when I wasn't feeling particularly creative. Joen's Noscope, Bryan's Avalonstar, Khoi's Subtraction Phu's Ifelse. Thank you gents couldn't have done it without you (and in Joen, Bryan and Phu's case really couldn't have done it without them).

Future modifications

There is bound to be many modifications to come, as hopefully people will point out funky things happening in their browser, and the more I look at it all and take it in the more I'll try and find different ways of dealing with things. I felt that it was time to release it and then tinker slowly but surely, with my self imposed pressure being elevated. Now to make sure all the plugins work before I go on and sort out the links.