# Don't Judge a Website by its author...



## The Judge (Nov 1, 2011)

Following in the illustrious footsteps of Boneman and Perpetual Man, I'm here to hype... er... flaunt... er... _announce_ the arrival of a brand new website 

**drum roll followed by trumpet voluntary**

http://www.damarisbrowne.com/

Family flowers only...   er... scrap that, wrong announcement...  

Mother and baby are doing well.  I think.


Comments welcome.  Except about the baby pictures.  Keep those thoughts to yourself.  


EDIT:  Um... could someone check the link for me, please.  When I try it I get backstage to where I edit it, so I'm not sure it's right...  (Whoever thought it was a good idea letting me loose with technology...?)


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## Ursa major (Nov 1, 2011)

The link works for me, and the website itself is stylish, with the kind of self-deprecatory humour I like.


Some of the fonts, particularly the one used on the blog, look quite small.


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## Pyan (Nov 1, 2011)

No, the link is fine, J, and all the internal links seem to work properly as well.

Looks good - nice plug for the Chrons, loved the biography (what an _interesting_ family you come from on the distaff side!), and a teaser story that made me want to read more. Bookmarked it, so it'd better stay that good...


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## The Judge (Nov 1, 2011)

Thanks, Ursa.  I went over the fonts and enlarged them umpteen fold!  I'll try and set the next blog bigger.  (Though in view of the problems I had with this one, don't no one hold their breath...)

EDIT: Oops, pyan crept in there sneaky-like.  Thanks!


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## Boneman (Nov 1, 2011)

Looks great! The link worked fine for me, too. A real sense of stylishness to it. Great job.


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## chopper (Nov 1, 2011)

No, that all works fine, f'sure. Unless you want it tarmaced...

Where can we read your eponymous books?

(site added to my links too...)


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## The Judge (Nov 1, 2011)

Thanks, both!

I'll do without the tarmacing, I think.  (I have no idea if that is some kind of technical term, you know, or whether you've just got a spare lorry-load from doing a drive down the street...) 

The books aren't available anywhere while the search for a publisher goes on, so it's just a case of tempting people at this stage.  I was thinking of putting up a short story based on the characters, but it ended up -- after severe pruning -- at over 1700 words, so I'm not sure that's feasible.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 1, 2011)

Alas, the link didn't work for me.  When I clicked, all that came up was a solid grey screen.  (From the comments above, I take it that was not intended.)

I've had a lot of trouble with Boneman's site, too.  Except for the first page, I can't see anything at all, and the little extras with the bookcase, etc. about which I've heard enthusiastic comments didn't work for me.

You had the same website designer?  Either she is doing something that doesn't work on certain browsers, or, if you are both using the same server ...

Will move over to my husband's desktop in a bit and see what happens with Firefox.


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## Ursa major (Nov 1, 2011)

For your information, I use IE8.


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## HoopyFrood (Nov 1, 2011)

Might it be something javascript based? I'm not greatly knowledgeable about this stuff, but looking at the page source of the website, seems to be a fair amount of javascript, which sometimes doesn't show up. Styles can have trouble transferring to different browsers.    If I had Firefox, I could disable it and check...  Ah, not having Flash on makes a difference...Oh, but there is a useful requirements page that comes along with it that tells you what you need to see it all! http://www.damarisbrowne.com/_app/26879/en/resources/requirements.html


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## Perpetual Man (Nov 1, 2011)

The website looks great TJ, clear and easy to read. I really liked it.

There were a few problems with the way it was running on Google Chrome. But it did work slowly, until it crashed Chrome a few minutes in.

(Might just be my PC, it's been weird all night)

But I really liked the site!


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## alchemist (Nov 1, 2011)

It's grey on my phone, but works fine on the PC (using Chrome).

Good site. Easy to navigate and informative. A nice tone. And since it seems to be my thing, good to see pics of the author, although a pity none are recent (unless that speckledy blouse is back in).

I also have to say you have a good authorly name, and the Judge series seems pretty darned good.


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## The Judge (Nov 1, 2011)

Sorry you can't see it, Teresa.  I think it must be something to do with the site if it's affecting your viewing of Boneman's, too.  Fingers crossed it works on firefox for you (that's what I'm using).

Thanks for the comments, Perp and alchemist!  Glad you like it.  But if you want an up-to-date photo, I'll have to borrow a burka from someone first.


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## Ursa major (Nov 1, 2011)

The Judge said:


> I went over the fonts and enlarged them umpteen fold!


Because I have quite a high resolution screen, I tend to view web pages using magnification. (The one that suits most sites, and me, is 160%). I thought I'd increase this to make your text easier to read. It had no effect whatsoever on your site: whatever magnification I chose, everything there remained the same size.


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## Pyan (Nov 1, 2011)

For info, and possibly to add to the mystery, I'm on Opera...



			
				Ursa said:
			
		

> everything there remained the same size



Same result, Ursa. It does something, though - when I_ reduced_ it, it left me with a small rectangle with the same size fonts but only a small part of the page.


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## Parson (Nov 2, 2011)

I'm using Firefox and all looked good. It also looked well made. I liked it a lot.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 2, 2011)

Sorry, various distractions intervened (including a husband who had the audacity to want to use his computer) and I didn't get back to you.

Yes, it was a mite slow on some pages, but I was able to see everything on Firefox.  It's a very nice site.


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## Ian Whates (Nov 2, 2011)

All looking good to me, TJ.  Congrats on a great site.


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## Ursa major (Nov 2, 2011)

pyan said:


> Same result, Ursa. It does something, though - when I_ reduced_ it, it left me with a small rectangle with the same size fonts but only a small part of the page.


It's the same for my browser.


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## HareBrain (Nov 2, 2011)

Very good site, Ms Browne. Though I have to say, as someone just beginning to think about putting up a website at some time in the future, all this talk about how well (or even whether) they work with different browsers makes me want to hide in a corner and hope the internet goes back whence it came.



The Judge said:


> I was thinking of putting up a short story based on the characters, but it ended up -- after severe pruning -- at over 1700 words, so I'm not sure that's feasible.


 
For technical reasons, or because it would be too long to read? I certainly wouldn't think the latter.


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## The Judge (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks, everyone.  I'm quite pleased with it, so it's good to know others think it's OK.

I'm with you, HB -- all this internetty stuff is baffling.  It might be easier if I wrote it out and posted it to people!

I was thinking that a short of 1800 (checked last night and it was  even longer than I remembered...) would be too long to read on a website, with the necessary large (unchangeable) fonts and adequate spacing + short attention spans and all that... (present SFF company excepted of course).  Thinking cap is on at present for another, shorter, story.  I shall see.


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## Ursa major (Nov 2, 2011)

While members of the general population (well, that part of it that roams the Web) may or may not have short attentions spans, those likely to be attracted to an _author_'s website ought to be able to manage to get to the end of 1800 words. We expect those willing to critique, i.e. not just read for enjoyment, text posted here of lengths up to 1500 words.


Having said that, it's your site and your story we're talking about and so the final decisions on both must be yours alone.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 2, 2011)

If the story is something people can print up and read at their leisure, then you don't have to worry about their attention spans.  But perhaps you don't want people printing it up, and your website designer has arranged things so that people can't.


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## Ashcroft (Nov 2, 2011)

That's a really attractive site, nice one!


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 2, 2011)

Nope, it will not copy nor will it print.


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## The Judge (Nov 2, 2011)

Thank you, Ashcroft!

I honestly don't know if it can be printed off, or not.  I shall have to make secret experiments and see. **

Meanwhile, I've gone through and increased the font in a few places, and even (eventually...) managed to get the blog font bigger, so I'm hoping that's right now.  I don't know what the blog has against chopper though -- every time I tried to reply to his comment everything seized up and I couldn't access anything!



**  Ah, I cross-posted with Teresa and I see my experiments aren't needed.  Let's hope no publisher wants to print it off to read over his tea and toast.


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## Perpetual Man (Nov 2, 2011)

Hmmm, I actually got it to print, but it did not fit on the page and only did a small portion of the story but...

I did manage to copy and paste it with little problem (apart from the flowery writing at the top and the bottom)


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## Boneman (Nov 2, 2011)

Teresa Edgerton said:


> Alas, the link didn't work for me. When I clicked, all that came up was a solid grey screen. (From the comments above, I take it that was not intended.)
> 
> I've had a lot of trouble with Boneman's site, too. Except for the first page, I can't see anything at all, and the little extras with the bookcase, etc. about which I've heard enthusiastic comments didn't work for me.
> 
> ...


 
I believe we do have the same designer... which is worrying if US readers can't access it. I'll check with said designer. Which browser do you have TE?


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## Mouse (Nov 2, 2011)

Very snazzy, TJ. I like!


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## The Judge (Nov 2, 2011)

Perpetual Man said:


> I did manage to copy and paste it with little problem (apart from the flowery writing at the top and the bottom)


I wonder if that's something to do with the fact the first and last lines are in different dialogue boxes from the main text -- it's not possible to change fonts inside a box.


Thanks, Mouse.  I've never had my work called snazzy before!


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## chopper (Nov 2, 2011)

The Judge said:


> I don't know what the blog has against chopper though -- every time I tried to reply to his comment everything seized up and I couldn't access anything!


 

You need fresh tarmac. That'll sort it.

Probably.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 2, 2011)

Boneman said:


> I believe we do have the same designer... which is worrying if US readers can't access it. I'll check with said designer. Which browser do you have TE?



Safari is the browser that won't access it.  Or if it does, it takes so long to load than I'm not willing to wait.  I've tried yours at 10-15 minutes (walking away from the computer and coming back) and it wouldn't load anything but the home page. One time of the other pages came up within about a minute, I think, but then the next one wouldn't load, and when I tried to get back to the one I'd just left I couldn't.

Firefox was fine with TJ's so I ought to try your website that way, too.


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## thaddeus6th (Nov 2, 2011)

Looks good 

In addition, I had no idea that The Judge was a lady person. For some reason I seem to have huge problems identifying genders correctly on the Chrons. For bloody ages I thought Ursa was a lady [although, in my defence, Ursa is a feminine word].

You wouldn't catch me plugging my website (thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.com) though. Honestly


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## The Judge (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks, thaddeus!  

You're not the first to fail to divine my essential delicate femininity behind my scowling exterior, though I still say the nail varnish and stiletto heels should be a bit of a clue...


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 2, 2011)

Boneman, I need the link to your website so that I can check it out on Firefox, because looking around the forums I can't find it.

Ms Judge, tell your designer that you need a section for links.  Links to some of your favorite sites (besides sffchronicles, obviously, since you have linked to us very thoroughly), you know, places like Grammarians Anonymous or wherever you go when you aren't here or out there in that place we laughingly refer to as the "real" world.  Also links to the sites of other writers.  They, in turn, link to you and everyone gets a bit more traffic.


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## The Judge (Nov 2, 2011)

This is Boneman's link http://www.jscottmarryat.com/


I wondered about a links bit, but I wasn't sure how best to do it.  I didn't want a box on the home page, and having a separate page for a few links seemed a bit excessive.  I shall have a think anon and see what looks good.


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## Ursa major (Nov 2, 2011)

thaddeus6th said:


> For bloody ages I thought Ursa was a lady [although, in my defence, Ursa is a feminine word].


In my defence, the name, Ursa, is the result of wordplay on another site.

One of my other interests is US railroading and the modelling of such (strictly from the armchair, in my case). The obvious username for following that interest was Usra Major. (See United_States_Railroad_Administration - USRA.)

When I was directed to this site, it seemed natural to revert to the name of the constellation. The gender of the word seemed irrelevant**.



** - As someone once said: in German a maiden is neuter (das Mädchen) whereas a turnip is feminine (die Rübe).


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## Teresa Edgerton (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks, Judge.  Yup, Boneman's site works just fine using Firefox.


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## The Judge (Nov 11, 2011)

I've made a few changes to the site over the last week, including adding pages for links as Teresa suggested (not many links at the moment, though, so more to be added when I get around to it), books (click on the pile of books photo on the home page or on the blog) and news (so if I can ever work out how to do an RSS thingummy, that would go there).

I've also spent some time battling with the design of the longish short story which I hope gets over my fears about its length, and which those interested in the Judge-world can find here http://www.damarisbrowne.com/#/judge-tales/4556813546  It's actually a truncated episode I'd originally planned for a much later book (but which I now realise fits with themes in Book 3) but all the ethical dilemmas and arguments which would actually be rehearsed are omitted for reasons of space and drama.  So it's a spoiler for a book as yet unwritten, which is a bit daft.  Never mind.


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## JDP (Nov 11, 2011)

Both sites are entirely Flash based, so it may depend on users' version of the flash plugin that they have installed as to whether they'lll see the site or not. Similarly, mobile viewing may not be possible for some people (various Apple iProducts don't support Flash for example). Copy/paste etc can also be flaky with Flash, compared to good old HTML.

Generally, best practice is to use HTML for site content rather than Flash. It looks like there should be a text-only fallback though for folks without Flash; not sure why that's not working?

Sorry, I'll take my webdev hat off...

Looks great (and works fine for me!)


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## The Judge (Nov 11, 2011)

Thank you, JDP!

I was reading just this week about problems with flash for mobile devices -- typical of them to stop doing it now I've got my website up...  But if it's going to be an issue, with more and more people using mobiles, I might start looking around for another hosting site which uses the HTML thing instead.


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## Parson (Nov 11, 2011)

*Your honor,*

I've read the longish "short" story. (BTW didn't seem so long to me.) I rather liked it. The Judge of Truth is an interesting concept.


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## The Judge (Nov 11, 2011)

Thank you, Parson!  I like to think she's an interesting person.  And let's hope publishers agree with you.


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## HareBrain (Nov 12, 2011)

I also liked the story; and the format, with each page shown separately and shaded, is interesting and not something I've seen before.

All the new site content is good. I especially liked the three-part definitions of trillies etc -- a superb example of how to introduce worldbuilding elements in a concise, interesting and amusing way.

Even with no extracts from the novels themselves on display, the site is building into an excellent advert for them.


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## The Judge (Nov 12, 2011)

Thanks, HareBrain!  

Glad you liked the story.  I was quite pleased with how I did its layout -- I hoped it might give an impression of reading pages on some kind of kindle-like device which was in keeping with the SFness and also reduced the risk of having a wall of text.


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