Archive for the ‘Site Maintenance’ Category

Thanks for dropping in! I’m pleased as punch (don’t ask how pleased Punch is, though, I’m afraid to ask because I don’t want to get…biffed) to present the brand new face of Damn Short Stories. If you’ve been checking up on DSS throughout the year you’ll know that I haven’t put in nearly the time that I was earlier on, but that’s all going to change now. Some big changes have happened in my life, and so I’m very happy to say that I’ve got a lot more motivation and idea generating energy right now.

Among these changes are that I’ve finally decided to go back to school and pursue my degree and dream of working professionally as a writer. I’m thinking that I’ll probably aim at screenwriting, since it’s an area I’m very interested in (gosh, what an idea!) I’m especially interested in doing serialized television work in the vein of guys like Joss Whedon, Brian Fuller, and of course the always good JJ Abrams.

But before I go getting ahead of myself, I’d just like to make a commitment: From this week onward, I expect to deliver at least one new short story every week. This will probably be posted on a Saturday, but hey, who knows? Something fresh and exciting just might pop up earlier, who knows?

On those other days, if you really must check in on what I’m up to (and hey, I’m doing a little bit of “other” writing, too) please feel free to visit my Personal Education blog over at Stirring Wind!

So you might have noticed that we have a new look. It’s occurred to me in recent weeks that though the existing site face had a distinctive “personalized” feel, it also suffered a bit in the readability category, which, let’s face it, isn’t a good thing when you’re on a site that’s filled with stories to read. Consequently the old face has been sent to the shop for a bit of repair, and in the meantime we’ll proceed with this fresh and dandy new UI. It should offer a superior readability experience and have an overall more professional appearance, though to me it still doesn’t quite feel as homey (not the clown) as it should. Nevertheless, I do like it, and if it makes things easier on the eyes for us all, then so much the better.

Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention! In addition to our facial overhaul we’ve also changed our commenting requirements so that you don’t have to register on the site in order to leave your feedback. We hope that this will make it more convenient to share your thoughts on the stories we post and any feedback you have regarding the look of the site. We’d love to hear from you, so please, post away!

I’m happy to announce that we’re officially expanding. As you may have noticed from the November Drought, in which I began several stories but finished none, it’s a busy time of year. What better way to celebrate that fact than to punish-err, invite a fellow creative guy to join us in the art of crafting cool short stories?

I am pleased to welcome Michael Kukuk to the site as a member of the Editorial/Authororial (is that even a word?) staff. Mike’s got some great ideas and some really funny stories to tell, so I hope you’ll sit back and enjoy the forthcoming good stuff!

Update #2: Last night I verified that the site works fine with my Sony PSP’s web browser. One quirk: using the analog nub won’t scroll down the page, but using the D-Pad will. I am on firmware 5.00 M33-3 for reference!

Update: Just received confirmation that the site works on the iPhone as well, though it could be prettier. Thanks, Tim!

Just thought you might want to know that I have added functionality to Damn Short Stories so that when you visit from your mobile browser you should see a much slimmer, faster loading version of the site that’s formatted specifically for the tiny screen in your pocket. I have personally tested this on my Windows Mobile 6.1 phone (HTC Wizard, if you must know) and it works really well. I’ll be asking someone to test on their iPhone later today and will test it on my PSP and DS tonight, but if you happen to have any issues or successes I’d be grateful to hear about it in the comments. Leave a post with your phone model and software if you know it, as well as whether it worked well or sucked!

If you’re reading this, either I am dead and someone has finished up the site’s new face or–and this is far more likely–I’ve finally just sorted out the CSS and made the new face for the site work. I prefer to think it’s the latter option because although I am dead tired, I would like to hope that typing at 3AM is an indication of life in my bones yet.

Ahhhh…that feels better. We’ve gained a little width (part of getting older I’m afraid; even websites aren’t immune) and dipped into both the darker and lighter color palettes, and as you can see from the all new header, we finally have a logo (even if it is just text, it’s Damn Cool text!). As anyone familiar with web design can tell, I’ve also left some spaces open for expansion, and while those look a tiny bit awkward right now I’ll tell you this much: they won’t for too much longer.

Do feel free to drop a comment to let me know what you think of the new face of Damn Short Stories, and be sure to keep checking back. Now that the style is in place, substance is sure to follow.