Well, I know this site has been offline for a while, and despite being reactivated in July, I’ve not written any posts. While I know this is a weak way to return to this blog, I’m equally aware that no one reads it, so it doesn’t matter anyways!
Readers of Al Jazeera English will note that a few days ago, their site was revamped to look more like that of their Arabic sister site. This means easier-to-navigate pages, a search function that actually works, full-resolution press images, and extensive use of video on customized players (still reading from YouTube, unfortunately, meaning still blocked from schools and workplaces everywhere). However, readers of the “V2″ site, as Aljazeera IT calls it, will notice something else. Specifically, the site has turned drastically and blindingly orange.
Now, while I tend to dislike redesigns of sites I frequent, I’m the first to admit that the layout change was long overdue. The old design, while functional, had the feel of a government web portal, and not that of an internationally-acclaimed news service. However, the new orange color – which has gone so far as to infect their universally-recognized logo, is one thing I can not stand for.
Fortunately for me, and other orange-sensitive people, the vast majority of web browsers allow you to have websites customized according to your own CSS. And as luck would have it, I’ve written a custom CSS sheet that restores that familiar and less-shocking “coffee color” for Al Jazeera English.
Now, I use Opera as my browser, and recommend everyone does (especially given the horrific bugs in 10.60 have been patched in 10.61). This CSS has been written for Opera and works excellently in Opera. To apply it in Opera, go to http://english.aljazeera.net/ and right click in an empty area, select “Edit Site Preferences”, and click the “Display” tab. At the bottom, enter the path to where you saved the stylesheet linked above. Click “Save”, and then refresh the page. Your coffee color returns!
Firefox also renders my CSS correctly, with a few exceptions. Firefox’s support for CSS3 attribution statements, which I’ve used here because they’re awesome, is somewhat limited. As such, some orange text and images will occur. As I don’t routinely use Firefox, I’m not about to go and find complicated methods of doing hat Opera can do in a single line. If someone else finds a way to remedy the issues Firefox has with my CSS, feel free to post a link to your version here, and I’ll include it in this post. Directions for how to customize your Firefox CSS can be found here.
I have not attempted to test the compatibility of this CSS in other web browsers. However, I assume Chrome should be able to render the CSS at least as well as Firefox. Instructions for installing the CSS in Chrome can be found here. Internet Explorer is more likely to butcher the website than make it look beautiful, but you’re welcome to try to install it using the instructions found here (this will apply to all websites, unfortunately). Do keep in mind that as Microsoft has stated flat out that making Internet Explorer compatible with CSS3 is the last thing on their agenda, the successful implementation of this stylesheet in Internet Explorer is likely impossible, even if altered.
I certainly hope that at least someone aside from me benefits from this post. I’ll try to keep it updated as Aljazeera IT inevitably changes and expands their present site.
On a different note, though still web-design related, Baywords’ long offline period, which they’re trying to call some sort of software upgrade, had resulted in every non-ASCII character on this site being lost. This, in turn, resulted in little boxes popping up around my site. I ignored it at first but since noticed it was killing off the RSS feed, and as such, I’ve gone through all my posts and edited all the placeholder symbols out, replacing them with the character that should have shown up. RSS is back up, but there still could be some improperly encoded letters hiding in the archives. If ever you come across one, leave a comment and I’ll make sure it’s fixed.
Updates—
Update 1. Updated CSS for Breaking News.
Update 2. Updated CSS for Active Discussions. New stylesheet linked above, and also here.
Notes—
Note 1. The specific quote from Microsoft regarding CSS3 can be found here. It reads, in part, ‘Microsoft is committed to providing a browser that accurately supports Web standards… Our primary goal was implementing CSS 2.1 (a specification that has reached final candidate stage) completely and correctly before moving on to specifications that are still in development and may change.‘ As far as I’m concerned, however, if Microsoft was committed to providing a web browser that supports web standards, it would, you know, provide a web browser that supported web standards. As a web designer, I cannot count the number of times I have had to write workarounds for Internet Explorer. And yet, I’ve only needed to do so once each for Opera and Firefox and never for Chrome. Anyway, this is getting off-topic so I suppose I’ll stick it in a note that no one will read.
Unleashed Rebel @ September 2, 2010
One day after Israel and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority allegedly agreed to “indirect” peace talks, Israeli troops have raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque – one of the holiest sites in Islam – in occupied East Jerusalem, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at worshipers. Israel claims that it was acting against protesters, but first-hand accounts claim that there were no protesters before the Israeli Defense Force stormed and desecrated the mosque.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Traitor #1 – PA President Mahmoud Abbas – has said Israel is attempting to destabilize peace talks. Well, it’s hard for even Abbas to get that one wrong. As hard as various international parties are pushing for peace talks between the Palestinians and the Zionist occupiers, the whole world, from Washington to Tripoli, seems to forget one thing: peace with the Palestinian people is not in Israel’s short-term or foreseeable long-term interest. As long as Israeli media can make an icon of the terrorist from the persecuted Palestinian freedom fighter, they can continue to militarily and economically exploit the Palestinian people and maintain their hold on illegally-seized and occupied Palestinian land.
Unleashed Rebel @ March 6, 2010
