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Kaleidoscope
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XML and styling with XSL

So first a catchup

The story so far

  • Well number one on the work has be been a consolidation of the web site. Fixing issues bugs etc rather than expanding the content.
  • As always content seems to take a second place to the actual site development so not much has changed here.
  • One big task, outstanding really something which should have been tackled before has been the work needed to make this whole site responsive. This has resulted in a bit of cleanup of the CSS and copious use of AI in the form of Chat GPT and Claude.
  • What has driven the need for the work to update the responsive nature has been the implementation of the kaleidoscope page / menu. After a false start with a page containing a masonry grid I settled for a menu to handle all the extra content links. However this demanded a separate menu for small screens hence the priority to sort the responsive display on the site. Then there is the implementation of the links. Which is where I ended up needing to fix the sitemap.

Added features

Cloudinary

Well I finally got the Cloudinary Image service working. Uploaded the images for several of my projects, my cars and just a load of images. Mostly those I have taken myself, but a few which are just meaningful to me. Seems a bit slow on the download so I will research perhaps adding placeholders during the download etc. I also need to look into the various extra functions that can be applied to downloaded images such as removing backgrounds etc.

Turso DB

My database now works locally in developer mode and on the live site. At the moment its just used to keep track of updates and builds of the site but I hope in the future to add tables for links including tags and formatting. Definitely on the todo list.

Planned Work and Feature additions

XSL formatting

Formatting the sitemap.xml file with XSL. Just commenced this task. So first off two copies of VS Code open one with this so I can document the process, and a copy with the XML and XSL files open. I always leave documentation to last, this time its coming along first :hand_with_index_finger_and_thumb_crossed:

  • edit the XML sitemap file to just enough of the content to style.
  • next get Claude 3.5 to create a simple and I mean simple XSL file to format the small sitemap file.
  • this worked so move on to the full monty file this also worked and quite quickly so next go back to learning XSL to the get the output I want :smile:
  • So simple really. Now the proof of the pudding is if it shows up in the kaleidoscope menu. All that is to do now is test.

GSAP - adding animations

Well GSAP is now free so I look forward to adding more movement and, dare I say it fun to my site. This is an area I am looking forward to but needs more investigation and its how to integrate it without breaking what I have.

Content, Content and more Content

It almost goes without saying that I need to fill in the blanks on whole sections of my site. Especially the consciousness section and as always there is more to add to climate change and its effects.

That is a Wrap :smirk: