IFArchive CSSComp

That's still how it looks. A little Neo-Web-Brutalist composition of black,
white, list bullets, horizontal rules, and Times Roman (unless your web
browser is set up with some other defaults).

We, the Archive management folks, would like to change that. Therefore: the
IF Archive CSS Competition. Submit a CSS file to make the Archive less ugly!
Deadline is Feb 8th. We'll use the best submission.

...That's the short rule. Here are the long rules.

- This is actually two competitions -- Popular Choice and Archive
Maintainers' Choice. We want to know what everybody likes, but we will make
the final decision on what we actually use. We promise to weigh the Popular
Choice very heavily in our selection.

- The CSSComp web site is <http://ifarchive.org/csscomp/>. (This is not
mirrored, you have to use the main server.) If you go there, you'll see five
sample HTML pages: a copy of the front page, the root index page, an index
page from down in the stacks, a directory list, and a random informational
page. They all draw on "./ifarchive.css", which defines nothing except a
quotebox style and a little bit of boldface. In other words, they look
exactly like the real Archive pages. (Most of the links are inactive,
though.)

- Download those files. Rewrite the ifarchive.css file to do something else.
(You may modify the HTML files too, and include images in your design, but
both in moderation. See below.)

- Submit your work back to us at <http://ifarchive.org/cgi-bin/upload.py>.
Please include "CSSComp" in the submission field. Also include a title for
your design (or we'll call it "Untitled"). You may add a blurb, which we
will display with your entry on the competition page.

- If your entry includes several files, or modifies the HTML files, please
zip/tar your entire work directory and submit that.

- You may include small images in your layout, for interesting borders and
so on. You may also include *one* banner image, for the front page *only*.
If you want to spice up your design with a URL icon (favicon), include that
too. Put these images in the ./cssimg folder (currently empty).

- You may modify the five HTML files in small, shallow ways. Examples:
adding an <img> tag for a banner; moving or removing the <hr> tags; changing
a <dl> list to <ul>; wrapping <divs> around elements to enable better CSS.

- However, the less you change the HTML, the more favorably the Maintainers
will look upon you. We already have a good assortment of CSS classes and ids
in there, for you to make use of.

- No animations. No Javascript. Reactive CSS is okay. We reserve the right
to reject entries that abuse our eyes or web browsers.

- DEC-terminal green Courier on a black background may be thematically
appropriate, but it will not win the Maintainers' Choice award. Sorry.

- Remember that the IF Archive is used by a lot of blind folks. Also, my
favorite web browser is Lynx. Your HTML must make sense without the CSS.

- Entries will be accepted until February 8th, 11:59 pm Eastern. We will add
each submission to the <http://ifarchive.org/csscomp/> directory, *as it is
received.*

- Popular Choice voting will run from February 9th until the 16th. Details
to be determined. (Probably "email Zarf".) We will then tally the votes and
confer, and announce the results of both competitions forthwith.

- You grant the Maintainers the right to use your submitted files on the
Archive, and modify them as we see fit. Our final decision for the Archive
design may be a modification of the Maintainers' Choice winner. We will
continue to host the submissions at <http://ifarchive.org/csscomp/>, in
their original forms, for posterity (and so that the Popular Choice winner
has something to brag about). We will add a line to the front page crediting
the Maintainer's Choice winner.

- Archive Maintainers are not barred from entering. I already have one
non-serious entry in there (a demo to show how the CSS classes are laid
out). I plan to submit a real entry too.

- Yes, that means I will be judging my own entry. Cope. We're keeping
CSSComp informal -- no discussion blackout, no coordinated release deadline.
We're hoping that the early entries will spark discussion and more entries.
Don't rip off posted entries, please, that would be lame.

- This is already too many rules for an informal competition. Go to it.

--Z

--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*

The CSSComp web site is <http://ifarchive.org/csscomp/>. We've got
eleven entries posted already -- including, to be sure, my "leave it
the way it was" entry and my array of randomly-colored rectangles. But
nine that are cooler than that. Let's see a few more.

Yes, you can enter more than once.

On the 9th I will post voting instructions. (Which will be of the form
"send me email with such-and-such in the subject line.") It'll all be
nifty.

<http://www.ifarchive.org/csscomp/>

Look over all the entries and pick the one you think is best. The
voting deadline is February 16th.

To vote, send email to me (erky...@eblong.com) with the subject line
"CSSComp vote". Your message should consist of a single line,
containing the title of your favorite entry and the author's name. For
example:

Color Blocks Example, Andrew Plotkin

If you have a second-most-favorite, you may name it on a second line
in your message. And a third on the third line, so on. This is
optional. (Yes, if you really want, you can rank every entry -- from
best to worst. But you don't have to.)

Votes must be received by February 16th, 11:59 pm Eastern. The
following day I will consult with the other maintainers, look over the
votes, and choose what the Archive will look like(*). Then I'll
announce the decision, and also the results of the popular vote.(**)

(* Until we all switch over to HTTTelepathy or VRML or whatever's
coming next.)

(** These two things, I remind you, are likely to be the same. But no
promises.)

So I decided to vote on a single one.

Regards,
RootShell

I should have mentioned -- voting is open to everybody, including
contestants. And IF Archive maintainers. We're not proud.

--Z ("or tired")

Done. I have to say, on of the entries has colons in it. I hope your
script to count the votes don't split the lines by colon. ;)

Heh. No, it splits on spaces -- based on a file that I'm filling in by
hand as the email arrives. For a comp this size, it's not a big deal.

Darn - hadn't realized you were using a script. Hope my thank-you note
appended to the vote doesn't stuff it up; apologies if it does.

-- jz

No, because I run the script on this file that I'm creating by hand.
I'm not running it on incoming email.

Great, because your thank-you note messed up the script, the winner
which was selected for the CSSComp is "Color Blocks Example" :
http://www.ifarchive.org/csscomp/aplotkin-1/index.html
Congratulations!

;)

oh noes! Why is it that all smarty programmers suck at graphic
design? ;)

Forgot to put the author names, do you need me to resend the email?

No.