Archive: Opinions

EditorialThis week has been an illustration of how fragile cyber-life can be.  In addition to putting together an issue of the Lansing Star, we launch our new look with this issue.  On top of that our Web host scheduled an upgrade to the data base system the Star relies on, a major version upgrade.  Either one could have trashed our Web site, so it was a bit of a brittle week.

If you happened to visit the Star during the week you may have seen various versions of the new design, including one that was very red.   We decided to stick with blue because it is really the color of our brand and it is much easier on the eyes.  The top bar menu goes to the five major sections of the Star, as well as to our new Classified Ads section and Events Calendar.  And we have added a friendly quick link bar to the five major sections at the bottom of each page.

Wednesday was a particularly worrisome day.  In the past we played with bumping our 4.x SQL server to the 5.x version.  It wasn't a serious attempt, but it wasn't a successful one, either.  So it was with much trepidation that we awaited the day when our host would take matters out of our hands and make the upgrade themselves.  In addition to not being able to add content to the system only one day before deadline day, it was distracting.  There was no direct way to know precisely when the upgrade was finished, but there were indirect ways. 

Finally, around 5pm they updated the page on their Web site that tells which servers have been upgraded.  The Star had survived.  Phew!

As for our new look I had just about finished it when I did that one incomprehensible thing that completely scrambled everything.  Exhausted by worrying about the data base upgrade, I didn't have enough energy to panic.  Restoring an earlier version of the .CSS file fixed it.

Murphy's Law: If it can go wrong it will go wrong. 

Veaner's Law: The more you own, the more you own that will break. 

My response to these laws: fix it!

No doubt there will be more tweaks as time goes on.  The goal is to make the Star more readable by taking a simple and sensible approach to our Web layout.  We hope you enjoy the new look, and that you continue to read the Star and recommend it to your friends.

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