BP News

QMT Website Goes on a Diet!

For a while now the website has been wondering why its trousers have shrunk and why it can no longer climb the stairs without needing an oxygen cylinder and some Kendal Mint Cake. Long ago it abandoned lace-ups in favour of comfy slip-ons. It was time for action. As web master (anybody who says “web person” gets a withering glare), I am responsible for the website’s welfare, so I put it on a strict diet and exercise regime over the summer.

Fat reduction was the first aim of the diet, which involved some structural alterations. These changes mean that search engines will now adore the site even more than they already do, because a new cleaner code makes the content easier to scan and index than the previous more messy code. The changes also have some important results for human visitors to the site.

File sizes have reduced and page downloads have speeded up (although it's always been fast). The website next underwent a makeover to smarten it up a bit and I also incorporated some features to make the website more user-friendly.

The headings on the navigation menu no longer have rounded corners (so last year); subtle gradients are now in! Gradients are only used on the headings, though, because less is more. New fonts have been used: Georgia (serif), Tahoma (sans-serif) and Courier New (mono-spaced). If you don’t have those fonts on your computer, then common alternatives have been specified. The font is mostly left at its default size, so visitors who have specified a preferred font size in their browser (such as “visible from space” in the case of my mother) will see the important areas of text in that size. More generous space between lines of text makes reading text on a computer screen more comfortable.

Visitors can navigate around a page using the tab key, which means it is not necessary to use a mouse (not just helpful for those with disabilities, it is also useful for “power users” who think that using a mouse is for wimps, or those stuck using a laptop computer track-pad). The navigation menu has been moved to the right-hand side which means it is only a short distance away from the scrollbar, reducing the amount of mouse movement required to scroll the page and click on links (no more volleying back and forth like Roger Federer).

There are three “jump links” on each page that go to: the homepage; the start of the main content; and the navigation panel. Keyboard shortcuts for these can be specified on the “Website Accessibility” page. There is still room for improvement though. The Big Spirit pages are a good example of what the website could be like because they are illustrated with plenty of photos of productions past and present. By way of contrast, the main Bancroft Players sections only has a handful of ancient photos on the history page and none at all of productions from the last 25 years! I’ve made a start with a photograph album of BP shows, but there are only three photos! So, if anybody has any photos from BP productions from the last two or three years (to start with) that they reckon would be suitable, please let me know.

Finally, please remember that whereas the newsletter only comes out once a month, the website can be updated any time, which means any last minute changes to dates and venues can be updated quickly and easily - but only if you let me know!!! After all, I failed my psychic exam - they changed the day and didn't tell anyone.

The website address (in case you forgot) is: www.queenmothertheatre.org.uk