mrb-Nondisjunction Template

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Nondisjunction Template

© 2005 Richard Kulesus (mrbiotech)

This was either my fourth or fifth web-template, and I finally felt like I was beginning to get the hang of table-based templates and becoming more comfortable with CSS. It's evident looking at the markup here that there's much more I could have shoved into the CSS to allay some of the bulky coding in the template itself.

The Nondisjunction template was coded specifically for the e107 CMS, still one of my favorites. e107 nimbly handled so many different features out-of-the-box without nasty plugin installations or troublesome configurations. It had its own forums, downloads/uploads (still the best in the open-source CMS field) and included comments. It just worked, and it worked well.

...Well, that is, until it got hacked by the ErrorHack group of islamic radicals rampaging against something totally unrelated to the site: the Dutch Cartoon of their Prophet Muhamed with a bomb in his turban. Ironic, really, that the cartoon's author was making a statement about the reactionary nature perceived by many the world over with regards to islam, and how these juvenile pricks did nothing more than perpetuate that sentiment. They tarnish their own prophet while professing to violate others rights in his name. Horrid.

Anyway, e107 templates are kinduv awkward in relation to coding, and I had a hard time dodging all the PHP that goes into one of their themes. These theme was in full production until September 06, when Skinyourscreen got hacked. Because all the downloads, articles, tutorials, and forums were run off the same web-software, once they gained access, they were able to blow up everything. Now I keep all my eggs in SEPARATE baskets (one proggie handling the forums, one doing the articles, one doing the podcasts).

Template Features

Despite the fact that this template is a table-based design, there are still some things I really like about it. Here's my pick of top features:

• Fluid Layout: The entire template is fluid in layout, meaning that the right and left columns, as well as the center content, will resize dynamically if the browser window is resized. Makes the most of the visible web-browser window.
• Sliding Column Headers: Each of the mini-boxes that has a title will auto-expand the greyed area of the title-bar to encompass the text within in. It's a subtle effect, but one I really enjoy.
• Modular Design: This theme is basically composed of the same table/box motif repeated in different cells of the overall template table. This is conducive to module/plugin-based CMSs like e107 or Mambo because a uniform look can be accomplished easily, but also quickly reformed. Don't like the current layout? Wanna get rid of one column or another? It's just a matter of plucking one table outta the code.
• Forum Template: Although it's not visible on this static XHTML conversion of the original PHP template, the template does include a host of CSS styling options for a table-based forum, specifically for e107 although easily adapted.
• Cool Look: This still remains one of my favorite web-templates I've ever done. That may be due to sentimental value, of course, but I love pulling this one up even years after having made and used it on a live site. Perhaps I'll do a table-less XHTML 1.0 Strict version of the template someday.