Site redesign

In between sketching FARMER and revising ZOOM, I've also been redesigning my website. It's badly overdue for a new look. I'd originally planned to hire a webmaster, that is, until I found out how much it would cost.

I've decided upon a Flash site, only because I don't know Dreamweaver, and I don't want to code a website from scratch, tag-by-tag, as I did my current one. The final site, planned for a summer of 2007 release, will offer both a slick Flash version and my old html version. If there's time, I'll add some simple interactive games, activities related to my books and downloadable coloring pages.

I just love the buttons — strum them! It's just simple animation with very simple scripting, but looks much more complex than that. I've been learning some advanced techniques from a cool guy over at CartoonSmart. He offers a few free downloads, but I've paid for the good stuff.

Of course, if there's only a blank box above, there's problems I'll need to figure out, or you haven't upgraded your Flash Player to version 8.

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On a frustrating note: I just spent the last two days creating my first interactive fun page — I blogged about it a few days ago. And the .fla file corrupted. And I have no backup. This is frustrating on so many levels. Sometimes, but very rarely, files corrupt. And as far as management is concerned, the project didn't get done. They probably figure I don't know what I'm doing. But I do. Sigh.