Having had the blog for a few months I decided it was time for a new look.  I hope you like it.

While the original template worked, it was put together fairly rapidly and never intended to do more than service the site while it was in something of a trial phase.  Having got beyond that trial phase it was time to put something a little more permanent together.

Overall, the site hasn’t changed too much.  The biggest change is the move from a template compatible with 800×600 screens to one that needs 1024×768 or above.  I did hesitate before doing this, but (excluding iPhones and PDAs) less than 1.5% of visits come from people with screen resolutions of 800×600.  In contrast, more than half of all visitors have screen resolutions in excess of 1024×768.

It’s impossible to tell how many of that 1.5% are regular visitors, but if you are one of them, I do apologise for the inconvenience.  The site should still be readable without too much horizontal scrolling, and I would also point you toward the RSS or email options.  The BBC who have are required to be far more accessible than a lowly councillor made the shift to 1024 over a year ago, so I think it’s now an acceptable standard.

Other changes include moving the navigation and search features to the very top of the screen, a second side bar and some typographical changes to make the site roomier.  Hopefully this improves the look and feel and will allow for more visual content in the future.

I’ve tested the site on all the combinations I am able, all the way down to Internet Explorer 6 on Windows and it seems compliant with major browsers.  However, I obviously do not have access to every combination, so let me know if you spot any rendering problems, either in the comments or by email to cllr@jamescousins.com.

Having had the blog for a few months I decided it was time for a new look.  I hope you like it.

While the original template worked, it was put together fairly rapidly and never intended to do more than service the site while it was in something of a trial phase.  Having got beyond that trial phase it was time to put something a little more permanent together.

Overall, the site hasn’t changed too much.  The biggest change is the move from a template compatible with 800×600 screens to one that needs 1024×768 or above.  I did hesitate before doing this, but (excluding iPhones and PDAs) less than 1.5% of visits come from people with screen resolutions of 800×600.  In contrast, more than half of all visitors have screen resolutions in excess of 1024×768.

It’s impossible to tell how many of that 1.5% are regular visitors, but if you are one of them, I do apologise for the inconvenience.  The site should still be readable without too much horizontal scrolling, and I would also point you toward the RSS or email options.  The BBC who have are required to be far more accessible than a lowly councillor made the shift to 1024 over a year ago, so I think it’s now an acceptable standard.

Other changes include moving the navigation and search features to the very top of the screen, a second side bar and some typographical changes to make the site roomier.  Hopefully this improves the look and feel and will allow for more visual content in the future.

I’ve tested the site on all the combinations I am able, all the way down to Internet Explorer 6 on Windows and it seems compliant with major browsers.  However, I obviously do not have access to every combination, so let me know if you spot any rendering problems, either in the comments or by email to cllr@jamescousins.com.

This blog will be taking a few days off over Easter (unless anything really exciting happens) so I’d like to wish you all the best for the long weekend.

If you’ve come this way on a Wandsworth related search, it’s worth pointing out the council’s website is unavailable this weekend.  If you need to access council services the following is straight from the council:

The council’s website will be offline and unavailable over the Easter bank holiday weekend while essential maintenance works are carried out to the town hall’s computer networks.

The website will close down at 6pm on Thursday, April 9 and come back online at 3pm on Monday April 13.

However, it is likely to take some time after the switch on for all online services to be fully restored.

The council would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank users for their patience.

In an emergency you can contact the council’s out-of-hours emergency services on (020) 8871 6000.

Residents are also being advised that the technical services department’s ‘One Stop Counter’ will be closed over the Easter bank holiday weekend. It will close at 5pm on Thursday, April 9 and re-open at 9am on Tuesday, April 14.

The borough’s parking shops will also be closed on Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday.

Anyone who wishes to make a payment for a parking ticket can however do so in the normal way over the Easter weekend by dialing 0845 130 5758. Callers will need to have their parking ticket reference number to hand.

People who need to visit the car pound used by the council’s vehicle removal contractor will need to use either cash or a cheque to recover their vehicle. This is because the essential maintenance work being carried out to the council’s computer network means staff at the pound will not be able to accept credit card or debit card payments.

The network upgrade also means that the council tax service’s automated telephone payment line as well as its online payment facility will be unavilable while the website is down. Residents with bar-coded council tax bills can however still pay at either the post office or any paypoint outlet.