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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.

Article

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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.

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The Asda store on Lavender Hill re-opened today as ‘Asda Clapham Junction Battersea’ in response to the SW11tch campaign to make sure the area is properly named.

Celebrating the 'opening' of Asda Battersea
Celebrating the 'opening' of Asda Battersea

Asda was one of the biggest offenders (Wal-Mart is the world’s largest company).  So it’s a real coup for the campaigners to get them to recognise where they live.

A common question is ‘why is it important’?  I think there are two answers.

First, you need to know where you are!  When Waitrose announced they had bought some Woolworth’s stores and would be opening new shops there was a real buzz on a Clapham web-forum.  Until, that is, they realised that Waitrose had made a mistake, and were moving to Battersea, not Clapham High Street.

But the second issue is branding.  Wal-mart do not allow each Asda store to create their own brand, perhaps focusing on different products, or creating their own logo.  It is important to have a distinctive brand that people recognise and can trust, especially when times are hard.  And it’s no less important for Battersea to have it’s own brand, so people know where and what it is – a high quality, diverse and distinctive destination.