Frequently Asked QuestionsClarifications for LiveJournal users
Clarifications for LiveJournal users
We’ve already received some great feedback especially from the LiveJournal camp so I thought I’d address a few of these points. Before I do, however, let me first say that from the very beginning of the contest planning, participation from designers in the LiveJournal community and use of the styles by all LJ users was absolutely a cornerstone of the contest.
However, given that we are all Movable Type and TypePad users and had a great deal to do just to get the contest launched, we now realize that we failed to adequately explain how LJ users could participate and how they could use the designs from the contest. For that, we apologize and now intend to do exactly that.
Making it simple for ALL designers
The first problem is that we didn’t make it easy enough for LiveJournal designers to participate since the templates contain tags used in TypePad and Movable Type, and not LiveJournal’s S2 code. This is absolutely true and something that we simply overlooked.
So, to solve this problem, we’ve created a set of output pages using the various layouts. These pages contain the output after the Movable Type/TypePad template tags are parsed and can be used instead in creating your styles. Because the HTML structure and class/id attributes are exactly the same, the styles will be compatible with the templates themselves.
What’s more, like CSS Zen Garden, any designer (not just Movable Type, TypePad or even LiveJournal users) can use these pages in creating their styles.
Using the styles in LiveJournal
Some people have expressed confusion over how LiveJournal users could use the styles created by the contest, given that they contain MT/TP template tags and not S2 code. This is completely understandable and stems from the fact that we didn’t explain our intentions well enough.
My understanding (and again, forgive me for my LJ ignorance), is that the styles created for the contest are absolutely compatible[1], but cannot entered easily by users. The intention that we failed to communicate was that at end of the contest, all of the styles would be made available to LiveJournal users from within LJ without any need for individual users to do the work to incoporate them manaully.
The Style Contest for Movable Type, TypePad AND LiveJournal
In summary, let me say that we absolutely want participation by the LiveJournal community of designers and have always intended for LiveJournal users to reap the benefits of this contest. It was only because we are all Movable Type and TypePad users ourselves and our relative uncertainty about all things LJ that caused us to be less than clear about those intentions.
Again, we apologize and look forward to making any further changes that we need to to make sure that inclusiveness in a reality and not just a nice pie-in-the-sky ideal. As always please let us know if anything else gets your goat. So to speak…
[1] - Compatible in HTML structure and attributes with the Bloggish template which was introduced as part of the standard Six Apart styles initiative last August.
