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Big-Time Resources

5. That's from Helen's website. You're definitely right that I missed the new horns. Will fix.

There are 2 different companies that we're talking about here. The older stencils you have in are chart are right. They were made by VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik--makers of the blue label B&S horns. The newer ones like the Guardala, Chicago Jazz, Allora, etc, were made by Vogtländische Musikinstrumentenfabrik GmbH. This company made the B&S Medusa, 2001, etc. You just have to add it. The second company was formed in 1989.

I haven't had a chance to write the histories of these brands yet. They've been in the "to do" list for some time. Things will be a lot clearer when that's done.
 
There are 2 different companies that we're talking about here. The older stencils you have in are chart are right. They were made by VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik--makers of the blue label B&S horns. The newer ones like the Guardala, Chicago Jazz, Allora, etc, were made by Vogtländische Musikinstrumentenfabrik GmbH. This company made the B&S Medusa, 2001, etc. You just have to add it. The second company was formed in 1989.

I haven't had a chance to write the histories of these brands yet. They've been in the "to do" list for some time. Things will be a lot clearer when that's done.

yes, the one morphed (sort of) into the other after the fall of communism.
 
After playing around for about 1.5 hours, I was able to beat the Menu Bar thingy into submission and came up with a new format, as you can see in the screenshot ....
I've actually decided to go with a modified version of what I posted above. Main reason: I was starting to get a few too many INFO links and it started making things look bad. It'll take a while to convert, still.
 
Oh, I'll clean up this thread, eventually :.)

Anyhow, I've been playing around again. Current result. What's supposed to happen is, when you click a button ("Information," etc.) a bit of JavaScript runs and pops up what will be another page, with more information or links, etc. (I just have some random websites as links, right now). The JavaScript is trying to put the pop-up dead center of your main monitor. I've tested it on the newest Windows versions of Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer.

The center column that has all the model information is actually a clickable box and does the same bit of JavaScript that the button does. I was envisioning putting in some serial numbers and/or date ranges in the pop-up. There's one problem, though: doesn't work in Internet Explorer 9.

I mentioned somewhere that I really hate writing code because if I'm going to write code for a website, I want it to be W3C compliant because that means it should work on everyone's browser. My code failed and that's probably the reason it doesn't work in Internet Explorer. I also know exactly where and what the problem is. I also know that if I fix it, other code gets slaughtered. I also didn't want to do JavaScript because there's no guarantee some web browser implements all JavaScript functions or implements them differently.

So, if any of ya'll want to take a look at my code and come up with something better, please e-mail or PM me.
 
Page came up for me, but the links went nowhere. IE8/XP Pro.... Could be something in the IE settings locked by our admins here.
 
When the page comes up in IE 9, there's a little pop-up from IE that says,

"Internet Explorer restricted this webpage from running scripts or ActiveX controls." (See attached.)

I just click on the "Allow blocked content" button an everything, except for the linky for the "Models" column works. In IE 8, it's probably going to be a, "Put the page in Trusted Sites under the Security tab in Internet Options."

Grr. While I could possibly convince folks to download a different browser, I doubt if I could get everyone to do it. That means back to the coding drawing board.

Thanks very much for testing!
 
Just tried on a machine I control. Also IE8/XP, but home this time.

Same behaviour. Nothing happens. Not even a blocked popup warning.

So I added woodwindforum.com to the list of trusted sites for popups. No change. So I checked the links - added thesax.info to the list. Still no progress/change. Adding purple.com didnt help either.

So I guess it's something other than the popup blocker. Scripts are allowed...
 
Hmmm.

I'll give it a shot tomorrow, when I have access to a machine with XP and IE 8.

I've also done a bit more playing with the design. I'm still going to play with it a bit and if I still like it, I'll let folks take a look.
 
Lo and behold: a working test. Screenshot attached to the post, if you'd rather.

Again, no longer W3C compliant (this example violates at least 14 rules). Again, tested in all current browsers on the Windows side. Still fluid width, but if your monitor doesn't do 1280 width, you're going to see some problems. However, 1280 width has been standard resolution on most monitors and LCD panels for a looong while, now. I've even got a 12" LCD that does that resolution.

Two major changes:
* The model chart is no longer clickable. I put the serial/date ranges on the page.
* I'm now using a "tab array" code to consolidate the Info, Picture Galleries, Modern Website(s) and Comments/Notes fields. It's relatively easy to work with, so that satisfies one of my requirements.
* The only "pop-up and center" happens with the "Pete's Comments and Notes" tab. The window that pops up is only 640x480. IMO, if I have more notes than that, it really should be a full-blown blog entry and I could link to that, instead.

The only thing I have to remember is that the row has to be slightly larger than the longest tab. In this example, those are the Info and Picture Gallery tabs. If I forget, the entire row changes size.

Comments/suggestions welcome!
 
Tested on the same browsers as above on Mac (10.7.4). Worky, although the maximize button in Safari doesn't maximize the page, but you can make the page bigger. I might set the page to 1280 fixed width. I'll think about it.

I know I have an XP machine around here, somewhere. I've also got IE 10 on a Windows 8 boxen.
 
For a guy that says he hates coding, I've sure done a lot of it these past few days: I'm now 100% finished with the template and I'm filling in data. I've also gotten a couple of e-mails from folks with some other info, so I'll be rolling that in. Additionally, I'm back to 99% W3C compliant (the 1% is for a code "warning"): I had to hack and slash both the CSS and the JavaScript I was using. Considering I've had approximately 10 hours of experience with either before this project, it was a tad difficult.

So, I hope to finish adding content by Monday, at this pace. Then i can go back to looking at pretty horns.
 
Progress:
* Tables filled up to, but not including manufacturers starting with "L"

I've got to finish that, then add my "notes." They're going to all be in separate files, so that means more pages. Which is more than I can concentrate on my first time thru this :).

78 distinct visitors in 15 days. Well, it's not a bad start.
 
It's done. It's posted. Mangling a quote: "It looks good. I feel good. I like my chances."

Now, if this is 2.0, there needs to be a 3.0. Attached insane example.

Someone stop me. Please.
 
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