NiceStylesheet Launch Party at the Palms
Okay, so maybe there isn’t an official party at the Palms for my new site Nice Stylesheet, but it sounded good didn’t it?
Even though there isn’t a launch party, there is an official launch, and it’s right now. 
About the Site
Nice Stylesheet is a Cascading Styles Sheets (CSS) gallery that recognizes inspirational website designs using CSS and web standards.
I really want to keep it simple. The main attraction here is the designs showcased in the gallery, not the site itself. Sure, I could have loaded the site up with all kinds of pretty gradients, but I didn’t see the point. The point is to update the site with inspirational designs. I feel like the design is good and functional, just not flashy, and that’s fine by me.
NASA and the Zero-Gravity Pen
I had heard this story before but Brian Clark touched on this topic in teaching sells and it reminded me. Even though it’s an urban legend and false, it still rings true in many things we do.
The gist of the NASA Zero-Gravity Pen story is that when NASA first started launching manned space craft, they found that astronauts couldn’t use pens to write with in space. The ink wouldn’t flow through the pen in a zero-gravity environment. NASA spent millions developing a pen that would work in a zero-gravity environment and finally came up with a solution. Russia also had this same problem. They used a pencil.
Nice Stylesheet is the proverbial pencil.
A Couple More Tidbits
- I plan on updating Nice Stylesheet frequently. Right now I’m thinking once a week, on Monday. I want to update frequently, but not so frequent that the designs don’t get their due time on the homepage (which will most likely be the page with the most views).
- I have also added a top 10 list to the sidebar (the top 10 list is something that I’ve not seen on other showcase sites, but not sure why?). If your design is inspirational and receives a lot of votes, you’ll be rewarded with a link in the sidebar on every page.
You Can Help
I encourage all of my readers to head over to Nice Stylesheet and check things out. While you’re there, please take a moment to vote on your favorite designs and if you want to keep up with the newest designs, please subscribe to the RSS feed. If you’re a blogger that frequently writes about web design topics and you’re looking for something to write about, feel free to give Nice Stylesheet a plug on your blog. I won’t be mad at ya. 
Also, if you notice any weirdness going on with the site, please let me know.
Credits
I gave her credit already on the site, but I can’t thank her enough for her help. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Sarah. Nice Stylesheet could not have been a reality without her help.
Brian helped out a ton as well in scouring the web to find quality designs for me to add to the list to be submitted!
Thanks Sarah and Brian.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the full RSS feed.
Related Posts
Comments
The link for Veerle’s Blog doesn’t work…
Oh, and I can’t vote on the catagories pages… 
But good job!
I really like the site!
I’m subscribed to the RSS!
And I’ll have a site to submit soon…
Almost done with it.
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Brian: Link to Veerle’s blog is fixed. 
Hmmm, not sure what’s going on with the category pages. Glad you pointed that out cause I probably would not have known otherwise.
Can’t wait to see your new site Brian! Let me know when it’s done.
Added you to the credits in the blog post too Brian. I thought I added it earlier, but I guess not (it’s late). Thanks for your help!
Thanks
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
No problem!
As for my new site…
It’s kinda done - but I’m a little shy at unveiling it. It’s my personal web site with my (somewhat small) design gallary, and a little extra. I need to get two more photos and re-write the Bio and Design pages. But it is on the web… But not quite ready for submissions.
Oh, and thanks for the LinkLove!
I’m actually writing a post for NiceStylesheet right now…
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Oh wow.
I just realized that I have already done a blog post about the web site.
It’s BrianPurkiss.net.
As I said, it’s not quite done…
I need a new pic for the home page and design page. I’m going to place the photos on those pages in the right box and put the content in the left box for those two pages.
Also, I can’t make up my mind what I want to do with the background. I can’t decide wheather I want to leave it plain as is, throw in a gradient, a bunch of small, random, semi-transparent rounded boxes and rectangles, or something else. I’m still thinking about that one…
Furthermore, I can’t decide if it’s too plain or not. I think it’s good… but I dunno.
uh… suggestions?
(sorry for all these comments...)
(and for asking for help on your blog...)
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
I always check that site everyday since you advertised on ur randomjabber Finally it’s out to the world. Can’t wait to send my site to there too..
Good Job, man!!
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Best of luck with it, Deron. I know you’ve put a lot of work into it, so I’m hoping it all pays off for you.
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Congrats on finally getting the site live Deron As for the help, well I learnt a couple of things too
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Great! Looks really well Deron, and I’ll be glad to give it some publicity, but, I’ll wait till the beginning of the week.
One piece of advice, and it’s only my opinion obviously, but, I’d change the font of the menu and titles (categories, subscribe, gallery) to Georgia, It’s more refined, and will fit nicely with the logo. Just a thought.
Want it stumbled? Would you like me to send you links to any top designs?
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Brian: No problem at all. I like the look of your personal site. It is plain, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I don’t imagine you’ll have a ton of content on the site nor will it be updated on a frequent basis? So in that sense I don’t think you need anything super snazzy. As for the background, I think any of your thoughts would work just fine. I think things like that you just gotta decide and not over analyze. Someone will like it, someone won’t, that’s the just nature of the beast. Any of them will look fine.
The only thing I notice is the rounded corners on your white boxes. They are a little jagged it looks like. I’m not sure what graphics program you use, but in Adobe Photoshop, you will just need to do a “save for web” and then set the “matte” to the same color as your background so that it makes the rounded edges smoother.
Sara: Thanks, I appreciate you stopping by to check it out.
Daravuth: Thanks for the continued support.
David: Thanks. Yeah I’ve done a lot of work on it, but I’ve had a lot of help too. We’ll see where it goes.
SarahG hehe, I would suppose you have...like the whole inner workings of the star rating script maybe? You’ve probably learned more than you cared to.
Armen: I’d appreciate the publicity! Your new design was actually one that I am going to add in the next set of updates.
Yeah, I actually had the headings set to Georgia originally but switched to the current because it seemed to work better on monitors with ClearType enabled as well ad the ones with it disabled. Most people don’t even realize ClearType is there or how to enable it, but it really changes the look of a site. The headings right now work well in both, but I haven’t completely tested Georgia in both. I need too, because I agree, it would go with the site logo and feel better.
Yeah, that’d be nice Armen! I’ll take anything I can get, a stumble would be great! Sure, please send me your top designs, that would be great. Any you come across, feel free to send my way.
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Thanks for the pointers!
That is correct, there won’t be too much content nor will it be updated a lot. I didn’t even incorperate an RSS feed for it.
I’ve noticed those corners and wasn’t quite sure the best way to fix ‘em…
I’ll give that a try!
Stumbled!
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Very simple yet effective layout. I’m liking it a lot. I even rated a few designs...best of luck with the site!
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
I just had a thought.
You know how when you visit some web sites, they’ll have a bunch of icons of awards they’ve won for their design?
You should do that for NiceStylesheet!
Just make a simple icon for NiceStylesheet, and make it available for people to add to their awards. It would increase visibility and authority for you!
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Brian: I’m not sure if you ever sleep? Just kidding, I feel privileged to have you so active here.
Yeah, just let me know if you can’t figure out those round corners. Not sure if what I said about PhotoShop made sense or not? I could even do it real quick for you if you wanted me to (if you can’t fix ‘em).
The icon/graphic as an award isn’t a bad idea Brian. I’ve made a mental note.
Erik: Thanks a lot! I appreciate you rating some designs.
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
Sleep? What’s that?
I haven’t been getting much of that lately…
Yeah, I think I got what you said. I haven’t had time to try it out yet.
I’ll let you know when I do!
Thanks!
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007
That looks heaps better (at least on my screen).
One more thing; the dotted border to the left of the subscription options. I’d try and get it to line up with the search bar, and you sponsors area.
Hope it’s goes well.
Posted on Fri Nov 2, 2007
Armen: Yeah it looks fine now on ClearType and non-ClearType. I checked it again to make sure.
Yeah, I had thought about lining those up too, but the way it is now, just can’t do it. Moving the RSS section over so they all line up throws the categories out of whack.
Thanks for the ideas Armen.
Posted on Fri Nov 2, 2007
I just did the matte thing - and it worked!
Thanks so much!
Posted on Wed Nov 14, 2007
Brian: No problem. It took me forever to figure it out. Something so simple, yet so hidden.
Posted on Wed Nov 14, 2007
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My name is Deron Sizemore and I am a web designer, web publisher, blogger and serial internet entrepreneur living in Lexington, Kentucky.
Yay!!!
Finally!
I’m glad you got it up!
I’m heading on over to check it out!
Posted on Thu Nov 1, 2007