About the Site Design

Sans-serif typeface

The style is a standard 10 point Arial (nagivation bars 9pt Arial). If you are viewing this on a Windows PC the chances are it is displaying the print in 10 point Arial as intended. However, if you are using some other system the chances are it does not have a font called Arial, in which case your browser will display whatever font it is set to display by default.

If this applies to you, then to see the site as the Webmaster designed it, ensure that your browser is set to display a 'sans-serif' font. (For the uninitiated, a serif font - generic term 'Roman' - has slightly decorated ends, serifs, to each letter as in the words "Essex Chess Association" at the top of the screen. "Sans" means "without", so a sans-serif typeface is plain.)

Navigation

The Site Map is now incorporated in the Home page, but without the date each page was last amended; this can now be found in the title bar of each page (but not the index page of each section).  The Update Blog has also been incorporated in the Home page, in an abbreviated form. The full Update Blog will still be maintained for earlier references, but for regular visitors, the Home Page Update Blog should be sufficient to keep you in touch.

Navigation Bars

Each page has a main "navigation bar". This is the pale blue strip beneath the title panel at the top of the page and comprises up to three sections, left, middle and right. Links are given in the text below to illustrate the various features described. (To return to this page having visited the pages indicated, use your browser's 'back' icon.)

The left section of the navigation bar gives the 'path from home', ie how you got to the current page, leaving you only a single click away from a previous stage of the route, or returning to the Home page. The middle section will give access to other pages in the same area of the site, eg if you are visiting the County Team Statistics area, each team's page affords access to each other team from the centre section of the navigation bar, eg County Team Statistics/Open (previously you had to return to the County Teams index). The right hand portion of the navigation bar will give links to external sites related to the area you are visiting, or perhaps other areas of this site where they are relevant.

In situations where the navigation bar would not fit neatly on one line, it will be presented in column format down the side of the page. The main navigation bar on the Home page and the Club Scene page are prime examples.

Some pages on the site are long and consist of many sections. These have their own page navigation bars to help you find your way around.  Page navigation bars, where they exist, appear as a third line within the masthead (white background with single blue underline), and are repeated throughout the page (but with a grey background, blue border), appearing after each section eg: League Rules.

Comments Welcome

The Webmaster is not a professional at this game and a Website can look totally different on different screens; different Browsers interpret a Web page in varying ways.  Users have a variety of monitor configurations; eg screen sizes may vary between 640 x 480, or 800 x 600, or 1024 x 768 etc., and have different setting for the number of colours displayed. (Fortunately, it is not necessary for this site to be highly sophisticated in the way of colour display, animations etc.)

For information, the Webmaster has his screen size set at 1024 x 768 pixels and uses Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Readers' comments are always welcome; it is only by hearing from you that the Webmaster can understand how his efforts are received, whether any design aspect of the site causes problems (eg do Netscape viewers have any problems?), whether the site adequately meets the needs of his audience, etc.

If you have a comment about essexchess.org.uk, please mail: Webmaster.