As far as design goes it looks fine, only thing I would change is the rounded corners, if it's going to be HTML it's a PITA in that it requires javascript and the subnodes on the navigation on the left usually look inconsistent.

I'd also colour the log in one a different colour as it's a separate CTA to the primary nav

I've deliberately added the Log In as a button. Otherwise you end up with a login box at the bottom of the page which IMO makes it a bit untidy. I was thinking about adding it as a small button on the main horizontal menu but there's not much else to add there. Figured it'd look odd. There are a lot more menus to be added but this is just a WIP.

One of the things I will need to do is make sure it works on all computers. My laptop is far more vibrant and I use firefox. I know the work computers seem to make things darker, and not everyone's browser is up to date.

I'd still leave it where it is and as a button, just a different colour so it's differentiated from the primary navigation

Time at work, so tested the old template (not uploaded the one I've been working at home yet) and got this:




Renders fine in FF but not everyone has it whereas in IE8 it's a huge black box. Am going to go back and redesign the menu but is it just the rounded corners, or does the colour gradient also cause issues? FWIW the submenu in grey/white worked fine.

I think IE has issues with rounded corners, if they're created as transparent PNGs or if they're CSS.

Probably safer to say IE has issues, and leave it at that.

Thanks. Had a bit of a dig around and it turns out you're right - IE8 (and 7) just can't handle CSS3. It can't do: rounded corners, gradients and opacities - all of which are being used in the template.

I think I'll have to redesign the template in an older version of the software that uses CSS2.1.

Look out CSS3Pie - http://css3pie.com/

This is a handy script that makes older browsers, including IE, do CSS3 stuff as far as they are capable. Think of it as making an HD TV programme, but allowing people with a small 4:3 black and white TV still see your video. In short, it will degrade gracefully.

If you search transparency there's a fairly straightforward ms only thing that works for ie 7 and 8. As for rounded corners, I do it in CSS knowing that it will only work in 9 and above, but thinking [LIFTED] 'em. It's not as if it doesn't degrade disgracefully, they just see square corners, their loss.

Older IE iterations can do rounded corners, but you need to muck around with proprietary filters, which is painful. CSS Pie does this for you, and requires little or no extra coding on your part.

Mark

In all walks of life, pie does it for you.

I will look into this as it looks pretty good. However, I'm increasingly of the opinion that everyone can go [LIFTED] em selves now. If you run the latest browsers, you can see the goodness, if not, you can still see something. Where does it end?!

I'm currently redesigning the template in an older version of the software that supports CSS2. Am hoping it will work. The computers at work are all XP based so don't run anything higher than IE8. Rather crappily, the site doesn't look as good as the CSS3 version - mainly down to the buttons having gaps between them. Will test it all out later and report back.

I've also managed to break the old intranet. I upgraded xampp, reimported the old database, copied over the old intranet and now can't log in. It posts error messages everywhere. Will try to turn it off in php.ini.