Thanks so much for the long and detailed comment. We had moved some stuff around on Scott's site and (since I was only moving items and not adding anything new) I didn't bother checking the site in the webkit browsers.

It turns out that jQuery cycle didn't like the fact there was only one entry (as it's post/category driven) and decided to pick up ALL of the widgets as entries, and not just the cycle <div> tags itself. A quick addition of a secondary sidebar to contain the cycle and subscription widget, and things are back up and running. It was a rare case because not everyone will have a jQuery cycle widget running above this sidebar, and once the problem was debugged it was a fairly easy fix.

This code DOES indeed work in webkit browsers, however, and you can retest the site in both Safari and Chrome as I did to see that everything is running smooth and creamy.

Thanks for pointing this out to my attention, though, as well as the UI suggestions. I have a few last minute tweaks to add to the site, and one of them (as I had put on the comp but have not yet implemented) is an acronym tag or anchor tag with the title text explaining how it works.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to comment – even if it's pointing out a mistake that means that you're as passionate about it as I am, and I'm always looking for more people of that mindset to hook up with.

Thanks so much for the long and detailed comment. We had moved some stuff around on Scott's site and (since I was only moving items and not adding anything new) I didn't bother checking the site in the webkit browsers.

It turns out that jQuery cycle didn't like the fact there was only one entry (as it's post/category driven) and decided to pick up ALL of the widgets as entries, and not just the cycle <div> tags itself. A quick addition of a secondary sidebar to contain the cycle and subscription widget, and things are back up and running. It was a rare case because not everyone will have a jQuery cycle widget running above this sidebar, and once the problem was debugged it was a fairly easy fix.

This code DOES indeed work in webkit browsers, however, and you can retest the site in both Safari and Chrome as I did to see that everything is running smooth and creamy.

Thanks for pointing this out to my attention, though, as well as the UI suggestions. I have a few last minute tweaks to add to the site, and one of them (as I had put on the comp but have not yet implemented) is an acronym tag or anchor tag with the title text explaining how it works.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to comment – even if it's pointing out a mistake that means that you're as passionate about it as I am, and I'm always looking for more people of that mindset to hook up with.

Thanks so much for the long and detailed comment. We had moved some stuff around on Scott’s site and (since I was only moving items and not adding anything new) I didn’t bother checking the site in the webkit browsers.

It turns out that jQuery cycle didn’t like the fact there was only one entry (as it’s post/category driven) and decided to pick up ALL of the widgets as entries, and not just the cycle tags itself. A quick addition of a secondary sidebar to contain the cycle and subscription widget, and things are back up and running. It was a rare case because not everyone will have a jQuery cycle widget running above this sidebar, and once the problem was debugged it was a fairly easy fix.

This code DOES indeed work in webkit browsers, however, and you can retest the site in both Safari and Chrome as I did to see that everything is running smooth and creamy.

Thanks for pointing this out to my attention, though, as well as the UI suggestions. I have a few last minute tweaks to add to the site, and one of them (as I had put on the comp but have not yet implemented) is an acronym tag or anchor tag with the title text explaining how it works.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to comment – even if it’s pointing out a mistake that means that you’re as passionate about it as I am, and I’m always looking for more people of that mindset to hook up with.

Pipedreams aside, I recommend that you recheck your WordPress solution's code because it doesn't appear to render correctly in WebKit-powered browsers such as Chrome (4.1.249.1036) or Safari (4.0.4), even though it looks great in the latest version of Firefox running under Windows Vista (didn't check IE because I couldn't bring myself to power it up, but I'd look there, too). It's difficult to tell what's going wrong, and it might have something to do with the WordPress plug-in that fetches the RSS, but I'd bet it's something that just requires a few simple tweaks or workarounds so it works correctly in all Grade A browsers.

Aside from browser compatibility, you also might consider adding some visual cues to the accordion presentation to help readers better understand what it is and how it works. As designers and developers, we intuitively “get” how an accordion works, but if I sat my mother, for instance, in front of it and asked her what the tabs did, she probably would tell me they are just links to other sites, and if she clicked them she'd leave the site and go to whichever one she clicked on. That's not surprising because the tabs themselves are so similar to the site's top navigation. My mother may be an extreme case, but even more experienced users might not immediately recognize the tabs as an accordion because they look just like the site navigation. The simplest solution might be to include a line of text under the Around the Web heading that reads: “Click the publication names to see their latest headlines via RSS” or something to that effect. What's more, I sometimes use a graphical plus-sign (+) treatment in accordions to help readers understand that when they click a link, it will expand to show more information. I also have used an arrow that points to the right (directly at the clickable link) when a tab is closed. When the link is clicked, the arrow toggles to point down at the new links revealed beneath the active tab. These visual cues aren't difficult to add and help to guide readers. I believe they also could add a touch of subtle sophistication to the accordion, without overwhelming its simple presentation. Just food for thought and maybe something to consider.

Once again, I think the accordion solution for displaying RSS links or any collection of categorized links works very nicely, and the way you are handling it via WordPress is clever and relatively easy to implement. I am sure that you'll see at least a few site owners interested in adding the same technique to their sites very soon – and once your solution is tweaked for all browsers.

Cheers and good luck!

Pipedreams aside, I recommend that you recheck your WordPress solution’s code because it doesn’t appear to render correctly in WebKit-powered browsers such as Chrome (4.1.249.1036) or Safari (4.0.4), even though it looks great in the latest version of Firefox running under Windows Vista (didn’t check IE because I couldn’t bring myself to power it up, but I’d look there, too). It’s difficult to tell what’s going wrong, and it might have something to do with the WordPress plug-in that fetches the RSS, but I’d bet it’s something that just requires a few simple tweaks or workarounds so it works correctly in all Grade A browsers.

Aside from browser compatibility, you also might consider adding some visual cues to the accordion presentation to help readers better understand what it is and how it works. As designers and developers, we intuitively “get” how an accordion works, but if I sat my mother, for instance, in front of it and asked her what the tabs did, she probably would tell me they are just links to other sites, and if she clicked them she’d leave the site and go to whichever one she clicked on. That’s not surprising because the tabs themselves are so similar to the site’s top navigation. My mother may be an extreme case, but even more experienced users might not immediately recognize the tabs as an accordion because they look just like the site navigation. The simplest solution might be to include a line of text under the Around the Web heading that reads: “Click the publication names to see their latest headlines via RSS” or something to that effect. What’s more, I sometimes use a graphical plus-sign (+) treatment in accordions to help readers understand that when they click a link, it will expand to show more information. I also have used an arrow that points to the right (directly at the clickable link) when a tab is closed. When the link is clicked, the arrow toggles to point down at the new links revealed beneath the active tab. These visual cues aren’t difficult to add and help to guide readers. I believe they also could add a touch of subtle sophistication to the accordion, without overwhelming its simple presentation. Just food for thought and maybe something to consider.

Once again, I think the accordion solution for displaying RSS links or any collection of categorized links works very nicely, and the way you are handling it via WordPress is clever and relatively easy to implement. I am sure that you’ll see at least a few site owners interested in adding the same technique to their sites very soon – and once your solution is tweaked for all browsers.

Cheers and good luck!