Xenite.Org News

Parma Endorion introduces new look, banner rotation

August 07, 2001 at 10:41:04

Xenite.Org's premier Tolkien Web resource, Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, by Michael Martinez, has been reformatted as part of an ongoing upgrade to older Xenite.Org content.

Parma Endorion was first published on the Web in 1996. It became so popular with students, teachers, and librarians that a second edition, more printer friendly, was published in 1998. A third edition, intended for publication as an ebook last year, has been deferred but should be published later this year. A Spanish translation of the third edition is in preparation by volunteers recruited through Elfenomeno.

The core HTML design for the second edition has been updated to adhere to Xenite.Org's current design standards. A new design is being created and updating our content will be easier if all our pages use the same HTML design. We anticipate publishing the new Xenite.Org design by the end of September or in early October.

However, the new Parma Endorion Web site also rolls out a new Javascript banner rotation tool that we hope will reduce server processing demands and, as the tool is added to more pages, speed up page loading and rendering times. As Xenite.Org's traffic increases, we find that our extensive reliance upon Perl scripts is putting an unwieldy demand on our server's processor time.

The new Javascript tool will allow us to set up special promotions much more quickly and easily. Most of Xenite.Org's banner resources are used to promote internal Xenite.Org Web sites. We occasionally also offer special promotions in conjunction with other Web sites.

Xenite.Org's Lord of the Rings movie news site is scheduled to be updated with the new Javascript tool next.

Michael Martinez is also the author of Visualizing Middle-earth, which may be purchased online or at most bookstores, and he writes a weekly column on Tolkien and Middle-earth for Suite101.Com. He has also written essays and liner notes for Toy Vault's Middle-earth action figures.