introduction
community organization
the style systems
generator
smooth sailin' and flexible squares
important links
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introduction
\Ab"so*nant\, a. [L. ab + sonans, p. pr. of sonare to sound.] Discordant; contrary; -- opposed to consonant.
Why absonant? Because it is a pretty word. Because I have an obsession for pretty and rare words. Because it represents me in the sense that it means going against the crowd, being different, discordant. I'm quite fond of discordance in some cases.
This community is owned by![]()
aery, once upon a time known as n_o_c_t_u_r_n_e. I opened it in April 2006, because I had made some Livejournal templates that I felt did not belong at my graphics community ![]()
_sinelinea, for they were not art in any way. They were just a collection of CSS lines.
Also, I had received too many questions regarding my previous layouts and felt it was time to keep everything in one place - explanations, tutorials and questions included. So here we are.
All layouts are to be downloaded in a zip file, you will need a program to unzip it (for instance, winzip). The zip file will contain all information regarding installation. I have a strange preference for shades of gray combined with reds, pinks and oranges, so most templates will have those base colours. However, colours are easy to change, so if you dislike the looks, you can customize them as you wish.
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community organization
The entries in this community are categorized in various ways. There are four main archive posts, all will be updated as we go. They are linked from the main page, and also at the bottom of this post, in the important links section. All entries are also archived through tags. In the archive posts as well as in the tags, you will find some categories that you may not be familiar with:
style system
This indicates whether the layout is based on style system one or style system two.
base
This indicates what original LJ base the layout uses. The three I use most frequently are generator for S1 and smooth sailin' and flexible squares for S2.
design
This indicates the main design feature of the layout - does it use a sidebar or not, is it perhaps a scrollbox? It speaks for itself, mostly.
theme
To make organizing easier, I have given all my templates a name. The theme indicates the name - this way you can easily find, say, all tutorials and features for the template you want to use.
The community, tutorials and #archive tags are quite obvious I think, so I will not explain them any further.
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the style systems
Style system one is the oldest LJ system for layouts, style system two has been added more recently. The two major differences for free accounts between S1 and S2 are that in S1, one is not able to use tags, and that in S1, the userpictures do not show up with every post, whereas they do in S2. For paid accounts, S2 offers much more customization options, but the customizing is more complicated than in S1. For free accounts, S1 can be customized through overrides, S2 can only be customized using CSS. Whatever layout you download will contain the correct instructions for installing.
The instructions for adding more content in the sidebar for S1 layouts can be found in the tutorials. Adding more content in the sidebar in S2 layouts is easier, but it has restrictions. Through the customization area you can add free text boxes, and through the links area you can add links but that is all. The free text boxes do not allow HTML tags, and the links do not allow any further customizing.
------
generator
Generator is the base I use most for S1 layouts. The advantage of generator, is that it allows any content at all to be added in the sidebar, with no restrictions. The disadvantage is that it can only be customized dramatically in S1, thus does not allow the use of tags, nor the appearance of userpictures with every entry.
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smooth sailin' and flexible squares
Smooth Sailin' is my favourite S2 base, because it allows ten free text boxes in the sidebar, a tags box and a search box. In fact, it allows everything that Flexible Squares allows as well, plus a little more. The disadvantage of Smooth Sailin' though, is that it is much harder to customize. Thus, whenever I can I will use SS, when I can not, I will use FS. Whenever you download a layout that does not use a sidebar, it is usually FS, but it is in the sidebar that the greatest difference is made, so when there is no sidebar, it really does not matter all that much.
------
important links
themes
tutorials
terms of service
affiliates
got questions?
frequently asked
community organization
the style systems
generator
smooth sailin' and flexible squares
important links
------
introduction
\Ab"so*nant\, a. [L. ab + sonans, p. pr. of sonare to sound.] Discordant; contrary; -- opposed to consonant.
Why absonant? Because it is a pretty word. Because I have an obsession for pretty and rare words. Because it represents me in the sense that it means going against the crowd, being different, discordant. I'm quite fond of discordance in some cases.
This community is owned by
aery, once upon a time known as n_o_c_t_u_r_n_e. I opened it in April 2006, because I had made some Livejournal templates that I felt did not belong at my graphics community 
_sinelinea, for they were not art in any way. They were just a collection of CSS lines.Also, I had received too many questions regarding my previous layouts and felt it was time to keep everything in one place - explanations, tutorials and questions included. So here we are.
All layouts are to be downloaded in a zip file, you will need a program to unzip it (for instance, winzip). The zip file will contain all information regarding installation. I have a strange preference for shades of gray combined with reds, pinks and oranges, so most templates will have those base colours. However, colours are easy to change, so if you dislike the looks, you can customize them as you wish.
------
community organization
The entries in this community are categorized in various ways. There are four main archive posts, all will be updated as we go. They are linked from the main page, and also at the bottom of this post, in the important links section. All entries are also archived through tags. In the archive posts as well as in the tags, you will find some categories that you may not be familiar with:
style system
This indicates whether the layout is based on style system one or style system two.
base
This indicates what original LJ base the layout uses. The three I use most frequently are generator for S1 and smooth sailin' and flexible squares for S2.
design
This indicates the main design feature of the layout - does it use a sidebar or not, is it perhaps a scrollbox? It speaks for itself, mostly.
theme
To make organizing easier, I have given all my templates a name. The theme indicates the name - this way you can easily find, say, all tutorials and features for the template you want to use.
The community, tutorials and #archive tags are quite obvious I think, so I will not explain them any further.
------
the style systems
Style system one is the oldest LJ system for layouts, style system two has been added more recently. The two major differences for free accounts between S1 and S2 are that in S1, one is not able to use tags, and that in S1, the userpictures do not show up with every post, whereas they do in S2. For paid accounts, S2 offers much more customization options, but the customizing is more complicated than in S1. For free accounts, S1 can be customized through overrides, S2 can only be customized using CSS. Whatever layout you download will contain the correct instructions for installing.
The instructions for adding more content in the sidebar for S1 layouts can be found in the tutorials. Adding more content in the sidebar in S2 layouts is easier, but it has restrictions. Through the customization area you can add free text boxes, and through the links area you can add links but that is all. The free text boxes do not allow HTML tags, and the links do not allow any further customizing.
------
generator
Generator is the base I use most for S1 layouts. The advantage of generator, is that it allows any content at all to be added in the sidebar, with no restrictions. The disadvantage is that it can only be customized dramatically in S1, thus does not allow the use of tags, nor the appearance of userpictures with every entry.
------
smooth sailin' and flexible squares
Smooth Sailin' is my favourite S2 base, because it allows ten free text boxes in the sidebar, a tags box and a search box. In fact, it allows everything that Flexible Squares allows as well, plus a little more. The disadvantage of Smooth Sailin' though, is that it is much harder to customize. Thus, whenever I can I will use SS, when I can not, I will use FS. Whenever you download a layout that does not use a sidebar, it is usually FS, but it is in the sidebar that the greatest difference is made, so when there is no sidebar, it really does not matter all that much.
------
important links
themes
tutorials
terms of service
affiliates
got questions?
frequently asked