Pardon the Dust...

Good morning.

Just a quick note to say what may already be apparent if you're a regular visitor: I'm in the process of sprucing up the PTSD Combat template just a tad. Although I won't have time for any really fun changes, I've been wanting to do a few things before classes begin this week. I've already added a third column to the layout and let the belt out a bit on the width of the page to make room for it.

Things aren't yet where they will eventually rest, so pardon the dust while I retool things and move the furniture around a bit today. Have a great day, everyone!


[Update 6:10 pm]: All right, I'm done for the day with the web work, and want to share a few things with those of you who may be looking for something that's been moved.

• The lion's share of the outside resource links have been moved onto the consolidated Emergency Helpline Phone Numbers, Places to Turn, and Reintegration Resources for OEF/OIF Troops and Families page (it used to be the free reintegration resources page). These were the links originally found in the right-hand column. The list was getting cluttered, and I always kept myself from adding to it to keep the content down to a reasonable level. A losing battle. So, everything is now in one place (more links will be added in the coming weeks as I have time). With one click, you'll have access to it all via the 'resources' or 'Combat Stress Resources' links found at the top of the middle column.
  
  
• I wanted to add value to the home page, and I hope the new middle column of links galore will do just that. Being able to quickly see the five latest articles in the most-popular categories will hopefully supercharge your own research. Maybe just the right piece will catch your eye, one you weren't necessarily on the hunt for.
  
  
• The Google PTSD Combat feed, which was near the bottom of the right-hand column on the old template can be found below the category offerings along with article links from the feeds for the other top blogs that cover this issue. The blogroll has also been moved into the middle column, below everything else.
  
  
• The home page may load faster for those of you on dial-up as a result of the pruning done today. I've been well aware that this is far from a dial-up friendly blog, and I do apologize for that. That's had to suffer as a result of wanting to share as much info with you as possible.
  

There are still some minor changes coming, but for the most part this will be the layout of the place for a while. I hope it's a few degrees easier and more fun to navigate and explore.

[Update Jan 13, 2009]: I'm aware of the slow download speed of the background image, which is making it hard to read the text while waiting for the rest of the page to download. I've tried tweaking a few things quickly this morning to no good effect. Will return to resolve the problem later this evening. Thanks for your patience.

[Update Jan14 2009]: This will be my final update. After working to resolve the slow download time of the background image (especially in Firefox browsers), I found that the feeds were creating the problem. To try to resolve this issue, I've had to swap most of the information around from one column to another. I'm sorry if this has created some confusion in the meantime. In honesty, I'm not entirely happy with the result, but for now this is what we'll have to stay put with.

A few other notes:

• Another set of links formerly in the right-hand column are now on their own page. You'll find research tools -- my full del.icio.us and Blogger label links; information on my PTSD Timeline data; and links to important studies -- on the new Combat Stress/PTSD Data Resources for Students, Researchers and Reporters page. You can access that page quickly by clicking on the 'Researcher Tools' found at the top of the middle column.
  
  
• Because I needed to move the majority of the feeds back to the extreme right-hand column (they were slowing things down in the middle column), I've moved the events listing into the middle column.
  
  
• Blogroll links remain in the middle column.
  
  
• Congress/Media Contact Center is now at the bottom of the middle column.