Sacred Space - the Millennium Edition - Questions and Answers

The Millennium edition of Sacred Spacewas launched on Easter Sunday, and significant changes were put in place on Friday 21st July, which should make the site accessible to any browser, whilst allowing users with suitable browsers to enjoy the slightly enhanced "full" version. It has been extensively tested on a variety of platforms. We hope you like it.

Here are the answers to some possible queries about the Millennium edition:

What are the differences between the old and the new versions? The new version has two main differences. (i) Browsers that can handle it are offered a "full" version, which handles the prayer stages differently. Instead of jumping from one stage to the next, it fades out the old stage and fades in the new. This makes for a gentler transition. It means that you cannot click quickly through the prayer, but we'd say that's no bad thing! (ii) There is a certain amount of automation, which will make it more manageable for us to maintain the site (we have it going in four languages now, without a proportionate increase in staff!). The site now reads the date from your computer and, based on your local date, offers you yesterday, today and tomorrow in the choice of days. On the technical side, these developments make use of JavaScript and Style Sheets, though the redesign of the site should make it accessible to any browser, even without JavaScript and Style Sheets.

What is JavaScript? JavaScript (not the same as Java) is a programming language. The standard language of web pages, HTML (HyperText Markup Language), only allows you to define the content and layout of a static page. Lines of JavaScript can be inserted into web pages to make them dynamic and interactive. For information on how to enable/disable JavaScript on your browser, click here.

What are Style Sheets? Style Sheets are a way of defining exactly the appearance of text on the screen, and positioning it at exact points on the screen. The fading effect in the "full" version uses this technique, which was introduced in series 4 of Internet Explorer and Netscape. For information on how to enable/disable Style Sheets on your browser, click here.

Why am I not getting the fading effect? The fading effect is in the "full" version, which is only offered to series 4.0 or higher of Netscape and Internet Explorer. WebTVs, Unison NetBoxes, Netscape 2 and 3, Internet Explorer 2 and 3, and any other browsers will automatically be routed to a plain version of the prayer. This re-routing will also apply, for the time being, to anyone using Netscape on a system other than Mac or Windows.

Why is the fade so slow / so fast ? The speed of the fade depends on the speed of your processor. We have tried to set it at a speed that will work reasonably well on all machines.

Why can't I change the text size like I used to be able to do? The fonts have to be defined to an absolute size (using "Style Sheets") in the "full" version. Netscape allows the user to alter the size (View -- increase/decrease font) but Internet Explorer does not.

Sometimes the scripture page goes off the bottom of the screen and I can't scroll down. This is a bug in Netscape that affects the full version. When the text goes off the bottom of the screen, it should automatically produce a scrollbar to let you scroll down to the bottom, but some versions of Netscape don't. You can wake it up by resizing the browser window (click the middle of the three buttons in the top right hand corner of your browser, and then click it again). This problem only arises with longer scriptures. If it is happening a lot, and you don't mind smaller text, Netscape allows you to reduce the font size (hit View and then click Decrease Font on the drop-down menu) so more will fit on the screen.

Why doesn't the BACK button work like it used to? In the full version, if you hit the BACK button at any stage during the prayer, it will take you right back to the choice of days. But you can still go back and forward through the stages by clicking the "Go Back" and "Move on" links at each stage. These links, however, do not work during the fading.

Can I still go offline at the "Presence of God" stage without losing the rest of the prayer? Yes. Once you arrive at the Presence of God stage, the whole of the prayer is already in your computer. However, in the full version, the Prayer Guide material is now in separate files (to save downloading time) so you have to stay online if you want to use that.

Why can't I print off the prayer pages any more? Sacred Space was never designed for printing, but it was possible, before Easter, to print off all the prayer material. The "full" version is not printable, but if you want to print off a day's material, this is possible now by choosing the "basic" version.

Why have you made these changes? What was wrong with the old version? We think the fading in and out of the stages makes for a gentler transition from one stage to the next, helps to slow the visitor down, and creates an atmosphere more conducive to prayer. The overwhelming opinion of a group of users who tested the site for us was the same. With the site now operating in four languages, and with LivingSpace too, updating the site manually every couple of days was becoming very time-consuming. These changes will enable us to spend less time on the "donkey-work" and more on the content of the site, creative input and development. The further changes made on Friday 21st July 2000 were aimed at making the site more accessible to older browsers. Even browsers with no JavaScript support at all should be able to access the site. "Cookies" are no longer used. It should also make it easier to copy the site to disk and view it offline, as some of our users have told us they like to do.