Proudly Presenting the New Design and What Is in It for You
If you visit more often you probably already noticed the redesign well before reading this. If you are a first time visitor you may not even care. Still, if you plan coming back (and why wouldn’t you?) then this is also a short introduction to the new layout and what it can do for you.
My old design was a tweaked version of an altered version of a rather old theme. It had lots of code in it that I didn’t quite understand even after looking at every file more times. I had figured out how to make the simplistic looking blog I wanted though. It contained everything I wanted so I was happy.
Then I realized that it wasn’t really making the most of the space. There was tons of space on the sides and somehow everything important was stuck at the bottom. Why would anyone scroll to the very bottom when they don’t have to? Answer is that they don’t. I don’t either.
So how do you get everything to the top? You can’t obviously, but by using the sides better and compromising a little on how prominent each blog post present itself you can get close. Close enough in fact for me to say I have accomplished pretty much what I set out to do. Not that I am finished tweaking mind you.
Apart from the left column that changes depending on where you are on the site between home page, single post, archive, page etc. is (almost) everything static. That means that regardless where you enter or where you go can you always access the links in the columns as well as the tag cloud below.
If you are an explorer like me that like clicking around to discover the yet unseen and unread this is a dream come true. If you are a minimalist afraid of being distracted is it probably more like having a nightmare. Speaking of nightmare am I not that happy with the logo. I wanted more circularity built in, but had to give it up and settle for what you see.
From any page should you now be able to get to anything in no more than two steps. The tags, the archives and the categories are the main examples. Searching for something also bring back excerpted results enabling you to reach the exact post in your second step.
There are plenty of one step travels too. Besides the most recent articles residing in the left column of the home page (and under “recent” in the other column when you are on any other page), can you check the most popular, the recommended etc. You can also check the latest comments and even get on the list in one step if you so desire.
The “asides” are basically announcements or other shorter posts (like this one). They reside only in the sidebar while the page links now reside in the menu bar where you probably would look for them to begin with. Subscribing can still be done using your browsers address bar, but now you can also use one of the subscribe links in the right column. You don’t even have to have a feed reader, as you also can get new postings delivered per email.
The design I ended up with is what I call a mashup between two themes. Basically is it Hello Wiki on the top and bottom and Silhouette in between. Only have I integrated a whole number of plugins, design elements and hacks from the old design (putting track backs below the comments for example) and more to make it unique and all mine.
A venture like this makes you realize what a wonderful and extraordinary community we bloggers (and especially us WordPress bloggers?) act in. There is practically nothing you will not find in terms of design, functionality, advice and help. A big thanks for that! I try doing my part as well.
Redesigning was hard work over a couple of days (with some planning going ahead of that), but since I have more sites now using variations of this design was it all in all worth it. I hope you think so too and would love to get your feedback on what works and what doesn’t. I am probably my own most frequent visitor and worst critic, but even I do not see or experience everything.
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2 Responses to “Proudly Presenting the New Design and What Is in It for You”
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Hi. This is my first time visiting your site. I liked your notion of “slow linking” at Lorelle’s site. As a result I’ll be back. More stuff like that and you just may have a new reader on your hands! Well said. As for the new layout: I am one of the minimalists you alluded to. It wouldn’t be my choice for Riley Central, but I think it’s a good navigation tool to try for your site!
Hi Damien, thanks for stopping by and not least for commenting. My article at Lorelle on WordPress did in fact seem to resonate with a number of people. I would be happy to have you back and hope I can live up to your expectations.
About the layout did I not mean to be condescending towards minimalists. I am in some regards one myself. There is thus a lot of things you won’t find here such as heavy graphics, tons of buttons and a mile long blog roll.
It is always a balance act. Personally I love it when a blog opens itself up to me when I visit it. That it makes it easy for me to explore it. Hence the vast number of navigational opportunities on each page.
PS: Thanks for the mention in your article about commenting. I am always glad to see when someone preach what they practice and practice what they preach