« Stoopid Style | Main | Blawgging Summer Jobs: Discuss »
Help Redesign the Imbroglio!
Dear readers: As I just mentioned, I'm hoping to redesign this site very soon. I'm thinking clean and simple is the way to go, but I'm still not really sure how to accomplish that.
Therefore, I'm asking for your help. Please let me know what bugs you about this page, or what you particularly like, what you don't like, what you never look at, what you look at every day, what you've never understood, what you think is necessary/unnecessary/missing, etc.
In addition to that general call for whatever is on your mind, I have some specific questions:
- Do you ever read or click through the bits? Do you ever wish you could comment or trackback to them? Would you miss them if they were gone? Do you think they are pointless? Are you ambivalent about bits?
- What about the comment sidebar? Do you ever check that out? It actually doesn't work correctly, and I realize that. I see it as more of a way for me to keep track of conversations I'm participating in, but it wouldn't really need to appear on this page to accomplish that goal.
- Have you ever transmogrified ai? By that I mean, have you ever used the little drop-down menu at the upper-right to change the default stylesheet for this page? Again, do you like that “feature”? Would you miss it if it were gone?
- Column widths: Are the widths for the text too wide or too narrow, as far as you're concerned? I am often bothered by columns of text that are on one extreme or the other; I mostly think there's a good balance here with the main column of blog posts and the sidebar, but, well, I could be wrong. Plus, most of you browse via IE and that might make everything look different.
- What do you think of 3-column layouts? If you prefer 2-columns, do you prefer sidebars on left or right?
- Do you read the RSS feed for this page, and if so, how often do you click through to the main page? I'm thinking if the majority of readers are moving to RSS-only, there's not much need to make this page visually interesting, is there?
And be honest. I'm pretty tired of this “look,” so you won't hurt my feelings, I promise.
Posted May 8, 2005 11:09 PM | meta-blogging
Generally, I like the design... It's pretty clean and simple now. But I'm partial to beige and red. :)
1. No. I didn't know the ambits existed until now.
2. No. I didn't know it existed until now.
3. No. (There is a real trend here...)
4. I'm pleased with the width, but I browse with Firefox.
5. I prefer 2-column. And I prefer the sidebar on the right. But I don't think most people do.
6. Actually, this explains 1-3... I read almost all blogs in my RSS reader, and I only rarely visit the site (to comment, really). If I do click through, I go directly to the permalinked post, which means I don't get the full, swankified side bar with the ambits, ambivalent images, or comments.
These days, I'm 'meh' about what the site looks like... yeah, I understand you want it to look decent, but I do wonder how many people ever really visit the actual site. Or am I just weird that way?
*I* thank you for this diversion from studying. My contracts final, however, hates you. :)
Posted by: Dave! at May 8, 2005 11:24 PM
1. i do, but i usually don't click through.
2. nope.
3. yes, but only rarely.
4. just about right.
5. depends on what is in the columns ...
6. rss, constantly. i usually don't read the site directly ...
but i do love aimages...
Posted by: jose at May 9, 2005 08:15 AM
I'd recommend http://www.alexking.org/index.php?content=software/wordpress/themes.php as a good place to get design ideas.
Posted by: Katherine at May 9, 2005 08:27 AM
1. I read, but don't click through.
2. I didn't know this existed until now.
3. No.
4. I have no opinion on this.
5. I use a 3-column layout myself. If the author has something to say, I like it.
6. I use an RSS feed to see what sites have updated, but I always click through to read at the site. I like seeing the entry on the author's own page.
Posted by: Katxena at May 9, 2005 09:07 AM
1-2. I never look at the bits or comments.
3. I have transmogrified, but I wouldn't care if that feature were gone.
4. Widths are okay, I think.
5. I prefer the 2 column layout. I like the sidebar on the right. (I tend to resize the window so I can only see the text, anyway.)
6. I normally just read the RSS feed, but click through every once in a while (maybe once every few days) to read or make comments.
Posted by: CM at May 9, 2005 10:00 AM
I read the RSS almost exclusively. Maybe once every couple of months I click through.
Posted by: jgt at May 9, 2005 12:03 PM
1. i click a bit maybe once every few weeks.
2. never checked out comments
3. wouldn't miss the transmogrifying
4.-5. ambivalent about columns. both 2- and 3-column layouts can be asthetically pleasing.
6. i think i'm one of the last hold-outs that actually reads the sites rather than RSS feeds. i think of it as listening to the whole album rather than just downloading a song or two. :)
Posted by: monica at May 9, 2005 12:51 PM
1. No, not that I recall.
2. No, I often don't understand quite a bit happening here.
3. Yes, but I like the red and black one.
4. The current column widths are good - you've found a nice width that provides for readablility but doesn't make one want to kill the scroll button.
5. Two colums are prefered by me, but...
6. I read the feed, and click through when I think I have something interesting to add.
Posted by: kmsqrd at May 9, 2005 01:10 PM
Wooooooooooo! We're goin' streaking!
Eh, I have nothing to add here. I'm the exact opposite of creative. I used to think that your website was too complex (I'm a simpleton) but now I don't. Have fun gettin' it nekkid.
Posted by: womanofthelaw at May 9, 2005 06:37 PM
1. Yes
2. I actually enjoy it. It allows me to track the viral spread of yer intelligence through out the web.
3. Initially, yes, for shits and giggles. Then it just kind of petered off. While I love the black and red accents, you need a different default background. Beige is so, well, beige.
4. The columns seem fine to me, though if anything, the sidebar could use to be just a lee-tle wider.
5. 2 columns with sidebars on the right. Now. Always. Forever.
6. I hope someday to figure out RSS; mostly I need to find a browser that will work with it under 10.3.9 as I am NOT switching to Tiger until I a.) have a brawnier machine (20-inch iMac =HEAVEN!) b.) see it go .2 at least. I know I could do it with Firefox. But I hear some nasty things about Flash being used for tracking on that browser. So, short answer, keep it cause I don't care...yet.
Finally, I think your site needs more no dog pooping signs. And perhaps one of those java script dancing Jesus figures.
Posted by: Famous P. at May 10, 2005 10:53 AM
1. I have clicked through the bits, but only occasionally.
2. Didn't notice the comment sidebar.
3. I have transmogrified, but not recently.
4. Widths are nice, but I also browse with Firefox.
5. Three columns can be good if not overly cluttered, two works well.
6. I'm also one of the holdouts who looks at the site. I go into my bookmarks and open all of them in tabs. It's a lovely thing.
Posted by: Beanie at May 10, 2005 10:54 AM
Thanks everyone for taking the time to send some feedback. I've got a few other projects to get out of the way before I work on this redesign, but when I get to it, I'll keep your thoughts in mind. It sounds for the most part that what the site looks like doesn't matter too much to most of you, which suggests it would be foolish to spend too much time on it. Still, it's fun to play with and there are some things I've wanted to try for a while, so we'll see what I can come up with.
For what it's worth, I'm probably most like Katxena and Monica -- I read feeds to see what's updated, but I click through most of the time to read stuff in its original context. I like how Monica put it -- listening to the whole album rather than just a song. Won't it be sad is someday all blogs were just basic text w/comment links b/c everyone is just reading RSS feeds? Something would be lost there, I think, but it sort off seems to be where we're heading...
Posted by: ambimb at May 10, 2005 03:11 PM
I read it in purple! My suggestion, of course, is that we need a pink option.
In other news... does anyone else have the problem that a few lines will be missing? Then I'll have to highlight the whole paragraph to see them? Sort of as if the text color was white? And then sometimes you end up missing things because of it? Or is that just me?
Posted by: blondie at May 16, 2005 12:21 AM
