I've been messing about with ideas for revamping this blog and would love to know what you think!
If you could spend a couple of minutes visiting this link and having a quick look and them posting some feeback I would be really grateful.
I've copied a couple of posts etc to get some idea of how things would look. I have experimented with changing the width of the whole of the blog and the proportions of the main area and sidebar and also changed the header.
If you could post a comment that would be great.
Posts
Since you asked: I'd like to see the posts come ahead of anything else on the left side. Scrolling past the same old links on every visit gets tedious.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing that I see that really tells me about you except that you have an allotment. I don't want to know specifics, like your town or your marital status, but something about your general area of the UK and how long you've gardened or something that makes you more memorable.
Thanks for the comments. This is the type of thing that I am trying to address with the new look.
ReplyDeleteI guess my use of the blog is a little different to how many people use theirs - I use it as a summary of what is happening on my website where all the stuff about our allotment etc is explained in more detail including all about our area and our allotment site.
e.g.
http://www.glallotments.btik.
com/p_About_Us.ikml
This is really why the links are at the top to point visitors in the direction of the websites etc.
Did you visit the test blog - was it any better? Would you want more information in the top area on the left which would mean more scrolling to get to the posts or as a profile snippet on the right?
On the test page I have made some changes to reflect the above comments. linked from the post.
ReplyDeleteI'll make changes to the real blog when I am satisfied or I should say when you all are!
Do move the links down, so we see your fresh post first. We would all like visitors to follow our links, and sometimes they do. Or park the links at the top of the sidebar?
ReplyDeleteYup, the new version is much more inviting! And encourages a return visit.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI prefer the new blog due to:
1. main area is wider
2. there is nothing before the main text of last post (unlike this one)
In the new one I don’t like the appearance of text in your post (well both posts) - its not aligned (I just prefer it to be left and right aligned to margins.) and I would suggest that if you have long text (more than 10 rows) to split it into parts (maybe with pictures, or just double-enter), so its more easy to read.
The green color of blog is too green, but I have seen that people to use this template a lot, so maybe on this one I’m in minority.
This is my honest few thoughts, but I do visit your blog occasionally and I find interesting posts here.
One additional thing – (when I start – there is no stopping me, but you asked:-)): there is too much color on side bars – they to attract my attention and I can’t concentrate on your text. I don’t like this, as I did not come here to read advertisements…
So, my suggestion would be to keep most color in your main blog area (pictures…) and side bar should be there if I would like some more info, like your blog list.
Thanks for the comments Elephant's Eye - as you will have seen I have parked the links at the top of the sidebar - I want to tidy up the sidebar a bit and remove some of the stuff there as it is a bit cluttered.
ReplyDeleteHi vrtlarica
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you mean about alignment as when I open the posts they are aligned left and I do have splits - is it possible that your view is different for some reason?
Thanks for taking time to offer feedback though
Just saying: both left and right alignment.
ReplyDeleteWhen you read any book, or newspaper article, they are aligned both left and right. But I say, it’s just my personal opinion.
Ah I see you mean fully justified. I'll try that - the only problem with fully justified is that it can sometimes cause big gaps to appear.
ReplyDeleteWhat does anyone else think - really useful comments thanks for taking time to feedback
Fully Justified may work with the wider posting area - It was a bit scrappy with the narrower post.
ReplyDeleteConsensus so far seems to be to go ahead with the revamp so I am going to do just that but please keep comments coming.
ReplyDeleteWell I've done it and incorporated many of the comments made - I have fully justified this post and would be grateful if you could tell me whether you prefer it this way or aligned to the left.
ReplyDeleteSorry but I am keeping the colour after all we are GREEN Lane and as you say it is a popular choice so many must like it.
I have popped ads at the bottom so people who want them can still access them and those who don't can ignore them.
It's never a finished article so still keep suggesting improvements - my skin is thick enough!!
I like it this way.
ReplyDeleteYou keep the green, my blog is also green!
:-)
Hi vrtlarica
ReplyDeleteI paid your blog a visit and noticed but a more subtle green! Your name is difficult to type and spell correctly by the way!
I did have a shadow down the sides of the blog on the original template which has disappeared so I'm trying to find out how to get it back!!!
Thnaks for the input.
well I'm a little behind with my post reading so I can see you have already made some changes and they all get a thumbs up from me...much more pleasing to visit!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Tanya,
ReplyDeleteGlad you approve!
So any comments on the shade of green of the background - is it too vibrant?
ReplyDelete