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I just wanted to post a quick note to let readers know that my blog host, blog-city.com, is going to be upgrading their software to a newer version on Monday. Similar upgrades in the past have left this site unavailable or at least unupdatable for days, so fair warning! However, from what I hear the new version will have a ton of great added functionality, so hopefully this will allow me to add more to the blog that might be helpful for readers.
While I’m writing about this, if anyone has any suggestions for what you would like to see here, either content-wise or design-wise, let me know. Anything bug you about how the blog is formatted? Or do you just read it via a newsreader? Speaking of which, if you are reading the RSS feed in a newsreader, which one are you using?
Update: Well, it seems like there are still some issues with the new version that they are working out. No word on when we may see it, but I’ll try to warn you when it does finally go forward…
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March 21st, 2005 at 9:27 am
Hi Levi,
Well, since you mention it, in my browser (Firefox 1.x on Mac) The page displays really wide, requiring frequent horizontal scrolling. I bet you’d improve revenues by doing that. I only just noticed your paypal “Donate” button, and I’ve been a regular reader for a good bit, now.
Also, on your main page, when you run longer articles, you might want to use a tag, or even break them up into three-four page articles with a feature. I don’t know what you use for CM, but in WordPress, these are pretty easy to use.
Good Luck,
-Tut
March 21st, 2005 at 9:37 am
Thanks Tut! What resolution do you run your Mac at? For CM I use Blog-City’s custom tools. I know I need to get things better formatted, but I figured I’d wait until this next version comes out as their may be tools that will make this very easy, and I also may just switch to a different template entirely.
Regarding longer articles, what would happen is that I would have to create seperate distinct entries with links via next. My inclination is not do this mainly because I don’t particularly like having to link to different pages whithin a single content piece, but maybe I’m just strange that way? Actually, I DO need to do this for one article simply because I’ve reached the limit of what I can write in the main body field - this is for my review of the GPS software. So I will be doing it in at least cases where I simply bump up against the limits of the fields, although this has only happened once in almost two years of blogging!
Thanks for your input, though, it’s great to get feedback that gives me a sense of what my readers want to see and what the like and don’t like…
March 21st, 2005 at 12:12 pm
run at 1024×768, but I prefer to run my browser NOT maximized. I think the main problem may be the width of your title graphic. Before that renders, when your page is first loading up, it all seems to fit nicely, but when that image loads, it pushes everything out to the sides.
I don’t know if SEO is a concern to you, but splitting long articles up into multiple pages is supposed to be good for that. I only rarely do it myself, but you tend to be more “prodigious” in your post-length than I!
BTW, In my earlier comment I foolishly tried to use some tags in my post for demonstration purposes, but they don’t render, so my comment looks pretty dumb. should read “…MORE tag…” and “… NEXT PAGE feature…”
-Tut
http://www.Health-Hack.com
March 21st, 2005 at 3:01 pm
Thanks again. I’ve made a few changes to the image and made it a bit less wide, and also took out an image in one of the gutters that was wider than the others. It makes a difference for me, but is it significant enough for you so that it you don’t have to scroll anymore?
March 22nd, 2005 at 1:10 pm
It is improved. I can read the whole center area without scrolling, but even maximized, I can’t see all the content. I don’t know if you could really get it much better without a major re-design. You’d either need to make each side column 1/3 its current size (not practical), or resize all three areas somewhat (not simple).
I sometimes worry that the use of 3 columns on my own site forces the main content area to be to narrow, so it’s all really about finding a happy medium, I suppose.
-Tut
Tut
March 22nd, 2005 at 4:18 pm
Levi, I found a good resource for you. I use it myself, but didn’t think of it for you until just now.
http://www.statcounter.com/
has a free set of statistic gathering/interpreting tools that are very helpful. One thing it offers is the ability to see what browsers are used by what proportion of your readers AND what resolution they are viewing at. This might make some of your choices easier.
Ciao!
Tut