Tagline found + new face created = more activity?

... published July 12, 2008

Tagline found + new face created = more activity?At least I hope so.

Well, let’s start at the beginning:
A couple of weeks ago I finally got time again to take care of my blog. I wrote a few articles and wondered how long I’ll stay active here again.

I believe by now I’m known among my blogging friends as someone who is active like hell and then suddenly vanishes for quite some time.

I thought about the reasons which made me “vanish” and that’s what made me find my very own tagline:

“…when coding passion, gaming addiction, Internet surfing syndrome and the real life collide…”

As I read that tagline a few times I figured that I can’t stick to my theme as it won’t fit anymore. Also, I’ll have to change a some things to make my blog work with the tagline.

So here it is, my new design:

A white-blueish theme (yes, I wasn’t able to say goodbye to my blue) which is looking very clean and which is easy to read. Actually, way easier to read than the previous theme(s).

What changed? What stayed?

  • The basic frame of my old design stay: a two column layout, with the content on the left and the sidebar on the right.
  • I added a short menu at the top and tried to use the page foot a bit more.
  • I got rid of the categories and use the Tags instead (why they are better)
  • The trackbacks are no longer shown (except under “Recent Comments”). Maybe I add them later again. (HowTo: separate trackbacks and comments)
  • My Advertisement section got reviewed and I’m now testing Matt’s WP125 Ad plugin
  • Some plugins are gone or will go pretty soon, speeding up the loading time a bit.
  • One or two plugins where added or re-implemented. (e.g. NicEdit)

Although the list is pretty long (or short), there are some things I don’t mention because they are still in the works. One of the things is my “play with me” sidebar. I’m working on making it remember which “box” you left open or which you closed, so it will show you said boxes the way you left them. Also, I plan to allow you to arrange the boxes the way you want (and make it remember it).

There are also a few bugs and some of my categories (no longer shown), tags and pages need to be updated.

Last but not least I’ll have to get a better header image. Right now it is the worst looking part of my new design, but I just have nothing better right now. I hope to get a better one, but maybe I’ll have to find a blog contest solution although I can’t offer much :(

that’s all for now, I hope you like the new look

Marco
P.S.: I have to admit something: I stole some of my ideas from Slevi.net and ProBlogDesign.com

Image by belljar

Tags: , , ,
Comments: 9

I suggest:

9 Responses to “Tagline found + new face created = more activity?”

Slevi

posted July 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

Stealing ideas, you should call it “got some of my inspiration from” ;).But it’s a huge improvement over what you had before, readability is good and it’s a clean layout. Plus with the headline you gave yourself the freedom of taking on 3 major categories of topics to write about which will probably be by the looks of it definitely within your own field of interest.

Slevis last blog post..Today’s physicians don’t feel for health care 2.0

Marco

posted July 12th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

You know what I mean by “stealing ideas” ;)

And actually the headline gave me 4 major categories and each of it is a very wide field, removing any of the previous restrictions I had before.

Michael Martin

posted July 12th, 2008 at 4:50 pm

Nice work Marco. It’s very cleanly laid out, and the collapsible sidebars are a nice touch. :D

Could you make the titles of those sidebar sections also cause the section to expand/collapse?

Well done :)

Michael Martins last blog post..Prepare Your Blog for the iPhone, Easily

Marco

posted July 12th, 2008 at 5:03 pm

thanks and you got a good suggestion, I’ll add that for now because I don’t know if it may interfere with the sorting feature I intend to add. :)

redwall_hp

posted July 13th, 2008 at 7:30 pm

It looks pretty good. I like the old header better though… :D

redwall_hps last blog post..Poll: What’s Your Browser Startpage?

Marco

posted July 13th, 2008 at 10:33 pm

I also liked my old header better, just needed a temporary header image because I had no good idea.
With your hint of the old header being better, I decided to re-add it, although I altered it a bit (changed colors, a bit smaller).

Arjuna

posted July 15th, 2008 at 12:03 am

I think this new layout is much better. It’s easier to read and to follow the sidebars. Keep up the good work. :)

Annie

posted July 15th, 2008 at 9:06 pm

Great Layout! Keep on going, you’re doing a great job!  

Annies last blog post..Top 10 Worst Natural Disasters and Catastrophes (2007)

Marco

posted July 15th, 2008 at 11:08 pm

thanks, I’m doing my best ;)

Right now I’m struggling with a piece of javascript which will remember how you left the sidebar (boxes open/closed). The cookie is working, but the script which will show/hide the boxes like you left them doesn’t work properly :(

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