The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Is My Blog Theme a Turn-Off?
Is it just me or do most people have whimsical, almost retro looking themes to their blogs? Is this what people like to see? Is my darker and more... professional looking blog a turn off to readers?
EDIT: I have completely redesigned the page as well as migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted Wordpress. I have edited the links in this discussion to reflect this.
The new website is better although I feel it's still kind of plain. I hope to fix this soon. What do y'all think of the new site? (ShortFatCyclops.com)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on -
I think you should pick a blog theme that you like and not worry about what others think. Unless your blog is your job, then you'd probably want to cater to the needs of your readers. My only suggestion would be that, as nice as it looks, white text on a black background is more difficult to read than black text on white. Though, if people are reading your blog in a reader that won't be a problem.
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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Rose on -
The text isn't white and the background isn't black. lol
BG: #252422
Text: #b0aeaa
It probably looks darker on monitors that aren't calibrated correctly. It's an issue I have struggled with for years since I have to calibrate the colors on my monitor to be the "real" colors you would see if you were to print what was on your screen because of another job of mine. I tend to use my husband's monitor as the basis for the average user - if I can read things clearly on his, I simply accept it. :D
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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ah yes, i didn't look that close and do have my monitor slightly darker at work. but, you get my point - dark on light is easier to read than light on dark.
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Permalink Reply by Pepper on -
I really like your blog theme. I think it's important to have a theme that you like, that reflects your taste because, after all, it's about you!
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Permalink Reply by Nat on -
I agree with the other comments. it is important to have a theme/layout that you are happy with and like. It's the personal touches that make it unique and different and give a bit more of an idea of the person behind the blog. I like your theme. I'm a bit of a fan of the darker themes.
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Permalink Reply by April Johnson on -
Here is a great article for you to read:
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/08/the-dos-and-donts-of-dark-w...
It's about using dark web design, and I think you'll find it helpful. I do like that you're not using "black" and "white", but there are some spacing things that you could do that could help readability. I don't think you need to do a complete overhaul though. I hope that helps.
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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Rose on
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Thank you all for the advice and encouragement. Not entirely sure what I can do with a half-premade theme in terms of fixing some readability issues without starting over, but I'll certainly see what I can do!
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Permalink Reply by cooper on -
I am pretty much a minimalist and I like your look, but I find light on dark colors more difficult to read. If you don't rally care keep it, if you are trying to attract new readers I'd go with a light on dark for the post part. The typography, or spacing, on your blog makes it harder to read than it might though, and I'm not a designer so I can's say exactly what it is but the lines seem too close together and the font may not be the right one.
I do like the general design and it's simplicity. I've had dark blog themes and in the end I always go back to having at least a light color posting area, my readers prefer it that way probably ten to one.
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Permalink Reply by Melly on -
When reading your blog, I have to make the text bigger on my screen. Because you have a good amount of negative space on the sides of your text, it's not too annoying, but it might be hinderance to some folks.
Honestly, there are a couple of other things that stick out to me about your blog. I don't want to offend you with any of them, but you seem to be seeking honest input, and I want to be upfront. I spent a good amount of time on your blog, and this is what I noticed.
* Your subject matter is tough for people to read. Children being removed from a home by Social Services is something that stirs anger in people. Usually we're talking about abuse or neglect of a child. Many people will have a difficult relating to that part of your life. I'm not saying they're owed an explanation about what happened - but it could help. Give them something relatable.
* People like seeing dates on posts - it helps them keep up with a story line and know how 'fresh' the most recent post is. Putting the date clear at the top of each post can be quite helpful to your readers. I see it at the bottom of each post, but I really had to hunt for it. On one page, each post came up as 8/6/09.. a lot of posts were 8/6/09. Maybe just a fluke.
* Life traffic feeds are a turnoff. People don't want to be identified for all of your readers to see.
* You have tags, but no menu on your sidebar for tags or recent posts. I do like your Linkedin option, however.
Overall, I do like your blog - but I see room for improvement. I see room on my blog too. :)
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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Rose on
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Melly, the dates and times are on each post - at the bottom of the post. That's just how I wanted it. And yes.. there were that many posts of 8/6 ;) I post a lot in one day. :P
If people have trouble reading that part of my blog - tough. My blog is NOT about writing about all of the perfect parts to my life. I absolutely despise blogs that are like that. My blog is real. That's just how I prefer it. And right now, I am going through a nasty custody battle for my autistic daughter. I'm sure someone in this world can identify with that - lord knows I wish I knew of other women who were going through something similar so I could read about their experiences... :(
I'm in process of re-designing the whole dang page. lol I will take your input and keep those points in mind! :)
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Permalink Reply by cooper on
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I actually the the writing in your blog. I just tried to comment though and there is no way to put in my name an url so I didn't, that is a bugaboo I have if someone makes me do bells and whistles to comment I probably won't.
I despise canned blogs, and most out there are. Figuring out what looks good
what is easy for readers
to read and what you like is often a compromise.
I hope to read more of you, and just added you to my twenty something google reader page.
Designing and redesigning, changing themes on a blog, even for those of us who don't design blogs, is almost a good part of the fun.
I don't think this tool is the be all end all but website grader ca tell you if you have too much of this or not enough tags etc. I found it useful a year or so ago I was able to add some tags and put images on my own site, and delete others that where it helped to load the site faster.
I also noticed you don't have a feed icon, and when I went to that subscribe thing and clicked on google it didn't work like it usually does for blogs who have burned feeds. Not sure why.
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Permalink Reply by Kimberly Rose on
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I have a blog feed button at the top where it says RSS. Upon clicking it, you have the option to subscribe to the feed there do so using any of the feed readers offered. The subscribe section on the right-hand side of my blog holds a way to subscribe both by e-mail and to subscribe using the same feed readers as offered if you took the other route. There is also a button that allows you to "share" the blog with friends on other social networks such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, etc. Not sure what kind of issue you ran into, but would love to know what happened so I can maybe fix it.
You don't have to put your URL if you are using a blogger account as it automatically links your name to your blogger profile where the link to your blog is located. That's just how blogger does it. It's not something I chose. As I don't use the other services that the OpenID option represents, I can't tell you what it does or doesn't offer when you leave a comment using it. Maybe you can be my guinea pig and find out for me? lol
Working on a new layout that hopefully is easier to read, less cluttered and easier for readers to understand how to navigate.
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