Changing the Looks
It seems that this is your first time to my blog. Welcome! In this blog I will share my ideas on how you can make a living in a way that feels good to you, your family, your environment and everyone around you. If you want to know more about me and this blog, check out my about page. And if you want to stay updated on my new posts, subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for stopping by!
Caroline Middlebrook thinks that you shouldn’t post about your new layout. I disagree.
I love to hear why people change their blog layouts and the rationale and design decisions that lead to the new design. I hope you enjoy that too because that’s what I’m going to be talking about today.
I launched my new layout on Sunday (if you’re reading this post from your RSS feed reader, now would be a good time to hop on to the blog and take a look) and while I’m still tweaking some details everything looks pretty much the way I want it to be. But naturally I’m all ears for feedback: if there’s something you don’t like, let me know and I’ll see if I want to change that part or not.
People liked my old design so why did I change it?
For two reasons: I wanted to organize things better, and I wanted to bring you to the spotlight with me.
1.Highlight Community
In a typical blog design a list of latest posts take up most if not all of the front page. The newest on top. This is pretty nice if all you want to do is to see what the blogger has written since your last visit.
But if you want to create a community and encourage reader participation, you need to highlight something else as well. The comments.
In a normal blog (and in my old design) if you write a comment to a post you need to browse back to that post every time you want to check if someone has replied to your comment. That’s just too much work and leads to slow commenting.
To make things easier in this new design I decided to bring the latest comments on the front page.
2. Keep it Simple
The second guiding principle in this design was simplicity.
I put my old design together in a rather organic way. One sidebar item at a time it grew into quite a nice but clumsy blog design. First I added the latest posts list, then the related posts list, then the top commentators plug-in, and so on. It was a nice way to work, but it lead me to a design where there was no clear reason for things being where they were.
This time I wanted to fix that.
I took away all the components that I didn’t think as that important. Then I arranged the remaining pieces in an order of importance. The ones that you need most are easily available for you in the sidebar. The rest is in the footer.
I also took away the ads.
They weren’t bringing me any money so they were just clutter, and I don’t want to have useless clutter on my blog. This is however only a temporary state: I’m bringing ads back with a whole new exclusive sponsorship approach by the end of the year. I am still working out the details and will post more about that in a few weeks.
What do you think?
This is it. The layout has changed. I have explained to you why I did it. What do you think? Should I have changed the design even more, or did I change it too much? And what do you like about the new version?
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October 8th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I like it because it’s different than the standard layout. It’s clean and organized and the little comment snapshot window in the upper left is way cool.
I wish I had the skilz to change mine but I’m too busy/lazy to spend the time to learn CSS so it’ll probably remain the same forever. Although I am coming up on my 2 year anniversary in a few weeks so maybe I’ll try to freshen it up a bit.
Also, I’d be interested in hearing if anyone ever makes any money with ads. Maybe you could pose that question some time.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I have to say that this new layout is a little confusing. Especially when entering directly to http://www.jarkkolaine.com, I first thought there is a bug with layout/css. This because of the image/screenshot next to the latest topic is all green and has no distinction between actual page.
So, maybe you could replace that with a different image or make it look like a screen shot (reflection, lightning, scan lines etc…).
Otherwise I have no problems with this new layout and I guess there wont be problem with images in case of later postings
October 8th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I like it Jarkko!
Very simple (which I like). It also looks different than other blogs. When I’m here, I don’t have to look up at the logo to remember what blog I’m visiting. lol
Great job
October 8th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Thanks for the comments, guys!
Jeff: Making money from one’s blog definitely is an interesting question. I’m sure there are some “big guys” who make a good living out of blogging, but what about the rest of us?
It’s actually a good idea for a post and I’ll put it in my idea file for future use. But if someone wants to comment on the question already now, feel free to comment!
Pepez: You’re right, the screenshot in today’s post isn’t quite as good as it should. Tomorrow we’ll have a different image in that spot and I hope that’ll be more distinctive.
Deron: Haha :) I suppose that’s a good thing. Thanks!
I actually got a lot of the inspiration for the footer from your blog - does it look familiar? :)
October 9th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Earning from one’s blog is much easier when blogging on a detailed subject that deals with buyable gear or services. This way, the attention can lead to buying. The readers of your blog probably like you, and want to buy from you just because they like you and what you represent. Be the dealer of what you talk about, or find a companion for that. Yet one should blog “for general good”, regardless of the subject.
Your blog, Jarkko, could be an affiliate site to a book shop. You could also have a commercial product or service of your own.
A blog is a show. When one has enough attention and listeners, one has potential customers. I believe that traffic can always be translated to income, but the means differ. Some monetizing ways require cunning plans that might need a long hatching period.
Blogging alone can be a business too, but I think that’s just boring.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Great update Jarkko! I love the new look.
I remember sneaking a peak when you linked one of your new designs to a post of mine and I was really excited to see how it turned out. The magazine-style headlines are great and make me wonder if they improve pageviews or force people to focus on the most recent post.
I would love to hear how it affects your blog. Cheers.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Hey Jarkko, Great job with the new design. It’s unique and fresh. I like the positioning of the photo, and the front page is pretty sweet. The only thing I would change was adding a couple lines of text underneath the titles on the front page… it makes it easier for your readers to navigate to what they are looking for.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Sorry for leaving the second comment, but where did your about page go? That is also an essential part of a blog. That is usually the first think I look for when reading a blog.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Ravi: Oops… I forgot to disable the trackback sending from my test version…
Rashid: Adding a few lines of text is a great idea. I’m going to look into it at some point. Thanks!
About the about page: Yeah, I know :) I just needed to rewrite it so I took it away for a while. I’m putting it back still during this week, probably tomorrow night.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Jarkko - I enjoy reading posts on design / layout changes because I love design…
I must say, I am highly impressed with the new design you have here. I love the colors and the minimalistic simplicity. Beautifully done!
October 11th, 2007 at 12:50 am
Hi Jarkko.
As many have already said, nice, calming design and you are right about making the important information easily accessible.
Regarding earning ad revenue, I’d personally suggest focus on building a brand, and traffic. Put the ads but don’t let them to be a hindrance. I think when you have a decent amount of traffic — if you are inclined — you can approach individual advertisers, like many bloggers are doing.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Will: Thanks! I really appreciate it.
Amrit: I agree completely. The product, or the brand, which is you and your blog needs to come before the ads so that the ads are not lowering its value.
But if you can come up with a nice way to embed ads in a way that suits your brand, I think there is great potential (although I still haven’t tried it in action ;)
October 13th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Hello Jarkko,
I visited your blog today not knowing about the design change. And after the first look, I have to admit, I was seriously disappointed. It simply looked odd… and amateurish. Until I talked to Pepez and opened the blog again in a different tab. Then I figured out the first was without CSS. And I still have it open, with the same address, parallel to this. But at least I’m relieved :-)
I only have one comment, to the comments part: It would be nice to know which article they actually belong to.
I also like the colours.
Have a good day!
October 13th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Hi Dora! I’m glad you like the real version, although your initial impression wasn’t so positive :)
Actually, I need to check out the CSS-less version myself at some point to see what it looks like.
The idea about showing the article the comments belong to is a good one. I just have to find a way to present that information nicely.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I do actually have another comment.
Now that I’m trying to run more programs and need to resize some windows, your blog does not adjust. I have to scroll horizontally too. That is not nice.
I came across this book: Access by Design, that talks about universal usability. I am sure you know many of those things already, but it just explains them from a different point of view. It was really interesting for me to read.
http://universalusability.com/access_by_design/page_layout/flexible.html
October 15th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Yeah, that’s a topic of continuous discussion in the web design world: Should your designs be adjusting horizontally or not, and how much.
My take is that it’s better to read text when it’s neither too wide or narrow. Therefore I don’t usually design pages to be scaled to anything narrower than 1024 pixels.
But I might be wrong, so if someone else wants to have their say in this discussion as well, it would be great to hear what’s the general understanding on this theme.
October 18th, 2007 at 1:46 am
Cool comment.
I am sure you’ll like my site..
Sayonara