Not that long ago, I posted a very long explanation of why and why I was finally updating the look of the Dodo Au Go-Go blog.
And now, I've up and changed it again.
What was the main reason this time?
Well, to be honest, last time, even though I spent a lot of time and energy trying to find the best colour and font combinations, plus moving all the gadgets (widgets) to how I wanted them, and generally wrestling with blogger's clunky behind-the-stuff, there was one thing I couldn't change about my previous template.
And that was: the way it used an extract of the post's first pic in giant, poster-size to loom over my title and my opening words in the featured post on the home page. In subsequent posts, the pics dropped to a normal size, thank goodness. But the featured post really 'headlined' the image in an excruciatingly unsubtle way.
I guess that was the nature of the template. I didn't realise it when I chose it, and I couldn't find a way to change it. I've given myself a few months to get used to it and I know now that I'm never going to like it. It's the straw on the dodo's back.
I've gone back to a template with a mainly plain white, unadorned background. And I didn't veer far from the template this time - probably to make the next facelift easier *she says wryly*.
At least, with this template, the image in the featured post doesn't overwhelm the screen.
I'm not that huge on the main sea-green theme colour - I would've liked something a bit more lagoony, in keeping with the colours on my twitter banner. But, per blogger's clunkiness, changing it has proven difficult. Any attempt to change the sea-green to anything with a turquoisey/lagoony vibe results in the colour scheme defaulting to black... But this time, I'm either too tired or too wise to wrestle with it further.
Honestly, my thought process around this whole thing is well-captured in the drawing by my LittleOne - which also represents my writing process quite well too! đ
Till next time.
Lol I wish I had more knowledge on how to make my blog more readable/accessible, but then I realize some people read me on Goodreads and other places and honestly could care less about the design. It’s not a huge crowd, but they read and enjoy, and screw it, I’m happy as long as people keep reading. Blogger may be clunky, but better than wordpress which just boils ma balllssss! Lol pardon the explicit comment, but man is that an annoying website to work with. To squiggly processes in writing, design, and beyond.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that with your regular posts and animated social media presence, you'd have a very regular drop-in readership. And you're right - it's the words and content before the look of the blog, but you know--look! shiny things to play with and still feel productive rather than writing etc etc đ
ReplyDeleteAnd lol, fair enough re: wordpress. I did do my Falling Into the Five Senses anthology website on wordpress because I found a template that did let me present everything the way I wanted. (Well, except now I'm kinda ree-thinking the font/layout, but that's another story đ)
I can't say I have a ton of readers but when I read past the analytics and realize how many different places people read, I realize I have more reach than i thought. And hey, if you find what you want HOW you want it, that's gold.
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