Site Redesign Is Finally Here… Sorta
- July 08, 2005
- 10 comments
I finally took the time to get my latest design up and running. Sort of. Right now, only the homepage, individual entry pages and the archives are working. I will be gradually moving things over to the new style.
For the last several months I had worked on several different designs, none of which I was really happy with. They were either too plain or too glitzy. I couldn’t find that happy medium. And then something else would come along and distract me from working on it at all. Most of the time that something was paying work, so I’m not complaining at all.
My homepage gets a lot of influence from Niggle, especially the lower half. His layout just works. The single, large-type, latest entry was also something that made sense. I was sick of the typical blog look with several entries in a row all lined up taking up gobs of space. Making the latest entry the main focus was a slap-the-forehead-"Duh!" moment.
Another site that influenced me is Garrett Dimon. The simplicity of his site was what pushed me towards a more easily read and navigated design versus a glitzy, flashy site with all the latest tricks. His very clear comment form was so easy to use. Nothing frilly. Nothing gimmicky. Just straight up clarity and simplicity.
My archives are a complete rework in how they’re presented. I no longer have the gigantic, take-forever-to-download archive page broken down by category. I now have them organized by month and year. When you first enter, you’re given a little instruction and five random entries. When you choose a month and year, all entries for that month are shown in paginated form. The number of entries and comments for that particular month are also shown. Each entry shows just an easy-to-read blurb, the date it was published and the number of comments for that entry. If an entry has at least 10 comments added to it, it is highlighted. I find this version of my archives MUCH easier to use. I hope others do too.
The comments have been reworked a little. They are easier to read and look like little sticky notes. Any comments made by me are in a different color.
This is just the beginning of the redesign. I’ve still got to finish adding the Colophon and Resume as well as search functionality. I will probably add category archives in again, but in a much easier to use form. I’m in no rush on this design, so things will get done when they get done.
As always, this site looks best in Safari and Firefox, but most everything looks correct in IE too. The only thing that doesn’t is the word “Update” doesn’t show up whenever I add an entry update. Look around for an entry that has an update, and you’ll see what I mean.
Let me know what you think.
I’ve now tweaked with the colors and gradients a bit. They should fit together better. I’m still tweaking with the Archives here and there, so if something looks off just ignore it for now.
Russ
July 9, 2005
Outstanding redesign Chris! I’m in the process of redesigning my site as well with the “simple is better” philosophy. I really like your comment entry form and might borrow some ideas from it.
Your site has always been a great place to come for ideas and that certainly has continued with the newest design!
Thanks for the feedback, guys.
Les, perhaps I can make the curled bits a little more random? Hmmm… gets me thinking about some cool things I could do with comments.
Glad you liked the redesign, Russ. I hope the comment form is a little easier to use for you.
Bryan, feel free to borrow whatever you want.
I realise that you did give credit to Niggle, but really, the typography and front page look almost exactly the same (albeit with a little less polish).
Actually, Niggle’s font is a bit larger. I did have mine even smaller, but got some complaints that it was too small and made the lines too long to read. So I made it the size you see now.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery. I never said I designed this from scratch. I’m not looking for recognition as some design guru. Like I said in my post, I wanted something that was easy to read, easy to use and easy to look at. Niggle and Garrett Dimon had elements that were exactly what I was looking for. If either one doesn’t like what I’ve done and wants me to change something, I’ll do it, but I’d like to hear it from them. I’m not trying to steal their “glory”, which is why I gave both credit.
I showed the site to Joseph from Niggle as soon as I came across it. He and I are both of the mind that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Whilte there are definite similarities, but as long as it’s not straight copying, neither of us really mind.
Just thought I’d let you know you don’t need to have any worries. There’s a big difference between influence and copying. I’d say you’re definitely just in the influence area and that it’s nothing to be concerned about.
Thanks for the feedback, Garrett. I’m glad I didn’t step on any toes. I admire what you both have done with your sites, and wanted mine to incorporate the strong points of your sites.
That said, I’ve got some ideas for the bottom half of the homepage, so it will eventually no longer resemble Niggle.
I like the redesign Chirs. It puts a lot of focus on the content on the discussion. I’m not sold on how the comments are displayed. When I see curled page bottom after curled page bottom it started to make my fingers itch. I think a little more white space would be a better visual separator. I do love how you clearly id your own comments with blue.
Man… I so need to redesign my own site. Maybe that’s what I’ll dig into this morning.
Anyway, love it. Great job!