Bookmark Bliss Redesign
May 7, 2007 | Comments (16) | Filed under: Web Design
So I was checking out the site here today, and I decided that it might just be about that time to think about redesigning the site. I know it’s only a few months old so far, but there are a few things about this template I really don’t like, and I think I’m up for designing my own new template.
So, what I was hoping to get some advice from everyone who visits here frequently about some of the things you like and dislike about the current Bookmark Bliss template. Be brutally honest, I can take it. I won’t guarantee every change makes it into the new template, but I’ll definitely do my best to incorporate what I can.
Here are two things that I personally want to change about the site to give you an example of what I’m looking for:
- I don’t like the fact that the focus when you visit is not immediately on the latest article. When you first come to the site, you have to bring your eyes past our popular articles box and past the top banner before you even get to the meat of the content. I think the first thing you notice when you come to our site should be the latest article.
- I don’t like the way the sidebars are structured currently, I think I would like to put more emphasis on subscriptions and helping readers find related articles, and less on digging through the archives.
Anyway, I’ll slowly work my way through some ideas for a new layout and see if I can accomplish all my goals. What do you guys think is the absolute most important thing that this site could improve on?
feel free to leave a comment
Comment Guidelines: Basic XHTML is allowed (a href, strong, em, code). All line breaks and paragraphs are automatically generated. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Email addresses will never be published. Keep it PG-13 people!
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
All fields marked with " * " are required.
16 people have left comments
i personally liked the theme u are using so much that i implemented the same in my wordpress blog http://www.hem.com.np . i think the theme is quite ok but i am eager to see your new design idea
Stark, I think your template is very neat and easy to the eyes. One thing that I have noticed is that I never really paid attention to the “popular articles” …
I realized it when you pointed it out! Maybe you could move it to the side bar?
Other than that, I don’t mind you putting more graphics and ads on the sidebars.
I look forward to your site redesign.
I actually really like the theme as well, which is why I chose it in the first place (and translated all the German text) but I think it isn’t the right one for the site the way it’s sort of evolved so far.
Another thing I wouldn’t mind changing is the space I have available for articles. I think the green and black sidebars are a bit too wide and I could maybe shrink them up a bit and expand out main text area.
Ohhhh…the possibilities. Maybe I’ll do the whole redesign procedure as sort of a case study with a few posts as it evolves…
Ultimately, maybe I’ll just make some slight changes to this theme I already have, just to tighten up a few of the things I don’t like…
@Andy – What you say about the popular articles is exactly how I feel as well. It just wastes space, and my analytics show not too many people click on them. I think they just get lost in the shuffle…
i like the theme but i think shrinking the sidebars down a little will free up more space for the main content area
oh i also had to do translation from German to English too.. Google Traslator helped me in this….
Hello! I’m a blogger from Spain, i add your blog to my favourites a few weeks ago and i visit at least 5 times on a week. It’s really interesting and useful for me, but i think you should change your two sidebars and put only one. I don’t want those templates with two long sidebars. Sorry for my bad english. Regards.
I think two sidebars is a good thing- it keeps as much info “above the fold” as possible. My other comment would be with your “Fuzzy Future” logo in the header. The font says “amateur” and it should say “pro”. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the site- it should probably be something slightly rounded to go with your round corners.
Thanks everyone. This is great advice.
Personally, I love 3 col themes. But, I don’t like all the wasted blank space that makes the page look more like 5 col. If you shrank down your padding, you could have more room in your main article section, and still not lose sidebar space. Good luck!
Well, at least you’re not using the MistyLook.
I think your design isn’t that bad to be honest. You’ve chosen interesting colours over the original theme design, but it works. I would however suggest you work on your header, the current ‘Fuzzy Future’ just isn’t working at all.
I actually like the 2 column layouts as well. 1 column layouts to me feel like they are cramming everything into one spot and I have to scroll down to see it all.
I definitely want to shrink the width of the columns for sure. Especially the black one. It could easily be cut down by 30% and that would give me more space for my main content area.
stark-
I couldn’t agree more, I think the site is in need of a redesign. I love all the content and I like the 2 column layout but this theme just doesn’t cut it. Here is what I would change:
-All the text runs together when I look at it. The sidebars are full of useful links but its hard to distinguish one from another at a quick glance. The headers need to contrast the links to reduce the confusion i think.
-Like Randa said above I think the current Logo needs to go. It is kinda depressing to me and looks like it was just thrown together.
-There is a lot of clutter. Yeah, that popular articles area has to go. I would cut the rss area down to just an rss button and take out the akismet and alexa boxes.
-Eliminate wasted space to shrink the layout. The padding maybe could be taken down a little and maybe remove the little icons too.
-Lastly I would change the color scheme.to pull everything together a little bit better.
I hope I didn’t come off rude at all, just voicing my opinion. I think you have some great content here and I am sure this blog is going to go far. If you would like any graphical help with the logo or icons or anything else just send me an email. I have been doing photoshop for about 10 years now and have become quite proficient. I am actually also redesigning my wife’s old layout too because it was originally just thrown together and i hate it (Hollywood Headache dot com). Just made a new theme mock-up last night ( http://www.hollywoodheadache.com/HHlayout.jpg ) maybe you guys could give me some feed back too.
*I am already going to change the footer image and the theme is going to be a lot longer.
Keep up the good work!
-Matt
I like it as is. Very cool theme, nice colors.
Good luck with your theme design.
Perhaps this tool will help to get you started, beta.dailycolorscheme.com.
If I were going to change your existing theme, I would suggest replacing the popular articles with your title, tag line and banner and deleting the space where they are at now. Everything will move up the page and it will have a tighter more connected feel.