It has taken me the last few weeks to complete the migration of the website from Blogger to WordPress, and while there are still some adjustments to do, I decided to launch it and start collecting feedback.
Right now, the only change from the old blog is the platform it runs on and the graphic design which I tried to keep simple and clean – there are no distractions, content is king and that’s why you’re here in the first place.
While the Blogger platform is interesting as a startup blog publishing environment, it will soon reveal its limitations to anyone wanting to expand from a simple blog to something more.
And this is where WordPress will win, it is designed as a modular platform that enables you to add plugins to extend its features. With 5787 plugins and 877 themes to choose from, I’m pretty sure that it will cover any feature I may think of.
Drop me a line in the comments section and let me know what you think of the redesign.
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5 comments
Looks great, and welcome to WordPress! I’ve been very happy with it. Right now I’m on the budget WordPress (I pay $7 for the domain and like $10 for the free WordPress to map to it). It’s definitely much more limiting than the self-hosted WP (which I assume you’ve done?), but does the trick for me.
The only suggestion I’d make is to bring the categories on top of the monthly archives. I think people will be more likely to browse your blog by topic rather than month.
I’ve been blogging and reading blogs for years. I mostly use RSS reader (I’m on a Mac and use NetNewsWire). Whether I am using my RSS reader or visiting the web site, I prefer to have the complete post showing. I think most folks don’t like that extra click. Even if the reason is to capture Ad revenue, I still think embedded Ads in the RSS feed or the post accomplish the same thing but don’t make the reader do extra work.
Other than that critique, I think your site is one of the best out there due to it’s content. The current design is nice as simple which I appreciate.
Hi Eric,
Yes, I’m running a self hosted WordPress here. Since I already had my own server it made sense to install WP on my server and have full control over it.
Actually organizing the widgets is one of the things I still need to do. Thanks for pointing it out!
Hi Glenn,
Thank you for your feedback. I’m still debating whether I’ll display the full posts in the front page or not. In the archives and category pages I think it makes sense to present a small excerpt.
On the other hand, if I present the full post in the homepage it will result in a very long page with a long scroll which some users will find rather boring. With a summary of the post the user can quickly skim the homepage and click on the content he or she finds interesting.
For the RSS feed I decided to include the full post. I too enjoy reading blogs in one place (Google Reader) instead of jumping from site to site. My next goal is to add a related posts section at the end of the post which may drive users back to the site.
Glenn, did you know that about a year or so ago there was a podcast named This Week in Wood?? It was owned by Kaleo Kala… you can find a link in the footer.