Comments on: Website redesign

By: Luis

Luis — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:23:48 +0000

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.

By: Luis

Luis — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:21:16 +0000

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.

By: Luis

Luis — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:14:29 +0000

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!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:42:47 +0000

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.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:19:36 +0000

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.