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alexandraerinNews For Today
So, I somewhat impulsively re-did the site layout yesterday. I say "somewhat impulsively" because it was one of those things I'd had in mind for a long time but only actually got around to doing on a whim.
Overall response seems to be positive. Some people find the layout with the Twitter feed "cramped", but given that only the front page uses this layout I don't see this as much of an issue. Likewise I've heard from a couple of people who find the ads at the top distracting... they're at the top, though, so they can't distract you for long when you're actually reading.
Some people don't like having so much space on the right hand side of the virtual page when you're on the "reading page". The problem with just shrinking the parchment is that the background consists of three separate images I would also have to resize. Also, I'm not keen on the appearane that the page shrinks when you open a story... I'd say no one would care about that when the story's space expands, but people can be fooled by appearances. I've had three people ask me why I didn't put the "new" ads in the sidebar or suggest they might be just as prominently displayed there... but of course, those ads were in the sidebar before I put them up top.
Centering the sidebar in its space and/or expanding it might take care of that. The only reason I didn't do that to begin with is so that it wouldn't be so far off-screen for those few users who have 800x600 resolutions. Though I do wonder how essential it is to keep designing for people with that resolution. I just shrank the story-space by a few px after realizing that the margins I added meant that at resolution 80 the very end of the line was cut off, so you'd have to scroll back and forth just a little bit. Is this really necessary?
I guess I could maybe fit a skinny version of my Twitter feed into the space to the right of the sidebar, on the content-centric page, if people feel that's less distracting than empty space. But that's a project for another day. I'll let people have some time to get used to the layout and see how much it really is an issue. My experience is that the main thing people notice is change... for instance, one person lamented how lopsided the page looks now after the bottom of the scrollbar has been scrolled past. But the thing is, it's always been like that.
Personal Assessment
Didn't sleep at all last night. I laid down again this morning and I believe I got to sleep sometime between 6 and 7, until about noon or so. So I'm starting the day late, and short on sleep.
Plans For Today
I've got a chapter of Tales of MU to finish and post. I'd hoped to have it finished yesterday but at some point I got distracted by site design questions and writerbrain went away. So I'm not going to be finishing the week with a cushion, but on the plus side I should be able to turn out a really good sized chapter.
So, I somewhat impulsively re-did the site layout yesterday. I say "somewhat impulsively" because it was one of those things I'd had in mind for a long time but only actually got around to doing on a whim.
Overall response seems to be positive. Some people find the layout with the Twitter feed "cramped", but given that only the front page uses this layout I don't see this as much of an issue. Likewise I've heard from a couple of people who find the ads at the top distracting... they're at the top, though, so they can't distract you for long when you're actually reading.
Some people don't like having so much space on the right hand side of the virtual page when you're on the "reading page". The problem with just shrinking the parchment is that the background consists of three separate images I would also have to resize. Also, I'm not keen on the appearane that the page shrinks when you open a story... I'd say no one would care about that when the story's space expands, but people can be fooled by appearances. I've had three people ask me why I didn't put the "new" ads in the sidebar or suggest they might be just as prominently displayed there... but of course, those ads were in the sidebar before I put them up top.
Centering the sidebar in its space and/or expanding it might take care of that. The only reason I didn't do that to begin with is so that it wouldn't be so far off-screen for those few users who have 800x600 resolutions. Though I do wonder how essential it is to keep designing for people with that resolution. I just shrank the story-space by a few px after realizing that the margins I added meant that at resolution 80 the very end of the line was cut off, so you'd have to scroll back and forth just a little bit. Is this really necessary?
I guess I could maybe fit a skinny version of my Twitter feed into the space to the right of the sidebar, on the content-centric page, if people feel that's less distracting than empty space. But that's a project for another day. I'll let people have some time to get used to the layout and see how much it really is an issue. My experience is that the main thing people notice is change... for instance, one person lamented how lopsided the page looks now after the bottom of the scrollbar has been scrolled past. But the thing is, it's always been like that.
Personal Assessment
Didn't sleep at all last night. I laid down again this morning and I believe I got to sleep sometime between 6 and 7, until about noon or so. So I'm starting the day late, and short on sleep.
Plans For Today
I've got a chapter of Tales of MU to finish and post. I'd hoped to have it finished yesterday but at some point I got distracted by site design questions and writerbrain went away. So I'm not going to be finishing the week with a cushion, but on the plus side I should be able to turn out a really good sized chapter.