Out with the Old, In with the New

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human3rror_new

We’re sporting the new look… and as you can see it’s drastically slimmed down.  Some things of note for this new 2009 rev:

  • Big content areas.  The main content area is 710 pixels wide.
  • A focus on simplicity.  I want this year to be more about content and less about the “cool” gadgets, widgets, and gizmos that lump up the page.
  • Typography.  Period.  Make it pretty. Check.
  • 1 sidebar. I now have a rigorous checklist for items that are going to make it on that puppy…
  • Advertising. I no longer swing the big Fortune 50 executive gig.  My servers cost a butt load.  My fault, I know.  I’m not going more than a 125×125 piece.  And the unobtrusive nature of the sidebar will make those 125′s stand out but not get in the way.
  • Plugins have decreased by 50%.  I had nearly 20 of them running.  I now have less than 10.
  • Page size has decreased, page load has quickened, and caching has been double checked.  I bet @lightvox could make it even faster.  Jerk.
  • Pagination.  If you have more than 50 posts, you should highly consider pagination of your posts.  The “next post” / “previous post” is ghetto and ineffective.  When was the last time you actually browsed that way?
  • A deep review of content focus and areas of blogging.  This has a lot to do with where I’m headed in the blogosphere and what I want to do with my life.

Deepest thanks and support for everyone who’s graced this blog… you guys are my rock and encourage me to to simply be “better”.

70 thoughts on “Out with the Old, In with the New”

  6. very very nice!
    Love the simplicity of the design/layout.

    Wide content area is always good. One thing to remember though is if you start posting images and videos to fit exactly within this wider content area you'll have a problem going backwards to a smaller area in the future (unless you're up for manual post edits or some serious sql find/replace action.) Only speaking from experience. :-)

  9. Love the guts to make the bold change. I'm figuring that it will inspire others to follow your "simplification" ways. Also, things like sidebar blogrolls are best put onto its own page for SEO purposes rather than on every page in your sidebar. Great job.

  10. Sweet! I love the wide, comfy content area. It's like a luxury blog now. Human3rror.com. The ultimate blogging machine.

    Very nice, bro.

  14. Nice look! Did the pages and pages of feedback on Carlos' updated site ragamuffinsoul.com affect your style choices? Or just scare you to death?

  15. Loving the simplicity of the new design…and it’s hard to go wrong with a light rays for the background–epic

    Here’s some help for the Typography area—sorry this is going to be yelled—SINGLE SPACES AFTER SENTENCES, DO NOT DOUBLE SPACE. Here’s more help with Typography sins.

    I am interested in learning more about pagination. Helpful hints maybe.

  16. Loving the simplicity of the new design…and it’s hard to go wrong with light rays for the background–epic

    Here’s some help for the Typography area—sorry this is going to be yelled—SINGLE SPACES AFTER SENTENCES, DO NOT DOUBLE SPACE. Here’s more help with Typography sins.

    I am interested in learning more about pagination. Helpful hints maybe.

  18. yup i definitely like it. especially the wide main content area! overall it's simpler, cleaner, and easier to navigate – all great things! *fist bump*

  20. Rocking the Slim Fast ™ –> I like!

    I'm currently contemplating the purchase of a new domain, possibly switching software (WordPress?!) and re-doing the whole thing. We'll see how motivated I feel the rest of the week…

  21. Love the focus on the content. So many sites now have so much going on it simply overshadows the content…which is what drew people to the site in the first place.

    Kudos.

  24. Nice work! Good points and thoughts…
    Do you ever sleep?
    BTW I don't think you follow me on twitter…can't send replies…
    twitter.com/laurencetom

      • Not really. I am a lousy designer. I tend to only templates and all the stuff you probably would complain about. What I like about this is what most other people have said. It is cleaner looking than your last one. I have a 13 in monitor on my m1330, a 22 in attached monitor and the mini9 and it looks good on all three. Virtually no sides on the mini9. But that is not a standard window size. I also like Chrome and I haven't seen any problems viewing it in Chrome.