Three Smacks Are Better Than One
i’ve been resmacked. the first time was last November. the second time was yesterday:
We?ve got a tweaked WordPress template. Not bad, not great. Eh.
Two sidebars. One is dedicated to links and junk with a couple of personal things tossed in. The second is all that blogroll and recent comments/posts/categories thing. Oddly, she has a rolled up blogroll but a huge category list that is not rolled up and more recent comments than recent posts. There are way too fucking many recent comments. I marvel at the brightness in rolling up the blogroll but leaving the categories sitting there hogging shit. I don?t get it. As far as double sidebars go, I?ve seen worse. I?ve seen better too so eh on that too.
Ok, she whores her Rent My Blog person which I guess is kinda nice. She?s got some medical problems. She?s bi-polar and a huge part of her blog discusses her experiences and feelings associated with it. (Categories show 132 posts regarding manic depression. The next highest is blogs and internet.)
She ?cat blogs.? ~swoons~ One of her cats looks exactly like my retarded kitten.
Now, I?ve seen some of the other bitches gripe about archives. I generally don?t because who the fuck really reads them anyway and because I sorta hide mine as well. However, I now see why this annoys the other bitches so much. Clicking on a category gives you a whole page of stuff ?mostly? about that thing but I don?t have enough minutes in my day to look at all categories. I guess this proves my ?who really looks? theory.
She links to someone I cannot fucking stand, heh. Do I care? Why no, no I don?t.
What I do care about is the lack of uppercase lettering. As I regularly point out, only I can do the lowercase thing–only in comments and only if I?m on my ancient laptop. She says in one of her posts that she?s an excellent typist with only 2% error rate. I?m going for 99% error rate because capitalization is your friend. You can?t claim to be an excellent typist if hitting the shit key makes you break out in hives.
In summation, I kinda like this blog. I could probably read it every now and again. She does write reasonably well though it is a bit dry. It?s not completey terrible. It?s not great either. It?s just a person blogging about her life. Sometimes that?s interesting and sometimes it?s not. And that?s her blog, sometimes interesting, sometimes not.
However, as a Canadian born person who is less than thrilled with the US these days, I hate Chicago with a passion. (You?ll see where that statement makes no sense. Go with it anyway.) It?s where I developed my irrational fear of bridges. Do I care that she lives there? Why no, no I do not.
Constructive criticism: Roll up your categories. Reduce the number of people commenting. Get a better template. Never accidently get on the skylane at 3 AM. The ?last? year thing at the end of every post is kind of annoying. Do something about that.
i’m not complaining. i improved since the last review, and of the 3 total blogs reviewed yesterday, i was the only one who got smacked. go, me! and i love the post title: I’ll take the manic chick for $500, Alex. note that i submitted my blog for review knowing that it could get completely torn up.
Bitter Bitch, the reviewer, has brought up a lot of valid points, including a reminder for me to start looking for a designer. she’s right–my blog reflects my life: sometimes it’s interesting, sometimes it’s not. it was far more interesting before i was diagnosed, but not particularly stable, either. i don’t think my writing is normally dry, but i admit that lately i’ve had a hard time fighting my mood states to get anything done–including blogging. it’s like i have word constipation. just. can’t. get. themmmmmm……out.
i may be trying out different templates over the next few days, just to see how they look. what do you guys think about the double sidebars on one side? should i just have one sidebar? what about categories? i agree, there are way too many there and i’ve been in the (slow) process of combining some to delete others. do people really look at those, or at monthly archives? i would love any and all suggestions. 
Blogs/Blogging
I think
I like your blog how it is, but it is yours so I recon you should go with what you think feels right.
February 23, 2006 2:28 am
I like you blog. It is clean and easy to read. I don’t care for the ones with too many bells and whistles. I also read the archives when I find a new blog I am interested in…
February 23, 2006 7:42 am
heh. That’s fun. I submitted myself for a smackdown.
I like the design, mostly. It’s attractive and the colors work well. I’m not a fan of two sidebars on one side, but I don’t hate it either. The only thing I really don’t like is the live comment preview. It’s dog slow on older computers, like my office machine.
For the record, I rarely pay any attention to archive and category links.
February 23, 2006 11:50 am
The only thing I have a problem with is “Reducing the number commenting?”
I don’t want to be reduced!
February 23, 2006 12:22 pm
clare and Queen, i do agree that it’s easy to read, and i like that part.
Joefish, i think the colors work well, too, but now i wonder if they’re too somber? good luck with your smackdown.
dan,
she meant how long it is in the sidebar. i don’t know what the default was, but i’ve reduced the number of commenters it lists to 3.
February 23, 2006 1:02 pm
I looked through some old reviews and i think I know who they don’t like in your links list - You’re a braver woman than me mate, but then, my blog days are over!
hugs xx.
February 23, 2006 1:08 pm
I need to redo my template….can’t quite get it together to make a grand one….
February 23, 2006 3:52 pm
Constructive criticism never hurts. Here’s the thing. I love your entries and they are never dry to me. As far as the design, I think your header is a tad bit fuzzy, and I think it should be more clear. Other than that, I don’t know how else you would be able to put as much content as you want without it being a three column theme.
If people are interested in your blog, they will read the entries and the sidecontent or just the entries. I mostly read the entries, but occasionally if I notice something different I check up on the side content. I’ve been a loyal reader of your site, and I basically know what you have added and what you have taken away. Either way, it’s all good. You don’t want shallow readers Barb, you want folks like me who love you as a person and love reading your blog. Screw all those other readers . . . they are a waste of time. They probably can’t even please themselves, let alone, read your blog! LOL.
February 23, 2006 9:25 pm
Hi Barb, thank you for the promo and for renting to me. Hey, as for bloglines, I was able to subscribe to my blog so am not sure why you cannot via rss, it gave me no probs at all. Have a great weekend!
February 24, 2006 6:30 am
Barb-
I like the way your blog looks. I also like your archives.
February 24, 2006 6:51 am
I’m not sure I could put my self though this. I notice one of the bitches has a beard!!!!
February 24, 2006 1:21 pm
I’m with mark, I couldn’t put myself thru this. So, kudos to you for doing so. That said, and this is only my opinion, and only because you asked:
1) I think there are too many categories on the side. The only things I’d ever click on are your blogroll or your archives.
2) For my eyesight, the print is very small & difficult to read.
3) As you know, I much preferred your ‘chocolate’ blog template. Any design that reflects your personality is what’s important.
Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog & getting to know you. I think the journey of finding a template that ‘fits’ will be a fun one. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
February 24, 2006 1:49 pm
I did not post that comment above and I am getting emails because of it. Please delete that comment.Thank you.
February 25, 2006 12:30 am
hey, folks–thanks for all your suggestions! i’ve decided to take the categories out of the sidebar and place them on their own page. i like the size of the font for the content, but yeah, the sidebar font could stand to be bigger.
at any rate, a new template will be coming soon! stay tuned.
Carol, done.
February 25, 2006 2:02 pm
Your blog template has never bothered me…and I’m a template snob. lol
Your content is always interesting…even if it’s not…does that make sense? It does to me, so nyah.
February 25, 2006 6:07 pm
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May 18, 2006 11:51 am