Thursday, June 16, 2005

Renovate

Our pal Tam has just redesigned her blog, and put up a very cool header. Go, look, envy as I did. Beth also turned up the wattage over on her blog the day she was talking about To Blog or Not to Blog in this interesting post.

I look around and think about changing things here, but I'm kind of attached to the old plain nothing look. I also don't want to have bells, whistles, be syndicated, run sidebar ads, be hosted Somewhere Special, open a PBW mug-shirt-hat store, or otherwise go platinum. I don't think they're bad things, and I'm not a blog marketing snob. I love seeing the creative ways people use these things. It's just not what I want for this place.

I want to be contrary, what else? Contrary got me this far.

Honestly, what I'd like is to keep this weblog simple, open, uncensored and non-affiliated. I see it as a loose circle of writer friends, colleagues, and anyone else who happens to drop in. Enjoy the posts, the comments, the links, and the occasional RWA-banned graphic. Share what we know. Debate things. Have some laughs. Learn from each other.

So that's why there won't be any changes here. It'll stay the same old boring plain nothing, and will run on words and thoughts and ideas for however long it rolls along. That work for you, or is my vision skewed?

11 comments:

  1. Plain is good. I'm more interested in content than appearance.
    The worst pages (for me) are light text on a dark background. I can stand those for about five seconds at a time, and even a short exposure destroys my eyesight for the next five minutes or so.
    I know there are browser settings to override horrible colour choices, but they're not selective - they change everything.

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  2. Anonymous7:40 AM

    I like it just the way it is! Although I'm going to have to set up a dummy blogger account so I can comment.
    Charlene www.charleneteglia.com

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  3. I think it's wonderful the way it is. You don't need any extra bells and whistles to draw in readers. The content speaks for itself. (Though who wouldn't love a PBW coffee mug. I might even start drinking coffee if I had one. ;)

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  4. It's all about content for me and I have a feeling I'm not alone. No need to spruce up the environment, I'm quite content with the plain Jane approach.

    :)

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  5. Your vision absolutely works for me. I love it here. Your words and ideas POP. You don't need visual bells and whistles. I posted today at my own blog before I came here and saw this, but your statement, "I see it as a loose circle of writer friends, colleagues, and anyone else who happens to drop in." totally meshes with what I'm feeling today. Your blog is sort of like a cyber Algonquin Round Table. *smile*

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  6. Anonymous10:00 AM

    Well, you are syndicated by the way, I read you through RSS which I choose b/c it's plain and quick to load and sorts all my reading for me each morning so I can get through it in 1/2 hour or so.

    -Tobias Buckell

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  7. Anonymous10:03 AM

    It works for me. It looks professional and uncluttered. It has links to your flashier sites. Not broken.
    Don't fix it!

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  8. Anonymous11:15 AM

    Your site fits you!! I think it's perfect as is.

    I only changed mine to tie in with the new book - and new site look that goes live in a couple of weeks - and if you changed with every book, jeesh... we'd never stay on top!

    PBW is perfect. As is.

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  9. Anonymous12:19 PM

    Sheila, your blog look is straightforward. I doubt anyone would disagree that "straightforward" is the perfect look for you. :)

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  10. I like your blog just the way it is. On my first blog I kept adding fancy features, the last one being a pretty clock. Well then the whole thing just froze up, never to thaw. Now I keep it simple : )

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  11. Anonymous11:34 PM

    I like how easy your blog is on the eyes, and you always entertain.

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