David Airey’s blog is a must read

20/08/2007

davida.jpg

I know that many bloggers aren’t in to the whole optimization concept. Whether it be optimizing writing, appearance, communication or any other aspect of a blog. But David Airey has a blog that have not been able to get off for the last week or two.

davea1.jpgHe talks about a variety of topics in a succint and simple way that makes sense to me and clearly to others as well. I think the blog will (might) appeal to the Quirks, Cherry’s and Jo’s of the SA blogosphere as well as any blogger who is in the process of a redesign or generally looking to spruce up their template and approach to blogging.

Some featured articles that I found that have definitely helped me at SA Rocks and soon on this blog too:

5 important design aspects of any website or blog

6 tips to improve your blog articles

Top 5 essential WordPress Plugins

Are these good or bad business cards?

Some points I particularly like from articles that I have read on his blog: Link your blog posts to and from your blog posts. This will help to keep the reader on your site for as long as possible.

Clean things up. Get rid of anything unnecessary in your sidebar.

Choose a colour scheme.

I am sure that many in the SA blogosphere will glance over the blog and palm it off as useless gimicky rubbish. I don’t think so however.

If this sort of thing interests you then do yourself a favour and visit his blog. Just like most how to sites suggest, David has contacted me and thanked me for my comments. Nice touch and one that I think many of us overlook. Person to person is always best. Always.

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Things to remember when redesigning your blog

26/07/2007

I have recently done an overhaul on SA Rocks with the help of Vince.

Some very specific things came out of the redesign. I know that the following thoughts/tips/ideas wont be shared by everyone but this is what I learnt and think should be remembered:

1. Content is king (Cliche, i know)… always.

2. Design sometimes gets in the way of content.

3. Colours are not always good. Muting the colours could help your readers.

4. Sometime all a reader wants is a black background, a white page and some text.

5. Sidebars need to be cleaned out, much like a closet. Be ruthless, delete all the services, bars, tools, widgets and extras that are cluttering your sidebar. Sometimes your blogroll might even be the issue.

6. Slick design is good, but don’t think your readers are stupid. They know what is hot and what blows. If you are missing the point, call in for assistance.

7. Outside assistance might be hard to come by but is worth finding. A second perspective on your blog should always be welcome and is often needed.

8. Don’t screw with your CSS too much. SIMPLE IS BETTER.

9. K2 is not so shit hot, make sure to choose your template/theme carefully. Ensure that you can work with the CSS and the basic theme setup.

I think that is it. I tried to get to 10, but fell short. Alas, what can one do!?

I hope this helps and I hope that everyone has some thoughts on the SA Rocks template.

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