My new site design! what do you think?

mclintst · #1 (**permalink**) 08-27-2007, 10:43 PM

Hi Everyone,

Well I have finally uploaded my new layout for my site. My first layout was created using tables, apparently that is old school as I have been told

I used a template and just picked it apart until I got the look I wanted. This was also a great way to learn CSS.

It is still not finished by any means as I have a lot of articles to upload and a ton of seo work to do as well.

I have lost quite a bit of weight and wanted to share what I have learned. I also plan on getting the blog up and running as a way to promote this site. But I would like for it to be a stand alone site it's self.

I would appreciate any feedback good or bad I accept it all. Ad placement, colours, images, content, coding or whatever.

A comment or 2 from the queen herself would be nice. I understand she has a fitness site? Does anyone know the URL?

My site is in my sig line. I have also attached a picture of what the old version looked like so you can see the difference.

Thank you
Steve

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 08-28-2007, 09:59 AM

Wow!!! I love your design. The cool blues are really soothing.

One thing I noticed is that the header seems to be a little big and overpowering. I love the scales but it just seems the overall header could be a bit smaller. Also, the "Food Journals" link has a blue button next to it. Was that for a reason or a mistake?

Great job on the graphics. Makes a very nice accent to your site.

TechieGuy · #3 (**permalink**) 08-28-2007, 10:23 AM

I have to say that I like the blue better than the red, it is easier on the eyes.

I gree with Lisa about your header being a little big. It is also big in terms of bytes (62+KB). Making it smaller will allow more content to be displayed on the first part of the screen, which is what you want.

Other than that, great job.

mclintst · #4 (**permalink**) 08-28-2007, 08:01 PM

Thanks for the feedback Lisa and Techie Guy. I fixed that blue button. Now it only appears when you hover over the link. I also had the header redone. It was at a height of 250 now 160 and 62K before now 48k.

How does it look now?

I also just installed wordpress for the blog. But I still need to learn how to edit the layout and add some new plugins.

Thanks again

lisa · #5 (**permalink**) 08-29-2007, 08:54 AM

Much better. Yes, the smaller size is not as overpowering. Looks great!

I am also thinking of switching from typepad to wordpress for one of my other sites. Let me know how you like it.

mclintst · #6 (**permalink**) 09-17-2007, 10:58 AM

Hey Lisa,

Wordpress has been very easy for me to learn, so far. Powweb had it available in my ops and I just had to activate it. I downloaded a theme and customized it to fit my site. I have been messing around with some of the features and plugins.

Now all I need to do is enter my posts. Wordpress has a time stamp feature that lets you enter your post and then publish at a later day and time. Pretty cool. Does typepad have that?

lisa · #7 (**permalink**) 09-17-2007, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mclintst

Hey Lisa,

Now all I need to do is enter my posts. Wordpress has a time stamp feature that lets you enter your post and then publish at a later day and time. Pretty cool. Does typepad have that?

No I don't believe it does. I really wish I had used them in the beginning (Wordpress) but I will be switching when my year is up with TypePad.

ssmorgan · #8 (**permalink**) 09-17-2007, 10:47 PM

Dear Mclintst,

I, too, really like the design of your site... it's very nice and organized, but I have a few comments:

1) I hate to be a hater, but I still think the header is too big... Is there a way to decrease the height?

2) The content area is too close to the google ads on the right. You can fix that by either increasing the padding on the right side of the content area or increase the padding on the left side of the sidebar area. Does this make sense?

3) Under the "contact us" area in the left column, "your questions answered" takes 2 lines, where every other one takes only 1 line. I know I am a little picky, but if it were my site, I would make them all consistent.

4) At the bottom, where you have 3 pictures "Recipes, Blog, Featured Article": the pictures (which are great) are not aligned with the links and text underneath it.

5) Great Website! Great Information!

6) I really like the general layout and color schemes... great job!

I hope my comments are helpful.

By the way, the queen's website is flat-stomach-exercises.com

mclintst · #9 (**permalink**) 09-29-2007, 07:28 PM

Thanks for the comments ssmorgan,

The top 3 things that you mentioned, content too close, image text alignment and the links all on 1 line. These are all definitely on my "detail fix" list now. The small things like that drive me crazy as well.

I have just been focusing on getting some content up and adding to it.

I have finally have some posts on my blog, and today I received my very first spam comment....for some reason that made me happy

Thanks again for the comments everyone!

Gotti · #10 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 01:16 PM

hey!it's really stunning!!..congratulations man!i love the blue theme..the ads are fine too,for what concerns colors and placement^^ ,keep it up!

I appreciate the content as well, i think it's a kind of information we need to spread don't you agree guys??expecially amongst american people:/

ssmorgan · #11 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotti

I appreciate the content as well, i think it's a kind of information we need to spread don't you agree guys??expecially amongst american people:/

Ahem... exactly, what do you mean, Gotti?

Just kidding, Gotti, I know what you're referring to

Sherif

mclintst · #12 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 09:24 PM

Thanks for the compliments Gotti,

I have been concentrating on adding more content to the blog. I hope that it meets your standards

Canada has almost the exact same obesity rates as the states. It's definitely a worldwide epidemic.

TechieGuy · #13 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 06:36 AM

You site looks great, you have definitely put a lot of time and effort into it and it really shows.

Great job!

webdev · #14 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 08:49 PM

wow! i like how you have organized everything in your site, the menu, the content and everything.

How is your traffic building? Are you building back links?

mclintst · #15 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 10:27 PM

Thanks for the encouragement guys,

I am building some back links from other related fitness sites and blogs. I'm using Stumble upon, digg, mybloglog etc.. which has really driven some good traffic.

Is there anything else I should be doing that you guys have found to be really effective?

Also I wonder if Lisa would be interested in doing a guest post on my blog or something? Since we both have sites in a related field. Let me know if you are interested Lisa

My next post will be on the 1 month anniversary of my blog, I'll post my stats and what I've learned so far etc...

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