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I don’t think anybody would deny that the ol’ CraftyPod has needed an overhaul for quite some time. It’s one of my biggest failings: I get involved in so many projects all the time, I always get behind on maintenance things.
Anyway. This new layout is a work in progress, but already orders of magnitude better than what you’ve been putting up with for the last three years. For the curious, I used a WordPress theme called Thesis, which is the bomb-diggety. (Not cheap, but endlessly customizable.)
I have a punch list several miles long, and will be tweaking things as I have time. So now’s a good moment to ask you:
What features and functionality would you like to see on this here blog?
…And thanks so much for your endless patience with the old layout. :-)
…Now to redesign my shop!
It looks GREAT! So neat and clean. Love it.
Looks really good!
Nice! Very Nice!
It looks great, it's definitely a lot cleaner and easier to spot stuff. I especially like the podcast page, which is much more usable and easier to navigate now.
Yaaaaay! It's up! And it is beautiful! See – it's NOT because I am your Mother! Other people already said so!
Love the direct link to the tutorials. And to the Podcast page. And the direct link to Make and Meaning – a very, very cool blog. O yes and the search thingy!
Over all it is easy on the eyes. Maintenance well done!
Awesome! Great job!
Looking great, Diane! Keep up the good work!
So cheerful!
Thank you – and Amen to easier podcast navigation. :-) Now all I need to do is install some thumbnail images on all those previews, and all shall be well.
Yup, I've been waiting for this, and so far it looks great! Love the podcast archive where you can listen directly to the shows – how neat that is! You'll need to add a kanzashi page, a page about your e-books and I thought maybe you should make your about page more fun? You're more than that I think, I would at least make a list of all the sites that you've written for and/or a press page with mentions and reviews? But I guess that will be a huge project to put together coz we all love everything you do! :-)
Happy New Year! And Big congrats on your blog update/new look – I love it!
All great suggestions – thanks so much, Hanna!
Heh – I totally need a better About page. It's just the hardest thing
in the world for me to write. I'm terrible at bios in general.
Working on that “Books” page right now, though – that one's easier! :-)
Nice! It's always a bit of a stress to overhaul a blog! Nice work!
Wonderful! The new layout is so fresh and spring-like, really good work.
Lucy
very pretty :D very easy to read and navigate
I will think about what features could possibly be missing here, although right now, it looks like you got everything, even the twitter gadget! Maybe lots more videos of you, talking, showing us books and turning pages, showing us your projects, and showing us Pushkin in a variety of positions.
That's just me, of course.
Oh, yeah – the Pushkin Webcam Page is coming soon.
Just kidding. :-)
I like the way it looks, very fresh. Love your work!
Love the new look! That header photo is beautiful. I, like iHanna, love the podcast page. I'm always trying to refind podcasts. The tutorial page is awesome, too (… making notes for my redesign …). Wooohooo!
Loving the new look Diane!
Nice new layout – I love it. I'm in mega need of a blog spruce up myself…
Congrats Diane! It looks great!
Happy New Year!!
ooo, super clean! I like this layout! Happy new year from Italy!
It looks great!
Did you do the customization yourself? I struggle with Thesis and thus haven't even implemented it yet! :)
Thanks! I customized the header, and made a lot of adjustments to the
sidebar display. I also tweaked the page display on the main page vs.
the pages in the nav bar.
Holler if you have any specific questions – I may be able to help!
Hi, I've been reading this blog for a few months now. It's wonderful! Your photos and writing are a bright way to start my day, and I love your new banner. Which leads me to a question: I'm about to switch to Thesis for my blog, but I'm having the hardest time figuring out how to install the photo for the banner. How did you do it? I realize you're busy, so if you know of a link or a tutorial somewhere, please let me know. (Or if you had someone do this for you, may I please contact them?)
Thank you so much, Mari! And good luck with Thesis! You might find these how-to's helpful for customizing your header:
http://www.doublemule.com/how-to-add-banner-ima…
http://wpbandit.com/tutorials/thesis-custom-hea…
Hi, I've been reading this blog for a few months now. It's wonderful! Your photos and writing are a bright way to start my day, and I love your new banner. Which leads me to a question: I'm about to switch to Thesis for my blog, but I'm having the hardest time figuring out how to install the photo for the banner. How did you do it? I realize you're busy, so if you know of a link or a tutorial somewhere, please let me know. (Or if you had someone do this for you, may I please contact them?)
Thank you so much, Mari! And good luck with Thesis! You might find these how-to's helpful for customizing your header:
http://www.doublemule.com/how-to-add-banner-ima…
http://wpbandit.com/tutorials/thesis-custom-hea…
I love this blog and what you have done with Thesis! If it isn't too much of a problem could you please tell me how you did that amazing sidebar navigation (with Get my Ebooks, Take my classes, Work with me). It looks great!
Thanks, Nicole! I built some graphic buttons in GIMP (a Photoshop alternative – http://www.gimp.org), and then uploaded the graphics to my server. Then I used a little HTML that links each graphic to a specific web page. I then added a “text” sidebar widget and pasted the HTML in there. I hope that helps!