Updates

Summer is here, and with the changing of the season, perhaps it’s time to refresh things. Buy a new toothbrush. Give the house a good cleaning. And…update your blog?

Yes, definitely. Most of my interaction with my own blog is by hitting the post button or responding to comments. I don’t often check all the other pieces that make up my blog. So here’s my tips for seasonal “blog cleaning”:

1. Make sure your contact info is up to date. How will people contact you and tell you your email address isn’t working? You should update your profile, too.

2. If you link to other blogs on your site in any way, make sure they’re all still updating. So many people disappear from the internet that you can end up with a blog roll that stretches down forever, filled with sites that haven’t updated in over a year.

3. Make sure any links you have are working, as well as any gadgets you may use. Last year my Twitter gadget stopped updating with my tweets. I’m not even sure how long it had been broken for! It’s also no good if you have a link to your latest book and anyone who clicks on it gets a message saying 404: File Not Found.

4. Keep things interesting! Change your format, your picture, themes. Maybe add new pages. (I have to admit, this is the one I often skip…but “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” probably isn’t a good way to run a blog)

Okay, I suppose that’s it, unless one of you has something else to add—by all means, share. Don’t let your blog languish!

The New Look

Yes, I changed my blog format. Really, I did it a few days ago but this is the first opportunity I felt like talking had to talk about it.

I used the Dynamic Views template this time, just for a change, and I have to say I’m not sure I’m pleased with it. It has its pros and cons—on one hand, it’s a much cleaner, simpler design. I feel it’s easier to navigate and so much less cluttered. On the other, you have to scroll over things like the Followers widget for them to appear, which might mean that people won’t follow. Also, a lot of other gadgets aren’t available. You can’t see my tweets anymore, or my blog roll. On the third hand, I’m some sort of monster with three hands.

I’m still ambivalent, but I think some time in the next few days you’ll see yet another blog format change. Unless Blogger announces plans to make more gadgets compatible and gives a touch more control over layout in Dynamic Views, I’m going to start the arduous task of fixing a new format if I can find a background picture that isn’t sucky (much more difficult than you might think).

What do you think of my current format? Better or worse? Any thoughts on Dynamic Views?

EDIT: Yes, I changed it again. As much as I liked having the buttons and gadgets out of the way, they were just too inaccessible. I really think Dynamic Views could have given SOME sort of hint as to what the different buttons are rather than some sort of vague picture (something which seems prevalent in many sites these days). If they ever do improve these issues, I might go back to it. Fair warning.