33 thoughts on “Some new formatting…?

  1. To be blunt E.D. anything that’d cost us the “Gift of Gab” bar on the left would be a disaster in my books. It’s invaluable for tracking conversations in the comments section.Report

      1. Thank you Michael…could we possibly dump the tangerine? It’s difficult to read and you’ve upset me enough with these liberal ‘changes.’ I’m conservative you know.Report

  2. This is more pleasing to the eye and provides for the easier reading of the comments themselves, though. Perhaps some third option is available whereby a small section could be provided to indicate where new comments have appeared? Perhaps without the short previews of what each comment says, which tend to cut off mid-sentence anyway?Report

  3. I agree with both comments about comments: that the gift of gab sidebar is missed, but that these comments are easier to read. For whatever reason, I also like the general feel of a 3-columned layout for this site better than the 2-columned.

    One more thing that may put me in the minority: while I like the larger font size for an individual post + comments, something about the way it looks on the main page is throwing me off a little bit. At first I thought it was simply the size/how long it takes to scroll from post to post, but I actually now think that it has to do with the formatting of post titles: the font sizes strike me as a little too close together — and I was partial to the old typeface of the titles. Or maybe I’m just curmudgeonly.Report

    1. So I see “gift of gab” is already back: so never mind about bringing it back, but (and this goes back to the 3-column thing) I kind of miss it’s formerly more prominent place. Then again, with everything I say, keep in mind that I’m the type to prefer the clunky and inefficient to the sleek and effective and liked if the former is what I’m used to.Report

  4. Aesthetically the old format was among the most pleasing of any website I’ve ever seen. Were it not for the fact that the site happened to end up with superior content I’d say that format would have under any other circumstances – i.e. merely above-average or worse content – been be the best feature of the site by far. I never had much problem with the comment formatting – it was kind of distinctive, though I don’t dispute it could be improved. But not at the cost of ugly black rectangles stretching across the page. IMHO. I’m an aesthete at heart, I guess.

    We have to go back, Kain! We have to go BAAACK!Report

  5. I’ve got mixed feelings about the layout, but I do like the little bio that appears after your name there. I think that feature should stay on posts; not so much because I want people to know about me, but because we’ve got lots of new people posting and I keep forgetting about their backgrounds.Report

    1. Closer, but the left column is still indented which seems to make the smaller type in the peripheral columns necessary. Can we go back to the previous font size for the L&R columns? Also, not liking the yellow-orange either, but I’m sure that’s just one of many alternatives.Report

  6. Okay, I could be missing it, but where do I log in to post? Admittedly, y’all might be trying to tell me something here, but I can’t see a link where anyone could log in to post.Report

  7. The new format is garish, especially in “the gift of gab” area where all those avatars are visible. But garish everywhere.Report

  8. Just out of curiosity, I wonder how many other readers are in my situation. To the extent possible, I don’t let Web sites choose their own fonts, font sizes, or color schemes for links and other tidbits. Subject to that, the layout at this time is worse than the old one. The center column in particular incorporates far too much white space, which is a particular problem with lengthy comments. Can you tighten things up?Report

  9. The comments look good, I’d say this is an improvement in the readability department. This design brings the content into focus in the single page view; however, on the home page the whole thing seems like kind of a mess.

    The previous version was better at creating a more easily understood visual hierarchy, while the home page now seems more cluttered and too tightly spaced. It’s chaos. Need more order. Barring that, why not increase the layout width and font-size of the previous theme?Report

    1. Looks like you added the left column to the single page view while I was typing. I might have to rescind the single page critique now. It’s chaotic as well.

      But you’ll never make everyone happy; personally I’m frightened of change.Report

    1. I go back and forth on this (for Gift of Gab, anyway). On the one hand, it would make it look smoother if you got rid of all of that. On the other hand, I do use that to surf from one post to the next wen new comments are made.Report

  10. A few minor things. First, could you make it so the logo is a link back to the homepage? That used to be the case and it’s something I use a lot to go back. Not that I can’t get used to clicking on Home instead.

    Also, the gravitar is hovering over the words “Leave a Reply” above. Penny-ante stuff, but thought you should know.

    Substantively, my smartphone does not like the new layout nearly as much as the old. I don’t know why, but it loads up slower and choppier than before.Report

  11. I really like the formatting as of the time of this comment. The picture of the trees above “Off the Cuff” goes well with the color scheme, and it looks cool, but I’m not sure how it fits with the theme of the blog.Report

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