Monday, March 18, 2013

Book Blogger Confessions - Blog Design (Monday, March 18, 2013)


Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that allows book bloggers to discuss issues unique to what we encounter in the blogging world. Every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month we will post a question and invite you to answer, comment and discuss opinions and different views.

Please keep the dialogue courteous. No bashing!

If you would like to participate in this meme sign up below and please feel free to to grab the button to include in your post with a link to For What It's Worth Reviews or here at Midnyte Reader.


Question:  What is important in design for the blogs you follow?  What features/elements do you appreciate?  What are big turn offs?

Answer:  I think a good design is very important for a blog.  I like clean, simple blogs and I like fancy ones too.  The most important feature for a design to have for me is "readability."  I need to see the font so it is important that it has a color that doesn't hurt my eyes.  If I have to squint, I just won't read it.  Also, a fancy font also makes text harder to read.  For some reason, when the text is squished in the column it is also hard to read...you know when there are only like three or four words on a line and it's very long?  

The other elements I like are when the theme is apparent.  When the name of the blog, the heading, the ratings and features are all somehow tied together.  For example, Kate from Midnight Book Girl uses a clock and hours for her ratings, her comments say "Midnight Whispers" and she calls her readers "Fellow Midnighters."  So, that is a wonderfully clever way to embrace a blog theme.  

I also like blogs better that are chronological.  I want to know what the blogger said most recently.  There is another style of blogs popping up that is like a newspaper style.  Although I am getting used to this when they first started appearing, they freaked me out.  I'm not sure why.  I think it was because I didn't know where to look first and see what was most current and also probably because it was just new and different and not what I was used to.  A few of my favorite blogs are now this format so I'm adapting. : ) Also, it helps when they tweet their link and it takes me right to what they are talking about. 

Also, if a blog is too busy, with tons of ads, out of date challenges and events and buttons that say what boy team you're on...stuff like that.  

Also, captcha.  Bleh.  

What do you look for in the blogs that you follow?




12 comments:

Roberta R. said...

First off, I apologize for posting a double link, but I messed up the first one. Maybe you or Karen can erase the wrong entry (n.3). What can I say...it's Monday! LOL.
CAPTCHA and readability seem to be our biggest common issues ;D. You also mentioned boy team banners - and I had to smile. On the other hand, I guess that love for books comes in many ways...
As for the blog having a theme, it's another good point. I did something like that myself with widget titles, but using images is much more cool indeed. I'm taking notes for a future redo :).

fakesteph said...

Yes, exactly. I like blogs to be easy to navigate and not confusing. I hate when blogs have SO MUCH going on that they make my browser crash.

Tales of Whimsy said...

I hate those kinds of blogs too. It's ok in my feed but when I go to visit the site it's too much for me.

Julie@My5monkeys said...

nods head with all of those things too. I like the nice clean simple look , but the blog is who you are and presenting to the world :)

Karen said...

I've had a hard time adapting to the news style designs too. I'm getting there but I tend to follow via twitter links now as well.

My were brain can't handle the post options overload lol

Anonymous said...

I like color schemes that work together. It's nice when the colors are complementary or fit together in some theme.

Midnyte Reader said...

@Roberta - Oh I hope I didn't insult anyone with my boy team banner comment. I don't mind them, but I just don't want to see an entire sidebar of them. But your are right, pple express their love of books in many ways. All of this being said, it is the owner's blog and they can do what they want.

@Steph-There are some blogs I can't even visit anymore, b/c my computer freezes. : (

@Juju-Sometimes I get tricked by my feeder b/c it leads me to a blog and then it's like auto crash!

@Julie-I like clean too...but I also love the ones with a lot of personality.

@Karen-I usually follow posts via twitter. And I'm the same way, sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the "stuff" on blogs.

@Erin - I agree. I'm a frustrated artist, so I like to see design and color that work well together.

Lauren said...

I love obvious themes :) They are so visually appealling and easy to look at. I also totally agree about chronological order, those are by far my favorite types. And Captcha... does anyone disagree about Captcha anymore? lol


Lauren @ Lose Time Reading

Kimberly @ Midnight Book Girl said...

I prefer chronological blogs as well, nothing wrong with the newspaper layout per se it's mostly just because like you I don't know where to look!

I agree that readability is the biggest thing. If I can't read it, I'll just move on.

Logan E. Turner said...

I agree with you about out of date stuff. I don't mind if a blog has a lot of buttons and banners (I tend to have quite a few!), but I want them to be current and/or seem important. If it's an image just to be an image then it reminds me too much of bumper stickers. :)

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

Thanks for the shout out, Pam! ;)

Captcha is the devil!

Also, I prefer blogs to be chronological too, the newspaper layout might look cool, but I am far less likely to stick around if I can't find my way around easily.

Personally, I'm a sucker for blogs that have great names- like yours!

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