please empty your brain below
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I suspect that if half the people who complained about your website appearance got to design pages of their own, they would end up being showcased here:
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
Max Roberts | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 8:06 a.m. | #
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I wouldn't worry too much about alienating smartphone users - mine copes quite happily with your site, and even does a good job of automatically zooming in to the main content. It means the sidebar goes all titchy, but that's easy enough to magnify if I want to read it.
martin | 17.05.12 - 8:19 a.m. | #
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I like it as it is and I suspect so do most of your regular readers.
Barry | 17.05.12 - 8:25 a.m. | #
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I love it for all the reasons those others hated it.
And you do feed your full posts to RSS feeds, which are mobile-friendly, surely?
Blue Witch | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 8:30 a.m. | #
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Particularly since the trend is for mobile screens to be a fair bit larger than the current iPhone. (And I think the world would be shocked if the next iFruit wasn't at least 4") Yes, it's a bit cramped on a mobile screen, but that's why you can turn the bloody thing sideways and read landscape. That's why they have pinch to zoom. The basic site design is *extremely* readable.
Chz | 17.05.12 - 8:35 a.m. | #
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It is fine as it is.
John | 17.05.12 - 8:36 a.m. | #
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I liked your sentence "....still doing landscape while the worlds going portrait" I assume you have a wide screen monitor on your laptop computer. I still use a 4:3 ratio monitor as I much prefer it. I never could see the point on working on A4 sized documents in portrait layout on a 16:9 widescreen.
Now that people are viewing web pages on mobile telephones which they often hold in vertical portrait display, however many phones will auto-rotate the image and display it landscape if the telephone is turned round.
John | 17.05.12 - 8:46 a.m. | #
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I view your site on a desktop, and some times a laptop. I for one like the Grey Black combination with no frills.
Just for fun I did view the site via my iPhone, it's not great but it does work.
But again I come here for the information that I couldn't get any where else.
Michael in the Netherlands | 17.05.12 - 8:55 a.m. | #
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I wonder if feeds will ever evolve to include visuals and commenting. How a blog looks will only be of interest to me on my first visit. If the content seems interesting enough, all I ever see is black on white in my feed reader after that - except when I comment, of course, but that is a rare occurrence.
Tuuli | 17.05.12 - 9:14 a.m. | #
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Your comments prove that what ever I think you'll do just as you please.
B | 17.05.12 - 9:22 a.m. | #
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Thank goodness, I was worried for moment there that you were going to announce some changes. I like it as it is. Don't forget the old adage "if it aint broke dont fix it"!
barry arnold | 17.05.12 - 9:55 a.m. | #
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DG,
We love you as you are, don't change unless you have to.
Rob
Rob C | 17.05.12 - 10:02 a.m. | #
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As long as I can continue to enjoy (excellent) articles delivered properly via RSS for consumption through Google Reader (and not just the first few sentences as some blogs do before forcing you to click through to the main site) I don't especially care how the main site looks.
No adverts too. Bonus.
Thanks again for the writing though. That's the best part.
Jonathan Watters | 17.05.12 - 10:04 a.m. | #
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Oh, Please don't change anything! Your blog is nice-looking and easy to read, and being somewhat elderly I disapprove of changes!
Leuconoe | 17.05.12 - 10:06 a.m. | #
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I first discovered your blog via my iphone, and spent quite a bit of time reading old posts that way - and it was fine. I obviously persevered.
I'm now continuing to work my way through the history (and check the new posts) on my widescreen laptop.
Both work fine. As you say, it's the content I'm here for; but I've never had any kind of negative personal reaction to the layout/design (or load times) on either platform.
mighty mouse | 17.05.12 - 10:07 a.m. | #
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Barry Arnold beat me to it!! It aint broke, so don't fix it.
Thanks for your work in keeping it going.
Chris | 17.05.12 - 10:09 a.m. | #
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Your site looks old, i often think "is he ever going to update it?", and "you've had the same blogger template for YEARS!!". but i know that if you were to change it, i'd hate it and be unable to cope with change! so, as you are, please.... thx :)
Geofftech | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 10:23 a.m. | #
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Without any basis to support the assertion, those made unhappy by the retro design are unlikely to become regular readers, almost by definition.
Ham | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 10:31 a.m. | #
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Phew... I thought you were going to say that you were going to change it.
Sarah | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 10:34 a.m. | #
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Don't go changin, to try and please em
Don't let the geeks affect your style.
We read you daily, worship the jam-jar.
We love you just the way you are.
I'll get my coat.
:o)
CF
Chingford Flaneur | 17.05.12 - 10:43 a.m. | #
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With a little tweaking, you could make your JavaScript more mobile friendly - don't need to use href="javascript:" in order to access JavaScript.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 10:43 a.m. | #
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Don't need to do anything too complex either!
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 10:44 a.m. | #
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There are a lot of web sites I visit that I don't much like the look of. But that doesn't stop me visiting them if I'm interested in the content. What does stop me is web sites that make it hard for me to view the content. That's very common now that I do a lot of browsing on a phone. There are a lot of sites that simply don't work on many phones. Also many sites force huge downloads of fancy animated introductions or adverts, or to pre-load images that they think you might want to look at next. Those sites also don't work on a phone or tablet in areas with bad mobile data connections.
Simple sites generally work on a wide range of devices and connections. If you do decide to change your site, at least please don't break it.
Tony W | 17.05.12 - 10:49 a.m. | #
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Can honestly say I've never thought about the appearance of the website but that probably says more about me than anything else.
Whiff | 17.05.12 - 10:59 a.m. | #
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"Don't go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are..."
THC | 17.05.12 - 10:59 a.m. | #
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If you feel like trying to make your site more mobile-friendly, you could install a mobile template - see the Blogger link below.
http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/mobile-templates-for-blogger-and-why.html
Adrian | 17.05.12 - 11:39 a.m. | #
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If further support for 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' were needed, just try and think of sites that have replaced what would have been text content with videos. Have to wait until you get home to look as no speakers at work. Can't skim through a video to work out if you want to watch all of it. 4:58 later, and you realise you weren't interested in the first place, so turn it off. Bring back 2002 I say!
Jim McKenzie | 17.05.12 - 12:13 p.m. | #
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I second these emotions!
Suse | 17.05.12 - 12:24 p.m. | #
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Fine as it is. Don't cave in to the redesign monster. Look at what's happened to Flickr now.
Audrey | 17.05.12 - 12:34 p.m. | #
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I am too stuck in the past to notice
Content is all!!
gilly | 17.05.12 - 12:45 p.m. | #
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Content is more important that whizzy design. As long as the design is not getting in the way of the content, in terms of accessibility or readability, why change it?
I find those sites that force you to read only one blogpost at a time - often by providing only a short extract on the main page so you have to click to download the rest each time - very annoying. *Please* don't do that.
Andrew | 17.05.12 - 1:18 p.m. | #
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Ask 100 people and you'll get 100 answers. See, I much prefer it when you just get a summary list. Why? Because I don't always want to read everything and it saves me a lot of scrolling!
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 1:23 p.m. | #
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Could we have content and kittens?
Michael in the Netherlands | 17.05.12 - 1:27 p.m. | #
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It ain't broke: don't fix it.
David | 17.05.12 - 1:51 p.m. | #
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Content is king. I use, at various times, PC, Google Reader, Android phone, iPad etc. and the layout is fine also...
Alistair | 17.05.12 - 2:40 p.m. | #
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Fine as is. I usually read it in Google Reader anyway.
Just ignore all the geeks*.
*Also known as 'younger people'.
Brian Carpenter | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 2:56 p.m. | #
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DG, the best thing about your site, apart from the excellent daily blogs, is that there are no pop ups, adverts or videos.
In fact, you are quite like the BBC, trustworthy and reliable...without the political bias.
Please don't change your format. It is pleasing to the eye, does it's job and needs no tinkering.
To see how a Web site can get it so wrong just go to the revamped Friends Reunited. Totally and absolutely hopeless. It does not resemble the old site in any shape or form. Members are leaving in droves and I give it two years max before it finally disappears. I actually e-mailed them my concerns and by return received an obvious computer generated reply. Patronising waffle about need to change, understanding concerns and all the other BS techies think is leading edge.
Thanks DG for your fascinating reports, don't ever stop.
Bernie | 17.05.12 - 3:43 p.m. | #
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I've been reading your blog for years because it's consistently interesting and well written. However, if I had to actually visit your website rather than using RSS I doubt I'd have lasted this long.
You don't have to change the site, you're providing us with free, great quality writing, you can do what you like with it. But if you want more people to read your stuff then perhaps you should listen to the new guys, and maybe more of those 1000 reddit hits would have bookmarked you.
Of course the majority of people posting here like the layout or at least don't mind it, it's a perfect example of selection bias. The people who currently read and comment on your blog are the ones who like the layout, the ones who hated it were filtered out on their first visit, never to return, and never to state their opinion.
Websites have changed over the last decade, not just because of changing fashion, but because people have figured out ways to make then easier to read and more attractive.
Just my tuppence worth anyway.
John Smith | 17.05.12 - 3:54 p.m. | #
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I like your blog just the way it is. Content's great, and always interesting and informative. Site loads fast enough.
I visit from a netbook in my kitchen.
I am a Luddie but I love your site.
Helen Vecht | 17.05.12 - 4:02 p.m. | #
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Stick with it, DG, it's fine the way it is
Jan 842 | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 4:28 p.m. | #
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Your site is perfect, easy to read and easy to look through archive stuff, dont listen to the naysayers!
Rachel | 17.05.12 - 4:45 p.m. | #
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As Nat King Cole would say:
Stay as sweet as you are,
Don't let a thing
Ever change you.
Stay as sweet as you are,
Don't let a soul
Rearrange you.
Young and gay or old and gray,
Near to me or afar,
Night and day I pray
That you'll always stay
As sweet as you are.
popartist | 17.05.12 - 6:08 p.m. | #
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Would I rather have style, or substance?
No contest.
That said, London Reconnections' redesign is a good model of a site getting it right and moving into the modern age without compromising on simplicity and usability, but there are far, far more sites which have attempted to make that jump and fallen flat on their faces.
I give you the abysmal new AJAX BBC front page as a prime example. Animations all over the place, stupid unnecessary frills which detract from content - if your site is stuck in 2002, then the BBC looks like it was just crapped out of a wormhole to the tackiest part of 1998.
On balance, I'd rather have the present design than run the very significant risk of ending up with a much worse one.
swirlythingy | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 6:18 p.m. | #
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Good for you DG - keep it as it is. It's the content that we like, not the flash. We're staying put!
Surreyguy | 17.05.12 - 6:40 p.m. | #
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It looks fine to me - I usually RSS unless I want to comment.
The content about kittens is usually harder to find though, maybe you could have a kitten of the day section in the sidebar?
Debster | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 6:45 p.m. | #
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I didn't even know such a thing as a iPad simulator existed. I always learn something when I read this blog, even if it is "only" what the special jamjar looks like (which I sadly keep looking at and smirking).
As Jean-Luc Pickard would say "as you are No1".
Amused | 17.05.12 - 6:49 p.m. | #
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I always check in from my laptop, mainly because it's the only bit of technology I own, apart from an MP3 player, and an ancient phone that makes texts and calls. Period!
The colour scheme may be out of date but is soothing on my eyes. So many sites leave me seeing double or give me eye strain.
I like being able to scroll down to read any comments added on previous posts since I last logged on, or to re-read an older post.
This is your site, to do with as you wish. But I'm glad you've decided not to change for now!
CornishCockney | 17.05.12 - 7:02 p.m. | #
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One last word. If any of the newfound audience offer to help optimise images for you, be especially vigilant. Beware of geeks bearing gifs.
Ham | Homepage | 17.05.12 - 8:11 p.m. | #
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1) I just double tap on the main column on my phone and it's perfectly readable.
2) But if blogger do mobile templates, you should look into it.
Kirk | 17.05.12 - 8:13 p.m. | #
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What's a Smartphone?
Kimburli | 17.05.12 - 8:21 p.m. | #
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Stay as you are please. Look what happened when they mucked about and updated FaceBook. Awful. And if you are not on FB ask anyone who is how they hate it.
TinafromSurrey | 17.05.12 - 9:12 p.m. | #
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I love your site design and whenever I go to a fancy site I always wish it was designed like yours. By the way, I haven't found a site that works better than yours on my phone
ayoob | 17.05.12 - 10:16 p.m. | #
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If you like it, who cares about anyone else? Your site is all about the writing anyway. For the record, it looks just fine on iPad.
Lou | 18.05.12 - 6:04 a.m. | #
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That 'richardjohn' has a real attitude problem.....
NLW | 18.05.12 - 8:21 a.m. | #
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I tend to read on my iPhone these days and have no problem with it at all. The sites I have problems with are those that try to be too flashy, such as the new Evening Standard site, which is painfully slow even on my work pc to the extent that I've given up viewing it. And 'mobile versions' which strip away functionality and force on you a version of the site which wasn't what the writer intended are aggravating too.
So there really is a lot to be said for keeping it simple.
SELondoner | Homepage | 18.05.12 - 8:31 a.m. | #
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If it ain't broke there's no need to fix it - it looks fine, is organised well and is easy to read and navigate...too much emphasis these days on form as opposed to content...
PippaD | Homepage | 18.05.12 - 10:12 a.m. | #
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This blog is for smart people. Not smart phones.
just my 0.02 | 18.05.12 - 10:47 a.m. | #
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DG, I'm a long time reader of your site - please don't think I was dismissing it out of hand.
dg writes: You said the content was great. That'll do me, thanks.
Larwood | 18.05.12 - 12:22 p.m. | #
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I read on google reader, so its black text on a white background and rarely see the site unless I want to comment.
It doesn't have a web 2.0 feel but its not bad.
liz | 18.05.12 - 3:47 p.m. | #
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"... if these emulators are anything to go by..."
Not really!
You may try Adobe Shadow, a free preview tool that makes it easier to customize websites for mobile devices:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/shadow/
Greg | 18.05.12 - 6:27 p.m. | #
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Please do not change. I enjoy my morning read before the slog of work.
OK I’m in the 60yrs plus bracket but my working day has now been ruined by the company introduction of an Ipad for sales quotes, which may or may not work! Lets KISS.
Peter
Peter | 19.05.12 - 12:20 p.m. | #
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I often use Opera Mini - I like the site the way it is - don't change it.
Opera Mini emulator:
http://www.opera.com/developer/tools/mini/
Steve Barker | Homepage | 20.05.12 - 1:10 p.m. | #
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