October 31, 2005

Blogging in blue

My blog has a new design! If you are reading on bloglines or sage, click through to take a look and tell me what you think. We are still tampering with the details. Well, okay, when I say we, I really mean the wonderful and incomparable Dr. MMMMmmmmm who did the design, found a template for me, and worked his magic. I haven’t actually done anything except keep sending him emails saying, “Oh, yeah, that looks cool.” So big thanks to Dr. MMMmmmmmmmm.

Of course, some thanks goes to Scrivener, who initially responded to my begging and whining for help by agreeing to help and forwarding my pathetic pleas to Dr. MMMmmmm.

And check the post below this if you want to see With-a-Why’s Halloween costume.

50 comments:

susan said...

Jo(e), it's lovely--I especially love the masthead. You and Scrivener are really upping the aesthetic ambiance this week!

The pale blue on the post titles is a little, well, pale: I rather liked the way your old template highlighted titles. That's my only quibble with your very elegant makeover here.

listie said...

jo(e), it's absolutely wonderful; now your beautiful words have beautiful surroundings.

BrightStar (B*) said...

I LOVE YOUR NEW BLOG TEMPLATE!!!!

Milliner's Dream, a woman of many "hats"... said...

LOVELY! New designs/banners must be in the wind. :)
Hh

L said...

Oh, it's beautiful!! I officially have "blog look envy" now, caused by you and Scrivener :)

Rev Dr Mom said...

jo(e), it's beautiful. I love the blue.

susan said...

Did you change the titles, or was I just confusing the date color with the title color before? So maybe ignore the quibbling part of my earlier comment.

Mon said...

Absolutely Bluetiful!

jo(e) said...

Susan: Dr. Mmmm was changing the title colors even as you were writing that comment. I am beginning to think he has special powers.

I think the darker blue on the outside has been added since you last looked too.

Anonymous said...

I love boat pictures. I especially love that boat picture.

sheepish said...

Pretty, pretty blog.

Terminal Degree said...

Oooooh! Beautiful!

moxiemomma said...

hi jo(e) :) thanks for dropping by my place! i loooooooooove your new template. so peaceful! oh, and i love, love, loved the entry about costume-making--hilarious!

Unknown said...

Totally cool! I love it. I want to redesign mine, but it will have to wait until after nanowrimo!

BrightStar (B*) said...

I've come over here several times just to admire this blog's beautiful new template.

mc said...

Goregeous!! I think you've created lots of blog envy 'round these parts... the design really fits your writing style -- Congrats!

Susie/Nueva Cantora said...

Beautiful job! I love it, the blue is great. I'm very impressed.

Sergei C. said...

I like it too.

Pilgrim/Heretic said...

This is lovely! I like the font change too.

ccw said...

This is a beautiful template. I really love the new look!

bitchphd said...

Ooh, very pretty!

Unknown said...

Really gorgeous and moody.


mtvyu

Jesse said...

Quite nice. The header is lovely

Rob Helpy-Chalk said...

First Dr. B gets a beautiful blog makeover, now you do to.

You are making us default-template types feel like ugly little toads.

Ianqui said...

I like the use of the typewriter font in the header. Very you.

Rana said...

I love it!

One minor gripe... having the links be the same color as the background means that they are invisible while the text is loading, though they look nice after the white layer shows up.

Dr. Crazy said...

gorgeous! and this seems to fit the tone of your blog much better than what you had before :)

Coffee-Drinking Woman said...

'Tis lovely.

luckybuzz said...

Beautiful! I have total blog envy too, and I can't stop fiddling with mine...this is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! It really suits the tone of your blog.

Gosh, all you folks are all looking all professional and shit, I may have to cajole someone into creating a cool template for me (I know what I want in the header - the conjunction of old shaggy leather-bound books in creams and tans, with a sleek spiffy new computer. Yeah, yeah, cliched, but whatever). It would be fun to see what someone would come up with that would represent me! (Then again, maybe not...)

Sorry, this comment has devolved into all-about-me-ism. But again, gorgeous/awesome template! Dr. MMMMMMmmmmmm rocks!

halloweenlover said...

Beautiful! I love the quote at the top. Very fitting.

What Now? said...

Looks fabulous!

jo(e) said...

Dr. Mmmm came up with the idea of using the typewriter font for the title. And he came up with the idea of running the words to one of my poems across the image. And he came up with the image. Okay, he pretty much gets credit for everything.

I really love how it came out.

RussianViolets said...

This looks great!!! I love, love, love the blue, and the picture is so Jo(e). :-)

Anonymous said...

Very nice.

lucy tartan said...

Yeah, it's gorgeous, and very navigatable.

dr four eyes said...

Love it! You and Scrivner are inspiring me to revamp my template...though I doubt I'll come up with anything that will rival Dr. Mmmmm's designs.

Running2Ks said...

I love your new look as well. Great job!

Anonymous said...

love it!
PPB

Anonymous said...

Oh, excellent! I love the new design.

Anonymous said...

I just realized that when I went to read some of your other posts that there isn't a link to your home page from your header. Typically the header/logo contains a link/hotspot so people can get to the home page.

I've also seen people handle this issue by doing a Previous -- Main -- Next as breadcrumbs above the post title so people can navigate more easily.

Anyway, just a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

love it! totally fab, lovely shade of blue.

Michael LeVan said...

Marcia, I had some trouble converting the template header to a link since the masthead is a background image. The original template I altered, like most of them, just has the blog title fill in automatically as a link (over the background image)--and I didn't go back to tinker with it. The breadcrumb-style link back to the home page is just below where it says "post a comment" and above the site meter counter. There's also links to previous posts in the sidebar. I could add a link to "home" in the sidebar. Jo(e), just email me if you have any ideas for changes, adjustments, additions, etc.

Everyone, thank you for the nice words about my design. When jo(e) asked me to help, she let me run with the design, so I tried to make something that I thought would reflect her personality and style.

Random Kath said...

Such a beautiful design . . . I love the photo of the boats and the typewriter font . . . and I especially adore the shade of blue. Now you have me so inspired . . .

DaniGirl said...

Oooooo! So very pretty - bravo! I too have serious blog envy now.

Tell me, does it feel strange seeing your words in a different format? In blogs more than any other media, I seem to associate font and look with voice. This new look is 100% perfect for you!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous. I love the boats. They give me the same feeling as I get from your blog, which a sense of effortless tranquility and an ability to ride out the waves.

Anonymous said...

dr. m(mmm), I see the home link you mentioned now. Thanks!

jo(e) said...

DaniGirl: Well, I am still writing in Word and then pasting into the blogger dashboard so it doesn't feel that different for me. I don't actually read my posts since I am the one who wrote them. I think it's a bigger change for my readers than it is for me. It's the comments that feel different -- because that's what I read when I go to my blog. So I have this sense that my readers are all dressed up ....

Thanks, No Chaser, for that nice compliment.

Miranda said...

This is such a beautiful layout, jo(e).

Mrs. Coulter said...

It is indeed beautiful. But I think you should make the header a hotlink to home as well as having the breadcrumb below the comments. The header as link to home is such a common convention in web design that it is disorienting to have it do nothing. Also, on a page with many comments, the link is hard to find as it is.