Feeel the ooomph!
8 November 2007, 7:50 pm. View comments. Filed under Design, Site-related.
Version 19. Ta-da.
Feedback first. And then I'll get to work on the rest of the pages.
PHP and CSS should make changing layouts easy right? Unfortunately, it's not the way I do things. I'll proofread all my pages and replace the "obsolete coding" so... Here's launching the new layout in stages.
Love it? Hate it? Think it needs more touching up here and there? Go on. You have been cordially invited to speak up.
Updates
You guys are surely nit-picky and harsh with your criticisms. It's okay, I can handle it cause I asked for it. *bangs head on wall* Keep it coming. You guys merely pricked my poor self-esteem. 
So here's me doing some changes:
- Lene:
reduce font-size - Vera:
update verification code thingie - Vera and Amanda::
widen content areaand now it's lost the cuteness
- Vera:
darken background colour - Leila:
change default gravatar
Look at all the comments from Vera you cruel thing. Hope the design-change won't discourage you people from visiting.
I won't touch the graphical parts of the header because I still love the tree, title and tabs even though you might not. 
Thanks!
(If the design looks funny here and there, don't forget Ctrl+F5. And some of you must have very bright screen colours.)
51 Comments »
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Whee cute! I like it a lot, very playful. Hmm my only suggestion is, maybe give more space between the entries? Right now the entries looks a little squished together.
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I think this is cute! Very bright and cheerful look. You made the font size bigger right? Because I don't remember it being this big. Nothing wrong with it I guess, makes it easier for everyone to read. =)
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Oh wow, so cute!
You've pulled off the big and bold look really well. I'm impressed. -
Gah, it's cute and one of the nicest layouts I've seen for a while - It makes me think of summer in a good way, and I hate summer!
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Ooo, nice new layout! It's really inviting.
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I have mixed feelings, which tend to lean more toward disliking it.
First of all, right below where it says "recent posts" "categories" "archives" there is a lilac/mauve striped background which looks to have been part of your previous layout.
The layout itself is not bad. I like the color concept, and the title font, as well as the titled lines at the top... but that tree and the white background: they just don't do it for me. I especially dislike the tree. It's those nested circles that annoy me. Um no I don't have a clear reason as to why. I just don't like that style of art.
All in all, as far as personal preference goes, I'd use a darker shade for the background. The green is OK, just make it darker. My eyes are more or less killed, so I can't easily view very bright layouts (yes, it's an eye defect of mine... but I'm a highly valued visitor therefore you should consider my opinion).
Also, I'm viewing this using a resolution of 1280x1024px, and the layout is quite small. I suggest you make use of all 775px of width inside the viewport of a resolution of 800x600px.
What do I like: the links. Those tabs are to die for. I LOVE them. Does your rant from the other day have anything to do with it? And well... it IS kind of cute. But that tree and the border just don't cut it for me. Ditch the border (put some "shadows" instead on either part of the content area if no need some sort of transition from the main page's background.
Right so... now I can wait for you to pot my contact details all over the internet? And whine about how I'm causing drama? *cue angelic smile* -
Eh? Never mind about the lilac background - it disappeared. I swear I DID refresh the page. Darn Firefox playing up again!
P.S. your verification codes don't refresh well. -
But I can't kill that tree though. It's my main header. So you can umm... Get used to that for a couple of months.
I didn't notice the background was too light because it's actually giving me quite a dull green on my monitor. But I'll see if I can make it darker. And I'll adjust the width too. Thanks Vera. -
Ditto what Vera said about the width, that was the first thing that struck me. Also not a fan of the chunky footer...but that's just me, I hate it on everyone's sites.
I do love the design though - like everyone else, it's just the little nitpicky things that bother me. -
I really like this layout! I think it is super cute.
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Definitely not what I'm used to for your site but very very cool
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I like it! It looks really nice, and the tree is great
I just don't like that it's cut of at the top, and I'm not sure about the shade of brown you used for the text, but other than that it's positively gorgeous! -
This is gorgeous Rilla, I h8 you
Seriously, this is a very cute and clean design. I´m at work so I am seeing it in a Win98 800x600 and 8 colors (that last part is an approximation XD) and it looks very good, I can´t wait to get home and see it with my laptop´s wide-sexy-smooth screen
The only thing that I don´t like too much is the size of the text, it looks like 325790pt. But I don´t know if that´s because of this crappy computer. I´ll check later. The font size of the comments and the textboox is just right, though.
I absolutely adore the colors, you make me want to photoshop and make pretty things to! I don´t know about the others, but I love that tree at the top. And the navigation´s hover effect. And the wavy thing when the yellow section ends -
Implementing changes! Emsz, I don't see what's wrong with the shade of brown on my monitor. How wrong does it look for you? :/
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I somehow don't think that the design is entirely right esp. at the footer with the links and stuff. Somehow there's something off to me, but I can't seem to get it. Maybe it's the font size? I'm not too sure or is it the spacing?
Overall I love the whole design esp the cute tree up there
And I like how you move to the footer and header. Javascript is it? *madly clicks the arrows* -
Oh and Rilla, is it me or when I click submit there is no sigh of anything but text? But then again I think it's the development process (:
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Hmmm...I love it. The colors are beautiful, not harsh. It is a simple yet complex design. The only problem I have is that I have refreshed the page about ten times and the header still won't show up. But I am pretty sure that is a problem on my end cause the internet has been acting up pretty bad today for me. But I love it, Rilla I really do. Good job.
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Gorgeousss
I love it! The colours are nice, and the circles in the tree are coolio. -
Chien Yee: I think it looks weird because the left bottom "New Stuff" section was recently cleared and I haven't filled it up yet. I'll see if it still looks weird when it's filled up.
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I approve! My only nitpicky thing is default gravatar; it matched the old layout, but not this one.
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I love the layout, no lies. The top image is absolutely stunning and original. The color scheme is soft & easy on the eyes—and nothing seems to require straining effort to read. Thumbs up. =] And I think I'm in love the the autoscroll to the footer. Weee!
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Leila: I forgot about that.
Back to some Photoshop work. -
Oooo... this is very nice ;D Last week, I made a layout for my blog with a very, very, very similar set-up (but it's not up yet). This is really nice, but my one suggestion would be to change the white at the bottom and the white border to something else. It's probably just my bad eyes, but it's a little too bright and vibrant. I love the rest of the colors and the header, though!
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OMG you stroke out my name! :O
Actually, it's good that you took all those suggestions in mind. There are things there that I hadn't even thought about before (some not even noticed...) I am at my house now and it looks even more amazing in my computer + the improvements you've made. The text looks even sexier now with the new font size.
I have to remind you that I absolutely love that tree! Great job, honestly. -
Fine. Not crossed out anymore.
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lol
I wasn't serious about the name-crossing! Ok, I'll stop talking your blog and spamming your comments for today -
Chunky footer? I don't think it's chunky at all. I quite like the overall effect. It's got a nice, summery feel to it ... which is VERY appealing to us poor souls living in Vancouver, which is the world's rain central during winter. Cold and wet ... yep, that's Vancouver.
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It looks much better like this :-)
I'm still not fond of the three, but the links are nice and the site title too. Good job. As a matter of interest, I don't like "cutesy" layouts. But if your content's good then I'll return. Now considering that I've been visiting you on and off for over 4 years (well I didn't comment when you had the graphics site)... you can get that I do very much like your site.
*pats Rilla encouragingly on the back* -
The *tree (not the three)... *is ashamed*
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Now that's much better
I'm giving you a two thumbs up -
It's green. Green is good.
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This is genius, the layout is spectacular, I love the navigation. There is something about the tree, I agree, but I think it looks great
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This is such a cute look.
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I think it's cute
I would say a bit of padding for links if you plan on having the background colour change on hover. (and padding regardless of whether it's hovered or not. Otherwise it changes size and the whole page jumps around when you hover a link!)
I'm also iffy on the navigation fonts and the quality of the rounded corners at the top (they feel fuzzy?) BUT I'm just nitpicking because I didn't want to leave a totally useless comment
Love the hover effect on the submit button, btw!
(but maybe have it go into inverted mode on focus?) -
Aww, Rilla, this is so cute! I don't really have any qualms about it, apart from ... mehbeh ... putting some more distance between the "Blog »" link and the title of the entry at the top? XD *waves nitpicky flag*
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I Love it! The orange is different but I actually like it. I am a sucker for illustrated headers!
I don;t know if you have done all those changes that everyone suggested, but (to me/on my browser/res) the font is more on the small side and needs to be bigger. Other than that it is perfect. -
I think it is too wide, Rilla. It has lost some of it's simpleness & neatness. It just looks too spread out now. But this is just my opinion. I like the tabs on the top, the tree is adorable. Don't listen to the others. It is very unique. The Internet needs to have uniqueness in it. I love the tree. But I would love to know what the font name & where you got the font for your title. It is so pretty. I know I disagree with most of the other visitors, but you know me.
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Rosemarie, background-colour change on hovered links shouldn't change the padding/size of the links actually. And they're only in the navigation. They move for you? I agree I made some mistake with the rounded corners at the top and forgot about it though. I'll fixed that now, thanks.
Hev, what screen size are you currently using? I agree it looks quite wide on 800 x 600 and even on my 1024 x 768. But I also recognise that most of my visitors now have 1280 width screens and I'm sure it does appear quite small on their screens. Hope you still like it though. I'll fix up my Credits pages today and list all the font names and you can check it out later on. -
I use 1024 x 768, I would love to have a bigger resolution but my laptop doesn't go any bigger. I feel that 1024 is a nice middle way.
Take your time on the credit page, Rilla. I just wanted to let you know that I would like to know what the font was. That is all. I knew you would answer my question. You are so sweet. -
I love it. It's cuter than the last, but the navigation menu is still fun (it moves on rollover - wee!). Also, one column layouts ftw.
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Srsly, this theme is made of AWESOME! I love it
Especially the cute little mouseover details -
Well, I just gave you a huge juicy amount of link love on Amarantine, Rilla. See how much I live you, just kidding. You deserve it. *HUGS* Did you notice I finally got Gravatars working on Amarantine? I finally figured it out. Though we are going to have to work on our release schedule. I was going to release Amarantine's new design, but you released yours first. I am thinking you did it on purpose, you sly woman. *gives you a sly little glance* Now take it as a tease, Rilla girl. So I will just wait another week or two. I think you have esp for when I have a new design in the wings & you just plan on releasing yours first. Hmm...are we competing for something, lol. You know when you read this I hope you are in a good mood and take it as a tease & me just picking on you. I really do love this design. Much hugs and well wishes, Rilla.
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Thank you for the credit page & the font list. I got all the fonts, & I am changing the title of my new design to one of the new fonts. I believe it is the font that your tab "resources" is using. Though, I may implement the Smoothly page scrolls in Book Craze cause there are a couple pages in that site that are very long. I love looking at your credit list, I find so much info there. Thank you so very much for your wonderful information. You are one of the best, Rilla. I appreciate you so very much.
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I'm not going to go into any design nitpickyness, but I love it because it's so different from the site's usual look. It's more casual and personal, which, some might argue, is better suited for blogs.
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I can't believe it... I actually like this layout more than your last one which was really awesome. I like how you've included 'down' and 'up' links into your header and footer without making it look too inconspicuous. The layout gives off a sort of 'cute' feel and the color scheme kind of reminds me of a cantaloupe. Very nicely done.
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Hev, you are most welcome. I simply had to compile my credits page while the people I listed on that page had to provide the resources. I did nothing compared to them.
Tyler, why couldn't you give some of your design nit-pickyness? Not everyone gets your free valued opinion any day you know! Look at that waiting list on Captious Pedants!
Alex, cantaloupe? I'm sure they don't grow on trees... O.O Thanks for liking it.
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I'm late to the game, I know, but I'd add a bit of left-right padding on the individual comments. They feel a little squinchy on the edges. 15px maybe?
I love all the little tabs and the illustrated bits. Nice work! -
15px looked a bit bizarre actually. So I went with a conservative 7px. Hope that's a tad better thanks.
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I love the pastel colors and there's something about your header image that I can't stop looking at. Very well put together. Have you considered using a very light drop shadow on the footer to help bring the well-designed header to your footer?
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Thanks. I did think of drop shadows but I don't think it'd go well just in the footer because the border is connected to the content borders and just having shadow there would probably throw the design off-balance.
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That is one of the cutest trees I've seen and overall, I love it. I'm not sure on the font for your headers however but I'm just pedantic like that.
The footer is so lovely.