Tag: "blog review"

Review of Brain Foggles

This morning I reviewed Brain Foggles, which is the name of one of Connie’s blogs.

The first thing that gets my attention when the blog appears on my monitor is the header. I like the image, and wonder if it’s the author. The blog is currently viewed on a simple blue and white two column theme. It takes me seven clicks to get from the top of the home page to the bottom.

I would move the subscribe in a reader to the top, to make it easy for people to subscribe. If it’s the first thing they see they’re more likely to use it than if it’s further down the blog where they may not notice it. There’s not a lot of clutter on the blog. I would suggest taking a look at the bottom and realigning the recent posts with everything else in the sidebar, or rearranging so more is next to the recent posts going horizontally. I myself am not a fan of displaying the number of subscribers, because unless it’s displaying a big number it isn’t going to impress so ends up not serving a purpose. Blogrolls are managed at this time, but as they grow Connie could consider putting them in a dropdown box or on a page of their own.

Connie’s posts are of nice length, not too short and not so long that the reader loses attention and moves on. They contain original content. She writes in a number of categories, the main ones being health, family and life. She includes personal details of her own health issues and disability advocacy.

I would like to see a few more pictures if possible. I understand her hesitation to include personal photos so perhaps she could include photos more in line with a topic or idea. In her post on 12/04 she mentiones opening a door, she could use a photo of a door here. In her post on 11/23 she writes about New York, and a photo of something she mentions would work well there.

Connie’s blog is a little over six months old and is looking good. Please stop by and say hello to her and tell her that valmg sent you.

Dec 07, 2007 | 4 comments | View Post

Review of A Cowboy’s Wife

Today I reviewed A Cowboy’s Wife, one of Lori’s blogs.

I’ve visited Lori’s blog before, but never really took the time to look at it or review it. Recently she changed the theme and I must say the new theme looks great! The first thing I notice when the page loads is the header. It fits with Lori’s writing style and blog name. And it looks really nice. The current theme consists of beiges and soft greens, and has three columns.

A Cowboy’s Wife has an About page. I love About pages! And hers tells us stuff, like who she is, why she’s blogging and what her interests are. The home pages takes me sixteen clicks to get from top to bottom. Now I know some people think that the front page should take more like 3-5 clicks, and I don’t entirely agree with that. There are certain posts a blogger needs to keep on the front page for a little while, either for a particular reason or a certain period of time. I prefer the 10-15 click range myself, which Lori is close to. Her sidebars are remarkable UNcluttered. I only have one suggestion for them, and that is to move the “vote at mini me” button underneath the “lucky stars” button. They’re completely different sizes and look a little odd next to each other.

Lori’s writing style is open and friendly. She frequently leaves opportunities to engage the reader in what I consider conversation. She also interacts with readers by responding to their comments. She frequently includes photos, which makes for such a nice read. Her posts are all original, and time and thought is put into them.

Go visit A Cowboy’s Wife. She’s even got a contest going on this week that you can enter. And please tell her that valmg sent you.

Nov 28, 2007 | 2 comments | View Post

Review of Winding Threads

This evening I decided to wander through Winding Threads, one of Karen’s blogs.

Winding Threads is displayed in a simple, all white, two column theme. Everything looks very neat and organized. The home page takes seven clicks to get from the very top to the very bottom. There is a short category list that everything seems to fit in. Karen does need to take a look at her about page, unless she’s really got a thing for the word tag.

Karen’s writing style is open and friendly. It looks like Karen puts thought into her posts, and she doesn’t rush them. The length of the posts is decent. The one thing I’d like to encourage Karen to do is use a few more pictures. Because the theme is all white the page is very bright and a couple of pictures would help break that up. She could just place one where she wants to draw attention to something she’s written in particular.

If you want a glimpse of some of Karen’s thoughts and opinions and get to know her, go visit her blog. Let her know that valmg sent you.

Nov 12, 2007 | 5 comments | View Post

Review of The Suzette

This afternoon I reviewed a blog called The Suzette.

Suzette blogs manily about her children, parenting and breastfeeding. The blog theme is an all white two column theme. The header has butterflies which, while pretty don’t really go with her blogs theme. She might consider looking into changing the header picture.

The sidebar is organized quite neatly. The home page takes seven clicks to get from top to bottom. Her archive list is just a bit longer than the screen on my 17 in monitor. I would recommend putting the archive list into a dropdown format. The pages and categories section is a little too far down for my taste. If Suzette can’t move them up because she needs to keep sponsors or ads above the fold, than I would consider a horizontal menu across the top. Or, since this theme has a lot of padding on both sides, she could even switch to a three column theme if she wanted.

Suzette writes posts of a decent length, and frequently includes pictures, which helps draw attention to the post as well as break up the all white page. There are some posts that you must click “read the rest of this entry” to complete. Since most of your blog doesn’t have those, I’d recommend removing that.

That’s about it for this review. If you go to Suzette’s blog, please let her know valmg sent you.

Nov 11, 2007 | 8 comments | View Post

Review of Warning: Life Under Construction

Tonight I reviewed one of Ron’s blogs, Warning: Life Under Construction.

he first thing when I see when I look at the site is Ron’s picture. And I thank you for that Ron. You’re a nice looking man, but more importantly that picture reminded me of a very dear friend I lost several years back and have been missing. The first time I saw the picture it took my breath away. Anyway. Onward with the review.

The blog is running on a simple, blue two column theme and it works for him. What Ron should consider altering is the number of posts on the front page. It took me 46 (yes, forty six) clicks to get from the top of the home page to the bottom. Holy moly batman! For a minute I thought maybe all his posts were there, but as it turns out the blog pages are set up to show fifty posts each. Closely tied in to the length of the page is the tags section of the sidebar. I’d consider investigating an alternate way to display your tags, maybe a drop down or a cloud. Eight of the clicks going down the page are just tags. That’s a lot!

The first post you see is dated in the year 2030. I reread it, and it didn’t change. I’m not quite sure what’s going on with that. With a shake of my head, I moved on, only to run right into a badge announcing he is available for hire to write a post for you. I will not tell you what the badge says because I want you to go see it. It really cracked me up.

Content. Ron does content. He offers much original content in decently sized posts. More than a few of Ron’s posts made me giggle. He works in humor nicely. He weaves in and out of random topics like a skilled obstacle course driver, all the while holding your interest just like a frightened passenger holding the jc strap. The only other suggestion I can make to Ron is to occasionally include a picture or two. It’d break up the writing space and brighten the page a bit. Place strategically to draw attention where you want it.

Readers, do yourself a favor and check out Warning: Life Under Construction. And please tell Ron that valmg sent you there.