I was looking at my previous blog design and thought “time for an update” for a couple of reasons. First, since the last redesign back in February 2011; mobile computing has exploded and the prior design really didn’t work well on phones and tablets. Second, four years without a design refresh is unheard of, normally I refresh the design every 18 months to two years. The new design is not one of those fluid/responsive designs, but it works well enough on my Galaxy S4 and 7in Android 4.4.2 tablet.
Another reason I updated the design is because the text was rather small, almost unreadable on cellphone sized 1080p screens. The previous design was created on my old 17.3in 1440×900 laptop, so the text looked larger at that screen resolution. Now I have upgraded to a monster, albeit 2 year old PC with dual 24in 1920×1080 screens, the font is looking small and rough with the latest browser technology. I have redesigned for 1280px wide screens, I refuse to design for people running 1024×768 anymore, but the site still works, 1024×768 users will just have to horizontally scroll to see the sidebar.
I have built in more functionality, particularly in regards to search and archive use, basically making these features more user friendly. Instead of showing an entire year or month of full articles, it shows a paginated list of article titles, which should allow users to find what they want to read quicker. I have also integrated Jetpack comments, social networking and forms, so you can log in using your Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or WordPress accounts to comment or if you prefer you can still enter your Name/Email like before! I have even added an about me page, so you can read my life story if you’re really bored.
You can also check out Sandcastle Web Design if you want expert assistance while designing your webpage.
If you feel so inclined, leave a comment, tell me what you think?
I really like the new design mate. Especially the user friendly archives. Was it intentional that the page links at remind people of our English flag? It also suits the picture of the lighthouse on the hoe. More importantly it is way more user friendly on my mobile phone (galaxy S2). I can recall reading blog articles from time to time on my way home from work with it was not easy. The only downside is the picture gallery being removed. I know you weren’t really adding to do it and it kind of became redundant but I had hoped you would start to add to it from time to time in future.
The photo gallery will be returning, I just have not developed that part of the site as yet. I’m not sure what you mean by the page links reminding people of the English flag? Are you referring to the white and red colour scheme? If so, then no, I just liked the red and white colour scheme for the site overall. I took inspiration from Smeatons Tower (that’s the lighthouse in the header photo for my non-Plymothian readers).
I like the new design mate. Really fluid, but I’ve yet to try it on my Samsung Galaxy S5 Active. Yes I fell for the the smartphone hyperbole in the end :P ;)