Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Tiffany, Philippines on August 2, 2007:

I think it's too... bright.

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You mean, too much white space? -rc

Posted by Mike from Dallas on August 2, 2007:

My initial instinctive reaction was that I liked it. Navigation seems to be more efficient. (Less scrolling to the bottom to read new comments, yet not have to scroll BACK to the top for the next topic.) More panoramic, seeing more with a single view.

Posted by CeeJay, Oh on August 2, 2007:

I agree with Tiffany, it is too bright. It may just be my old eyes, but I have a really hard time reading when the background is pure white. It's not really too much white space, there is plenty of text on the page, but, for me, it would be easier to read if the background were an off-white such as #FBF5E6 or #EEF3E2.

Other than the background color I like the new layout and style.

Do you get paid when I use the Google search at the top of the page? If so I will make this my default for Googling instead of going to their home page.

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I would only be paid for your use of that if there was an ad in the results that you clicked on, which I wouldn't want you to do unless you were actually interested in the item/service being advertised. So: do what's convenient for you, rather than what would be good for me. Thanks for the thought. -rc

Posted by David Weigel - Farmington, MI on August 2, 2007:

I agree with Tiffany. The first thing I thought when I came to the site was, "My god that seems bright." In one sense that seems odd since I prefer sites with black text on white background. I think part of it is that the whole site is white: the top banner is off white, the column with the google ads is white, the main section is white. There is no variation in color to break up the sections. I think when the page is first loaded the bright red of the logo adds to the brightness effect and the darkness of the background in the photo contributes to the surrounding white area looking brighter.

Overall, the brightness is a pretty minor problem. If easily changed, great, but I wouldn't spend a ton of time trying to change it.

Definitely agree with Mike regarding navigation. I like the width of the page. It fills my screen yet I don't have to scroll right to see everything.

I would like to see more than 10 comments per page shown. Less clicking and less time waiting to load pages to read all comments if there were 20 or 30 comments per page.

Seeing the "Subscribe for Free!" box on every page gets a little old. I understand the marketing of making it easy to find, but as a current subscriber it is a meaningless block of space to navigate around.

Glad to see you progressing along and getting a cohesive look to all your sites. Hope all the suggestions you receive are helpful.

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They are helpful, thank you. I empathize regarding the subscription box, and will probably experiment with having it and not over time; one of the reasons I wanted a CSS-based site is I can do things like instantly remove (or change) the subscribe box. New designed throughout first, "testing" later.... -rc

Posted by Dan in St. Paul, MN on August 3, 2007:

One thing that kind of bugs me is that you can't see all the comments from the blog itself. What I mean is, in order to browse all the comments, I have to go back to Blog Home, then click on the "Comments (x)" link under the blog entry I'm interested in reading comments about.

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Thanks for pointing that out -- it's supposed to be there. Will fix. -rc

Posted by Liz, Nebraska on August 4, 2007:

yeppers - it's bright alright. Not the easiest thing to read at night with tired eyes. I am using all default browser settings and I find it a bit hard to read the smaller print. Yes, I can bump that up to a larger size and often do because these are older eyes, but possibly a different or simpler font might be in order. The sidebar is very easy to read and it seems to have a more readable font. Just a suggestion for your older audience members.

Content is wonderful as always - Congrats to you and the crew on the new look.

Posted by Denise, NC on August 5, 2007:

My only complaint has to do with the advertisements in the blog space. The advertisements (like your "Subscribe for Free!" box above) are right-aligned, which pushes the wrapped text over to the left. This is visually annoying: my eye wants to keep returning to the far right when I'm reading, and I have to skip over the advert for a paragraph or more of text.

In the comments section, all of the adverts are left-aligned, which makes everything flow much easier. Could you do that throughout the page?

Otherwise, the bright white background caught me off guard the first time (nearly blinded me in my dark office at two in the morning!) but it's not intolerable. You've got a work in progress, and I think you're on the right track.

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Thanks for your comments, Denise. Once things settle down yes: I'll experiment with moving the ads around, doing different sizes, etc. This takes a lot of time (mine, and my web guru), which costs money, so I definitely need the ads to provide this resource, but I want them useful, not intrusive. It's a fine line, and the new design makes it easier to fiddle. -rc

Posted by Hal Tuttle, Sumter SC on August 5, 2007:

Tried out the new format for the first time tonight. Initially, I was a little confused, but after working my way through 3 or 4 entries, it became rather easy to navigate. (I love that word 'navigate', I did it for 20 years in the Air Force.)

Anyway, I then read all of the previous comments and must agree with a couple of comments. One, the background is a tad bright. And, two, the print is, or seems to be, a little small. Both may be because of my near 70-year-old eyes, but I don't remember this problem on the previous format.

P.S.: Keep up the good work, Randy. I love TIT. (^_*)

Posted by Stan, Scotland, UK on August 7, 2007:

Page too bright? I can't remember seeing too many complaints about the white paper being too bright in books. My 77 year old eyes have no problem with the font, background or left side ads. Perhaps Liz is working in a darkened room and her eyes are compensating for that?

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I've been waiting for someone to say something about that. I don't recall anyone saying Google (for instance) is too bright, but OTOH I did want honest reactions. -rc

Posted by Cathy, Casselberry, FL on August 7, 2007:

I agree that the print is way to small. I'm only 46 years old and my first thought was, wow, the print is tiny. True, I wear bifocals, but usually don't need glasses at my pc.

Also, there is a lot of empty space to each side of the print. Maybe that wouldn't be so noticeable if the background weren't white. I'd prefer that the print be made larger than the background color be changed.

It's funny that you should be changing the format because when I opened a link to one of your other sites this morning, I remember thinking, it would be nice if he changed the look to something, I don't know, more professional. Then I open this link and lo and behold, you're working on that. Great minds think alike.

Thanks for all that you do. I really look forward to my Premium edition every week. If I have the radio on, I even turn it off so that I can devote my full attention to it.

Posted by Melodie, Olympia WA on August 7, 2007:

A dissenter -- I like the brightness. Easier to read on my laptop. Clearly much brighter than other websites -- not sure why.

Also, when I go to the "see all comments" page would like at the bottom of that page to be able to either go to the next/previous item or comment. Currently have to go back to the first page to do either. And since I went to that page to make sure no one has posted my comments.....

Overall, I like it. Only thing is, when I see all the stuff you guys have been getting through lately, I really feel like a slacker. Time for a vacation, Randy? But then I'd miss my Jumbo Joke fix, my This is True, Stella Awards. Hmmm, guess I'll vote for keep up the good work!

Posted by Neil, Calgary on August 7, 2007:

For those who find the page too white, I use a bookmarklet called zap white background (about half way down the page at the url below:

https://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/zap.html
instructions on usage are on the home page of this site.

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Bookmarklets can be really cool. I have one called "remove background image" for those sites where the author things black text over a black & white photo somehow looks sophisticated.... -rc

Posted by Steve: Boulder, CO on August 7, 2007:

The new look is far and away better than the old version, however, perhaps you have seen the Slate.com website (the left-most main content areas)? It's an amazing interface that is both intuitive and easy to navigate. If it's not copyrighted, I would suggest moving in that direction.

At any rate, I've been a subscriber for many years and I admire your work ethic and its results; well done and thanks!