I'm hoping with the second round of posting on this topic, and additional research I will realize the importance and issues of blogging that seem to be of the utmost importance. Until then, try and accept or level with my reasoning. Who knows, we may even agree on some points.
Flow
It's either flow or predictability. The more sporadic posts tend to be, the harder it is to read or enjoy. Our brains are powerful, we have the capacity to retain knowledge at a rate of 500 words per minute, but the best speakers can only produce a maximum of 150 words per minute which gives our brain the ability or tendency to wander often. I find this to hold true with blogs. Our eyes let us see such amazing things, but if it isn't coherent, I find it difficult to deal with. Although I sound like an idiot talking about cohesion or progression as I just gave a great rant.
For instance, I find my blog readable because it's logical and constant progression. The set-up is the same post after post.
Hopefully this doesn't make me sound like some pompous asshole and I'm in the right. Not the case. I'm just one person who likes predictability, this may not hold true to everyone.
Colors/Template
I suppose this goes with readability, or just overall feel. The only problem I have found thus far is I can't find a template on blogger that I feel comfortable with. I had hoped to achieve a 'feel' where the reader is aware I am writing about the Western Suburbs of Chicago and has the visual idea of country meets modern. I have yet to find this and in my attempts I've made some poor mistakes.
Mistake One- Enjoyed the sky/country feel, but didn't double check to realize I used a template that made parts of my text illegible.
Mistake Two- Picking a template that has ample room for text and images... I didn't resize my images and found that they found their way far outside the boundaries of the sanctioned box. Once again, I bitch about it and then do it myself. Classy guy. Jeff was kind enough to point this out without pointing, laughing, then hitting.
This also falls under another category- Visual Aid. The addition of images to further showcase the central theme or idea behind whatever it is I'm trying to say often helps. Hell, all the time. It's hard to describe the texture or creaminess of something I have eaten, the picture does far more justice. The only problem, stated above ^, is when I don't resize the image and it looks like a mess on the page. Credibility or thoroughness down the drain. It's like yelling at someone for spelling and you in turn spell something wrong in your rant. Never good.
Links
When whatever it is someone is talking about is easily accessible, not having to move your mouse too far or having to search, is always nice. Unfortunately I tend to be terrible at this, and have been working on improving. Linking is my damned kryptonite. I remember to involve it when it is a meaningless link, such as the Billionaire song when I had talked about being rich. But, when it is needed... It's typically not found.
Age
This is where I was struggling for a fifth blog tip and this actually seemed to make some sense, although it has little to do with the aesthetics or readability of a blog. I have been in constant debate of switching my 'bio' or the intro to what my blog is all about. And, within this debate was whether or not including my age could damage my credibility or level of opinion when it comes to my opinion on food, beers, liquor, and entertainment. At this point, I am still unaware. It may be taboo. There are some extremely old people on Facebook, such as my neighbor's grandma that I'm friends with. Weird. I know. Because of her age I often second guess what she says, or often times even ask myself what the hell is she even doing on Facebook. If I mention my age will I fall in to this taboo or blackhole?
As far as changing templates goes, I haven't found a solid template quite yet. I've been experimenting, but haven't found one that really jumps off the page or plays to my topic. I found that my first improvement could be within my Class blog.
Currently, it's mundane. White background, black text always stand out. But, there isn't much appeal to this. It's as if you were reading an essay that I printed out for you. Where's the fun in that?
The update has a color palate that I can deal with for the time being. I like the contrast of the dark black background with the lighter blue text. The text still pops off the background making the text outside the text box easily readable. I kept the black text on white background because it is easily read and once again, 'pops' off the darker background.
I don't quite understand which assignment you are attempting to fulfill here. It reads like a self-review; yet, I don't believe I asked you to engage in such a self-review. I did, however, ask you to create a blog tip list. I suppose you did that, but you didn't use example from the "outside" (which was at the heart of the assignment)--especially since you have admitted that you don't have great familiarity with blogs.
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