britton blog - An American Student in Galway, Ireland - Latest Comments in Everyone’s a critic

Re: Everyone’s a critic

jamesbritton — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 06:33:26 -0000

@Gregg

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

I will remove the calendar since you're the 2nd person to mention it. I think I'll have to sleep on the flickr badge though. I like it and I know it's kinda personal that's why I have relegated it to the bottom.

Thanks! :)

Re: Everyone’s a critic

Gregg — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:17:50 -0000

I like the layout of your site. As I said I almost used the same theme, but decided on the one I'm using now :D

I'll give you what I think is negative because negatives is what ultimately helps the most..I think you should get rid of the calendar. Also, I think you should maybe make a seperate page to showcase your flikr photos. Personally it just seems like more clutter on the sidebar, and it's located at the bottom so people maybe don't see your photos.

Other than that I think the colors and plugins that you've included are great.

Re: Everyone’s a critic

jamesbritton — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:12:04 -0000

@David

No problem at all. I just thought it was a great idea and was impressed with all of the comments your post attracted. I love the design and have been thinking of customising Vertigo for another project I'm developing.

I'll have another look at your blog and leave some feedback. Thanks for stopping by and if I go near Bangor, I'll look you up.

Slainte!

Re: Everyone’s a critic

jamesbritton — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 17:54:38 -0000

@Bryan

Thanks so much for the feedback. I have already implemented a few of your suggestions. I took down the Threadless and Kayak ads, I may add them back toward the bottom later but I do think it flows down the side better. A big thanks for the Google Adsense heat map suggestion. I'll make those ad adjustments and see how it goes. As for the font case, I still like it lowercase. I may decide to change the titles of the sidebar items to lowercase, I'll just have to mess around with it. I guess I could make all headers in lower to be consistent. Finally, still trying to find the best picture for my "About" page. :)

Thanks again!

Re: Everyone’s a critic

David Airey — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 09:12:32 -0000

Thanks for the mention. It's very much appreciated.

I've a few blogs that are scheduled for a graphic designer's critique but if you shoot me a message I'll be happy to store yours in the queue.

I'm from Bangor, Northern Ireland, by the way. Ireland's a wonderful country. :)

Re: Everyone’s a critic

Bryan Baker — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 05:11:49 -0000

I'm liking the Top Commentators Widget.
The Category Cloud is a bit odd...not sure if I like it that much.

What are the "Treadless" and "Kayak" adds on here for?

I like how your "Featured Sites" blends well with the rest of your blog...wile I must say that the "Ads by Google" do not blend quite as well.

If you do a google search for "Google Adsense heat map" you'll see the right sidebar is not the best place for a high CTR(i.e. you won't get paid $100 in a lifetime).

Add a picture to your About-the-Author page.

Capitalize the Title of your blog...looks sloppy IMO being all lowercase, but if that's you're style then be consitent (e.g. all lowercase in post titles..)

I'm all about trying to help you and everyone else get the best site possible. Thanks for this great idea.

*****

And always, please continue to offer constructive criticism at Bryan-Baker Dot Com. Thanks James!

Re: Everyone’s a critic

jamesbritton — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:09:51 -0000

Bryan Baker got ahead of me! This is the first comment, copied from another post. Read on...

BEST
Colors. Easy to read, great structure for posting comments, and besides the Ireland Google Ads…clean page.

WORST
·Advertisements cluttering posts.
·Bottom of posts has so many links!

I SUGGEST U
·Clean up the site, maybe a few advertisements, but nothing intruding. Content must come before ads.
·Remove “Yesterdays’ Top 5 Links”.
·Remove calendar.
·What is twitter? Remove?

in summary…clean up the ads and un-needed sidebar objects.

Keep up the great content :-D