Blog News

I forgot to mention I have another guest post this week: over at Encounters With Remarkable Biscuits this time, all about some amusing research my friend D told me about :)

I'm also undertaking a blog makeover behind the scenes, so apologies if things go a bit skew-whiff from time to time. Blogger in Draft has the long awaited static pages option, so I'm giving it a whirl. Whilst it's a bit clunky (no lovely tabs like some WordPress themes have AND the formatting process currently leaves a lot to be desired, BUT you can test your links as you're adding them to the page), I've been meaning to simplify my sidebars for ages, so this is the impetus I need to do so. I'm currently planning pages on:

About - introducing myself, my family and where I live
Blog guided tour - looking at what makes up Veg Plotting
My Allotment & Garden - a brief introduction + link to my Open Garden Blog
Irregular Features - about some of my quirky themes, plus the memes I use/invent
Garden Visits & Showtimes - where I've been + some useful links
Public Planting - introduction to my regular 'soapbox', OOTS and useful resources guide
Press - Write-ups I've had etc.

Blogger allows up to 10 pages, so let me know if there's something else you'd like to see.

Once that little lot's in place, it should make Veg Plotting load a little faster for you as some of the images and widgets (the stuff that really helps to make it load more slowly) I use will move to the new pages. I'll also be updating my sidebar blog links to something a bit more informative than just a list and to reflect more accurately the longer list of blogs I read.

This should all be completed over the next month or two :)

Comments

  1. Diana Studer23 January 2010 at 19:36

    Would you talk us thru this, as you go. Sounds interesting. But formatting on Blogspot sometimes, leaves me after the fourth attempt, saying OK. Be Like That Then!! (Or do battle with HTML ...)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anna23 January 2010 at 20:16

    You are going to be busy then VP but work best done before the growing season starts:) I don't know whether you have read this comprehensive post over at 'Jean's Garden':http://jeansgarden.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/drafting-blog-posts-with-windows-live-writer/
    It is about blogging using Windows Live Writer, which apparently overcomes a lot of the problems, that people who use the Blogger platform experience. I have not tried it out yet as my computer is a Mac but have downloaded the programme on to himself's laptop to experiment with soon. Good luck with your doings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda23 January 2010 at 20:16

    I've been trying out the pages gadget as well. We'll be able to compare notes on this feature.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rothschild Orchid24 January 2010 at 11:06

    Sounds interesting, I'm eagerly awaiting the spring clean (and your interview with Derry).

    RO :o)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elizabeth Musgrave24 January 2010 at 12:42

    Ooh, sounds interesting. I must have a look myself. It does sound a way to create a better structure. Let me know how it goes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown24 January 2010 at 14:31

    Oh, a new feature? I haven't checked it out yet, but I do like it when I see that ability on the word press blogs. I did rework my blog a little to help it load a bit faster. I think it looked a bit busy before anyway. Maybe it still does?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unknown24 January 2010 at 16:34

    Lots of work ahead for you, VP, but it will be interesting to watch the development and changes. I haven't tried to do anything radical to my format other than to aesthetics, because I just don't have time. Good luck with it and I'll be watching and cheering you on!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Juliet26 January 2010 at 23:25

    Oooh, please let us know how you do pages, once you've worked it out! I've been planning to do a few posts with links to things like blogs I read (because I don't want lots of lists in my sidebar - I thought I could pre-date the posts to before my blog started and then put the links to the posts in the sidebar instead) so if there's a better way of doing that, I want to know about it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hermes27 January 2010 at 17:33

    If you haven't seen tjis 1906 pic of Elephants in Chippenham, I thought you might find it interesting:

    http://goldenagepaintings.blogspot.com/2010/01/chippenham-1906.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. VP27 January 2010 at 20:37

    EE & Elizabethm - will see what I can do :)

    Anna - yes I did see that post and didn't recognise the problems other people were having, plus I couldn't really see where it would score over using something like Word or using the Draft facility in Blogger. However, I think people must be using the Blogger in Draft version of the post compose window & it's incredibly frustrating. I'm considering suspending my Pages project until it's sorted out as I'm reluctant to download yet another piece of software just to fix a problem Blogger should be fixing.

    CG - good I'd be glad to swap notes :)

    RO - having launched Malvern Meet (much earlier than I'd envisaged) this week, I can see the spring clean's going to take much longer :(

    Cinj - it's always good to keep looking at your blog to see how it works for you and others. Will be over to check yours out soon :)

    Jodi - I think I might be going back to Plan A, but it's been a good learning exercise!

    Juliet - that's exactly how I do them at the moment

    Hermes - that's fabulous :)

    ReplyDelete

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