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Saturday, February 26, 2011

New Site Look

When I posted my blog-year-in-review I asked if anyone had suggestions on ways to improve The Mad Fermentationist.  A fellow beer blogger, Joel, contacted me with some ideas on how to improve the visuals of the blog.  He designed a few new banners and gave me a link to some html code that makes a random one appear at the top of each page.  Joel also suggested a wider post area (up to 1000 pixels), and a new dark wood grain background.  After implementing the updates last night I'm really happy with the way it turned out (I've already got a box of homebrewed sour beers headed his way as a thank you).

Hopefully no one was too attached to the old 1970s wallpaper background.  If you have any other suggestions, let me know. 
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7 comments:

  1. MattFebruary 26, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    Classy! I like it.

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  2. DA BeersFebruary 26, 2011 at 11:43 AM

    I like the new design!

    Just some thoughts:
    1. I'd remove the gap between the banner and the top of the content box/Blogger bar, with the Blogger bar and the header it's pushing your first article pretty far down.
    2. Maybe tuck the navigation links into a solid bar so they don't look like their floating around. Also could reduce the game between them and the banner to get more content on the screen.

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2011 at 12:32 PM

    I like the improvements. The background especially. I also agree with DA on his two suggestions.

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  4. The Mad Fermentationist (Mike)February 26, 2011 at 2:03 PM

    Thanks guys. I moved the banner up so it has the same spacing as on the sides. I'll figure out how to add a more substantial bar for the pages as well when I get a chance.

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  5. NateoFebruary 27, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    do you mind posting the link for the html code for the random header pictures?

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  6. The Mad Fermentationist (Mike)February 27, 2011 at 7:32 PM

    Here is the thread I got it from: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=34164344622311a2&hl=en It was from the post that starts: "In the original setup"

    I posted a blank gif the size of my banner under the Configure Header section of Edit Layout. Then I put the code right before /body near the end of the html. Just add your own photo links (I used Flickr to host mine) and change the #.Math.random to be the number of banners you have.

    Let me know if you have any questions

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  7. The Mad Fermentationist (Mike)March 4, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    New Page List formatting, how is that?

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