Thursday, March 04, 2010

A New-Look Wild Reed

Well, that wasn't so painful!

Mind you, changing from a "classic" blogger template to a layout template did take several hours - what with creating the various html-friendly text blocks over in the sidebar, and experimenting with different font colors and sizes. Plus, I know that the changeover altered the placement of some images in previous posts - the rectifying of which will no doubt take some time.

The change was necessary, however, after Blogger initiated auto pagination. What that meant for blogs like mine was that many posts were now rendered totally inaccessible to visitors. Why? Because auto pagination limits the number of posts on a given page. Thus before I changed over, if one was to click on, say, "November 2007" in the archives, most of the posts from that particular archive page would not be shown. And because the classic template doesn't have the "Previous - Next" page feature, they wouldn't ever be shown!

So now we have a new-look Wild Reed! Overall, I'm very happy with how everything looks - and I especially like the layout of the Archives and the Labels, and the fact that I can see my Followers (who currently number twenty-two!). I do need to acknowledge and thank Roberto and his helpful guide to Upgrading Your Classic Template to a Layouts Template. This clearly laid out resource made my transition from one type of template to another the painless process that it was! Thanks Roberto!

6 comments:

Donna said...

Your "new-look" site looks great, Michael! I like how the archives are more accessible.

crystal said...

Uh oh - I have the classic template. I didn't realize that some past posts couldn't be accessed. Don't know if I have all the brain cells needed to change to a new template :(

Michael J. Bayly said...

Hi Crystal,

I was hesitate too, but I just couldn't stand the thought of so many of my past posts being totally inaccessible.

I'm sure you could deal with the change-over. I'd certainly be willing to help you - plus the link I provide in my post is really helpful.

Peace,

Michael

Mareczku said...

Congrats and good job on the new look, Michael. That is good that you did this so that you can keep your past posts. Sometimes I go back and read things and will spend a while doing this. Sometimes I even re-read some of the things that you have written or take another look at photos. You do a great job here.

Michael J. Bayly said...

Thanks, Mark! Your encouraging feedback is always greatly appreciated.

Peace,

Michael

Mark A. said...

Well done, Michael! Changes like this can be scary, to say the least, because it is not always clear they will work. And, having attempted to move forward, it is not always clear you'll be able to put the site back the way it was. Fortunately you're past that.