Yesterday’s post on blog design raised some issues in the comments box that I thought I’d solicit some additional feeback on.
1) Some readers were of the opinion that they’d like to see more posts on the main page before they drop off into the archives.
This can be accomplished several ways. One way is for me to simply tell the software to display more of them. Currently I’ve told it to leave 4 days worth of posts on the main page, but I can up that number if desired. For example, I could leave 5, 6, or 7 (or more) days worth of posts on the front page.
I can also tell the software to leave a specific number of posts (instead of a specific number of days) on the front page. Currently there’s probably an average of 17 posts on the top page at any time, but I coud tell it to have 20 or 25 or 30 posts on at all times.
A downside of upping the number of posts is that, as things currently are, it would make the top page LONGER and possibly make it take MORE TIME TO LOAD for some folks.
This leads to a second issue:
2) Some folks suggest that I use the extended post feature more often. Currently I tend to use it only for really long posts (like ones with multiple pictures in them), but it could be used on a more frequent basis–say, any time the post runs more than 2-4 paragraphs.
The upside of this is that it would make the top page vertically tighter.
The downside is that it would make folks click more links.
Someone suggested having the format be Title:Summary:Extende Post. I’m not sure how that would work. I’m not sure that I’d want to do a summary of the post before the "Continue Reading" link. If I did, it’d probably be a single sentence or phrase as a slug line to get folks intrigued enough to click the link. Perhaps that person or others could suggest more on that is envisioned for that possibility.
Another way to tighten the page vertically would be for me to use longer paragraphs so that there would be less white space between them, but that is SOMETHING I WILL NOT DO. I’m frustrated by seeing others use absurdly long paragraphs (in books, in articles, and on the web), and I am conducting a personal crusade against this tendency as I believe that shorter paragraphs are easier to read than longer ones.
So.
Whadda folks think? Should there be more posts on the top page (accomplished by the day or # of posts methods–and if so, how much more?) and should the extended post feature be used more?
I am of the opinion that, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
There is “a third way”. You can put x articles on the front page followed by titles and excerpts of the following y articles. It’s the compromise I did to keep page loads fast. I do the four most recent posts followed by titles and excerpts of the next five. Email me if you’re interested in that approach. It’s not hard in MovableType/Typepad.
Hi, very cool that you consider the suggestions!
I was the one to mention the Title > Summary > Click to Read more style.
One variation of that is just to put the first paragraph of the blog post as the “Summary”. Typically, the first paragraph or two summarizes the rest quite nicely anyway.
This style, as you said, involves more clicking, but here are upsides to consider:
1.) If I already read many of the posts, I wouldn’t have to wait as long to reload the main page as I do now, to browse for other posts I haven’t read yet. So while a “downside” is an extra click per post, the “upside” that counters it is less loading time and less scanning of the main page looking for unread articles.
2.) A lot less scrolling. My index finger really gets a workout scrolling through the front page as it is right now, because of articles being posted in their entirety.
But just to mention again, the site is still pretty good, layout-wise. There’s a lot of stuff on the front page, but that’s par for the course with websites containing lots of articles, and not a fault. Once a person explores and becomes familiar with the layout, they know where-to-find-what.
If an article has extended paragraphs I won’t even read it.
…that’s one way to get rid of me
God Bless.
Sorry to add to the confusion with yet another suggestion, but…
After the first 20 or so posts, why not just list the title links of the next 20 at the bottom?
Most of the time the number of posts on the main page is fine, but I don’t check your site as often on the weekend, so sometimes my Monday perusal leaves me with a few unread posts off the end of the main page. I wonder if that’s when most readers seem to encounter this problem. Maybe a special Monday edition is in order.
I also have to come down on the anti-extended-post side of the question. I can’t stand them. The system you have now of useing them for extremely long posts is sensible, but, like ukok, I don’t even read weblogs which use them for every post. Far too much clicking.
As for the number of posts kept on the main page, I’m happy with things as they are, but wouldn’t be concerned if you decided to expand.
I’m also of the opinion of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I love your blog the way it is.
But then, I don’t like change of any kind…
‘thann
Leave it alone. You do a great job. Keep it up.
🙁
If you were going to change anything, I would vote for going to extended post after 3 or 4 paragraphs – by then you generally know if you want to read more. It would cut down on scrolling — and it wouldn’t change the look of the blog really.
I would not want to see you got to just posting titles though – or even just posting a line or two – that would make the blog less readable I think and change its appearance. Plus it is annoying to have to click a link just to find out if you want to read the post.
I absolutely agree with you on not extending the length of paragraphs — shorter paragraphs look better, and are much easier to read. I think your paragraphs and titles and all that are just fine as they are.
It is a really good blog that’s why all of us read it. And, its great that you’re willing to listen to our opinions. Thanks 🙂
I’m voting with the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ crowd, but if you had to make changes I’d vote for the 7 days of posts on the front page. It boils down to a choice between clicking or scrolling, doesn’t it? Since I don’t suffer from carpel tunnel syndrome.
Is it possible to extend the ‘recent comments’ colmn? There are certain people whose posts I always read but they whip through the column so fast on a busy day.
My two cents:
I don’t like the extended post feature at all. I have seen it used extensively on other blogs, and I get very annoyed by all of the clicking and going back to the main page that I have to do in order to read all of the recent posts. To me, it’s the internet equivalent of reading a front page story in a newspaper. I always find that I’m just starting to get interested in the story when all of a sudden it says “continued on page A19”. I know, I know — clicking a link isn’t quite as bad as hunting for a page in a newspaper, but I still find it annoying in a similar way. So I would prefer to see this feature used only for extremely long posts, or posts that have lots of pictures.
I don’t have much of a preference regarding the number of posts on the main page. Whatever you want to do with that is fine with me.
Paul
I agree with the need for a descriptive title. (Not that the titles here are bad.) I have the site marked with Firefox’s “Live bookmark” (RSS feed?). A good title will make me check it out.
I think that the extended post needs to be used a bit more. This post is about the maximim length I would use for a full entry. Anything longer should go into an extended post.
Your blog design is fine. You might want to try #2 a little bit more often, but that’s about it.
I think it works really well as it is.
my vote is no on more posts at the top of the page. and yes on using extended posts more often.
It is great the way it is, although if you changed to the extended post format I don’t think it would bother me.
I vote NO for “click here to read more,” with the exception of the really long posts. I am also of the type that will generally not click to read more.
I’m fine with the number of posts you keep on the main page.
I don’t like much change either :). It throws me off. Your site is just fine the way it is to me.
If I may, you could use real estate better. The margins are too wide. The contents on one side could be moved to the other side, giving more width to the posts, shrinking height a bit.
I’d favor 7 days’ worth of posts, so as to allow those who only have the weekend to check it out.
Whatever changes you go for, I appreciate reading your words.
Thank you.
Just so long as you don’t start posting those one liners like Mark Shea with an unidentified link like:
You won’t believe this!
I tend to start from within a post along with comments and step through next post after next post. I don’t even touch the main screen of your blog!
As long as the full-text is in your RSS feeds (like it is now), then I’m a happy reader!