What Do You Think Of The New Weblog Look?

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• +1. I think it might look nice if you stuck with blue entirely (but, you know, all different shades). The old maroon isn't right, in my eyes. I like the java dropdown menu on the left -- looks classy and is way better then other older versions. I would offer to send a screenshot, but the design is probably so structurally-sound that it doesn't differ much in the browsers!

• +1. I like the new look. The old one was getting a little too - well, old. Besides, I like pastels. This one actually has a soothing effect on the eyes, but the sidebar could definitely use some work. I liked seeing all your "New found Citations" on the same page.

• I think the page breathes a lot better...

• -1
  I don't think the sidebar and main page work with this color scheme either. Also, I think the sidebar links (Newfound Citations) should either have bullets or have more line-spacing, as right now it's difficult to tell if an item goes to another line or not, outside of mousing over it. Users shouldn't have to guess on that.
  I do like this color scheme though, except the header and as it matches the sidebar.

• -1. I don't like that the left side links are hidden with the new look until you click on the + to open up the option list. Some people won't know to do this or won't be bothered and will miss out on quickly and easily getting to some of your main content. As for the colors, I guess I have gotten used to and like the old color scheme so while I find the new colors a bit jarring now I am sure that I could get used to this or something else in time.

• Thanks for your feedback, Mike.

  I do plan on working on the contents of the sidebar... Will wrote some excellent modular components that will let me add and move around things very easily, though I haven't fully had time to experiment.

  Anyone else want to weigh in?

• -2
  Hope this doesn't offend, but...the new look (as of 3/22 8am) doesn't appeal to me. I like the general design but the colorization is all wrong: the blues don't match the maroon and yellow index; the contrast produces a strange pallor, an uncanny echo of the dead old form of the blog in its past life.
  The dropdown menu at the top (java?) appears helpful and is clicky-fast, but you've swapped things that were up top (like the "teaching" links) with things that were once on the bottom (like the two articles "On Jerz's Site"). I understand that this menu takes us away to different pages, but I'm not sure this really reflects the best hiearchy of info -- and besides, there's some redundancy in what's up top and on bottom in that left column. The fonts in the left column don't coordinate well with the title and the blog. I think the issue is that the new blog scheme isn't in tune with the whole jerz domain, so unless the whole domain is being overhauled, I'd wait for this redesign.

• -1 The light blue doesn't appeal to my eyesight. I could get use to it, but the other colors went very well together. This lighter shade, and dark title lines ( instead of red) makes it difficult for the late night teacher checking in. But, I'm also someone that's never cared for pastels,or bold dark lettering.

• -1. Dennis, it feels strange to me rating your new design because you taught me everything I know about designing web pages. I always liked the top-down navigation style, but I agree with Dr. Arnzen, the colors are mismatched. Rhetorically, darker blues are preferred because human eyes have trouble picking up blue wavelengths in color, unless it is set-off with brighter colors for figure-ground contrast (Superman's costume)...sorry! Since I took "Document Design" and now "Editing," I cannot look at or read texts the same anymore.