Thursday, September 23, 2004
Synoptic Problem Home Page becomes a blog ::
Stephen Carlson announced on his blog that Mahlon Smith's review of his Synoptic Problem Home Page had prompted a makeover.
The biggest visible change is that the new site uses Blogger as its CMS. Stephen stresses that this is "very much a work in progress", so these comments are intended to be a contribution to his thinking as he develops the new pattern of the site.
On the whole during my first explorations the new look is cleaner and clearer. However, I ran across an issue of web design. Hopefully Stephen will move the vital navigation tools from the standard "blog" position (on the right) to a more standard "web site" position (on the left).
In a blog these links are extras, they may add to the experience of readers, but they are not an essential part of the basic function. Therefore they can safely be relegated to less visible screen space. However, in a website - as the new Synoptic Problem Web Site proclaims itself to be - those links form an essential navigation tool. I was looking for Stephen's Synopsis and the Patristic quotes, on the new site it took several frustrating moments before I recognised that the right column contained this vital navigation information.
(I was looking for those parts because of some of Mahlon's comments on fonts. I'll follow these up in a later posting. I'm still investigating.)
Stephen's experiment with a move to Blogger is not just part of a wider trend to blur the boundaries of web genres, but an interesting precedent. I'll be fascinated to follow his fortunes and see how it works.
¶ 6:30 AM
[to Del.icio.us]
Stephen Carlson announced on his blog that Mahlon Smith's review of his Synoptic Problem Home Page had prompted a makeover.
The biggest visible change is that the new site uses Blogger as its CMS. Stephen stresses that this is "very much a work in progress", so these comments are intended to be a contribution to his thinking as he develops the new pattern of the site.
On the whole during my first explorations the new look is cleaner and clearer. However, I ran across an issue of web design. Hopefully Stephen will move the vital navigation tools from the standard "blog" position (on the right) to a more standard "web site" position (on the left).
In a blog these links are extras, they may add to the experience of readers, but they are not an essential part of the basic function. Therefore they can safely be relegated to less visible screen space. However, in a website - as the new Synoptic Problem Web Site proclaims itself to be - those links form an essential navigation tool. I was looking for Stephen's Synopsis and the Patristic quotes, on the new site it took several frustrating moments before I recognised that the right column contained this vital navigation information.
(I was looking for those parts because of some of Mahlon's comments on fonts. I'll follow these up in a later posting. I'm still investigating.)
Stephen's experiment with a move to Blogger is not just part of a wider trend to blur the boundaries of web genres, but an interesting precedent. I'll be fascinated to follow his fortunes and see how it works.
¶ 6:30 AM
[to Del.icio.us]
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
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October 24, 2005 1:11 AM
