Blogging Insights NF # 58

Warning: This post wanders far, FAR from the intended topic. In my defense – should I need a defense – I had a lot of fun writing it. But it is off topic. But potentially entertaining.

The problem isn’t the lack of a coherent definition for “blog” but rather because each of us prefers to define our own blog. This is one of the privileges of being a blogger: freedom from all those strangling rules we had when we worked.

Personally, my favorites blogs are what they are and vary from day to day, week to week. From funny to opinionated and maybe with a recipe and some good photographs tossed in? I like blogs that are fun to read. I also love blogs from which I learn things. I’m mad about witty blogs and I’ll read almost anything if it’s well-written. I will often read something entirely because I know the writer is good even if I would not usually be interested in the material.

Note to humor writers: Anything that makes me laugh is my kind of writing. But if you are going to write humor? Please. BE FUNNY.

I like photo blogs though I often find myself at a loss for something to say other than “great picture.” Especially when dozens of others have already said that, I have to wonder if my saying the same thing matters. Also, when putting in a comment requires scrolling through dozens of previous comments, I usually give up before I get to the comment box. This is what clicking “LIKE” is for. This is also why I often write little stories as part of a comment. It’s because I can’t just say “Great shot” one more time. So I try to say something else because seriously, don’t we get tired of seeing the same old comments?

Your blog is what you say it is. It is also what I think it is. They are not necessarily the same thing.

So now, let’s talk about what I want to talk about: DESIGN.

PAGE AND PANEL DESIGN

I’m always surprised at how little attention most bloggers give to making sure their blogs look good. By good, I don’t mean fancy. I mean text that’s easy to read. White space so you don’t feel as if the words are crowding each other off the page. Illustrations or photographs to liven up the story.

A graphic panel or page should be 60% WHITE SPACE. I should add that this is also true for printed material. White space is sometimes also called “negative space” or “open space.” Any part of the page that isn’t covered with text or graphics is “white space.” This includes the space between letters, spaces between lines of text and paragraphs. Spaces following headings, as well as the gutter and margin. The open areas around and between illustrations.

Too little white space makes a blog look cluttered and if it gets sufficiently cluttered, readers give up. I’m not sure you can have too much white space unless you leave the page blank.

HOW MUCH STUFF ON THE PAGE OR PANEL?

Things you should have on your “front” page:

1. Contact information
2. Recent posts (featured content)
3. Search and maybe a calendar. You can have search without a calendar, but a calendar without search isn’t enough
4. “Follow me, follow this blog” option.

Things you might want on the page:

1. Your own and/or other writers’ biographies
2. Your statistics
3. Your community
4. Links to other (not your own) blogs
5. Copyright information
6. Jump links for your other blogs (if any)
7. Information about books you’ve published, other activities you pursue, where to send donations, worthy causes you support
8. Categories
9. Books you’ve read, books you are reading. Or you can do the same with movies and/or music or any interest you choose.

If you want to include this kind of information, you probably want a template that has a right or left “widget” section. When you put all your “other information” at the bottom of the post, the odds favor readers not knowing it’s there.

Most important? Contact information. Second most important? Search.

BLACK ON WHITE, WHITE ON BLACK

If you are a photographer, you might get away with a black background for photographs — they look great against black. But, if you are also going to use words? Black against white or off-white will get 100% more active readers. Many people find white text on black hard to read. This isn’t age-related. It really IS hard to read — at any age.

TEXT – HOW BIG? WHAT KIND OF FONT. BY THE WAY, WHAT’S A FONT?

A font is a style of text. Back when I started working in publishing — the early 1970s — serif fonts were considered easier to read. Sans-serif fonts were mostly used (if at all) for headlines or captions.

WHAT?

HOW BIG?

Big enough to read without squinting. Big enough to read without enlarging the page. Leave curlicues and swashes for headlines or captions. Why? Because most of us can’t read that kind of text without struggling. Just as your writing should not require a dictionary to figure out the meaning, your text shouldn’t need a Rosetta Stone to decipher it.

I work through my need for fancy fonts via photo signatures. If you can’t read it, it won’t affect the quality of the photo. The reason I sign pictures isn’t branding. It’s because I’m not the only one who publishes pictures on my blog. Garry takes a lot of pictures, as does Rich and occasionally, Owen. Once in a while, a friend or my granddaughter has a picture they would like me to post since they don’t have their own blogs.

If photos are unsigned, you won’t know who took the picture — and neither will I. Especially when Garry and I go shooting together, it can be impossible to know who took which picture. I have a friend in Arizona and at some point, we both took IDENTICAL pictures. They only way we could figure out who took which picture was by the pixel count. Mine was lower than his. Otherwise? Identical. We must have been standing in the exact same spot.

I have to label photos in my files so that each photographer has his or her own folders. When bunches of us go out together, this becomes extremely important!

A FOOL’S ERRAND?

It’s only a fool’s errand if you are trying to label all blogs as one thing. That would be like labeling all magazines as one thing — or all music — or all graphics. Since it’s your own blog, you can call it Miss Piggy if you like. You can’t name millions of blogs with one label. That’s beyond a fool’s errand. It’s a waste of time and no one will pay attention to you anyway.

WAY OFF TOPIC

Yup. Way WAY off topic. But I had a lot of fun writing this, even though it has almost nothing to do with the subject.

Categories: Anecdote