WordPress.org

1. demonboy
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   Good evening,

   My wordpress.org profile tells me I've been using wordpress for two months. This is the first time I've used wordpress, PHP and scripts and I would be very interested to know what people think of my efforts. I've made good use of special fields and had an acquaintance develop some customised plug-ins for them (you can see them in action in the sidebar in any post). Plus there's lots of randomisation on the homepage, and some Google Map action, which is important considering the nature of the blog.

   The reason for migrating my blog to wordpress is because I live on a boat. Internet connection is not always available so I wanted something that would allow me to update my website via satellite phone. Although I haven't used it yet I'm particularly interested in being able to email my updates, the idea being that I can update my blog when I am literally out at sea. We're planning some big trips (Red Sea and Indian Ocean) and I want to be able to keep family and friends updated in real time.

   I'd be very interested to hear back constructive criticism, especially areas of improvement. If anyone has time I'd also be grateful if you could test the subscription features too. Bear in mind this was only soft-launched this afternoon and I'm sure there's still plenty to iron out.

   I should add that I do know my audience. Some of my language and layout may seem a bit obvious to you tech/wordpress/internet-savvy users. However many of our existing blog readers are older and need a bit of hand-holding when it comes to the concept of reading/subscribing to a blog.

   Link here:

   FOLLOWTHEBOAT

   Thank you so far to everyone who has helped in these forums.

2. jrodgers
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   nice, but i think you have too many colours, gray, blue, purple, yellow, brown, orange, rust....

   some of the random images are really nice

3. demonboy
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   That's an interesting comment, thank you. Where in particular would you say there is color 'overdose'? Perhaps you have grown used to mono-coloured designs, or maybe I've been looking at my own design too long to see where I could improve the colour scheme. The colours do compliment each other, after all.

   Perhaps the side-bar could be blue-themed and the main part of the page brown? Maybe drop the blue in the sidebar altogether?

   Keen to learn more...

4. @mercime
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   different strokes for different folks. personally i like your design :-) it's unique, i like the colors you used on the navigation. the text size makes it easy to read. btw, off-topic: why are you demonboy? cheers, keep on sailing and posting.

5. demonboy
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   demonboy was my DJ name from many, many years ago: Jamie Demon of The Spannerheadz. Thanks for the feedback, mercime!

6. jrodgers
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   it's the side bar, you have a yellow "post-it" followed by a violet area and then a sepia block all with differing fonts, followed by a logo in teal, combined with your brown and orange theme colours on a goldenrod background i think is too many colours in one location,

   you have coloured labels at the top, using these as a reference you could "colour code" the different pages with the label colours as a guide, giving you an abundance of colours, but limit the number of colours per page

7. demonboy
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   Point taken. After reading your initial comment I went back to the site with a fresh pair of eyes and got where you were coming from. I need to sleep on it for a few days, or even take a break from looking at it, but I do tend to agree with you now that you have pointed it out.

   Yours myopically!

8. demonboy
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   Of course I should point out, and I guess you have worked this out already, but the side bar you describe only appears like that on the home page. If you go into any of the posts the sidebar changes. Indeed there are a number of different sidebars, depending upon which page or post you are in.

9. mikey1
   Member
   Posted 3 years ago #

   Hi, I really like your blog, I was a bit concerned about the colours at first, but, the site is very clear, with a good maritime look and feel.
   You also have some great photos, so I would reccomend the shadowbox plugin, I've found it works very well in 2.7
   http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/shadowbox-js/
   Good luck with your travels, I've bookmarked you site.
   I'm very envious of your sailing the world.
   All the best.
   Mike.

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