1000 posts down and time for a change
For some time I've been wanting to change what Mike described as a "rather funereal" design and two things came together today that allowed me to do it.
The first, which also led to my discoveries on MyMaps and GoogleEarth this morning, is being sick. It's great. I might not be able to speak, I might be coughing up lurgae not seen since that episode of Star Trek with the jellyfish-like flying-death-thingymajigs, but I've had time to get some interesting things done. Like trying a redesign.
The second unexpected thing I noticed about today was that I wrote my 1000th post on edu.blogs.com. And there are some 2124 comments left by y'all. Considering some of the nonsense that peppers the alright stuff on the blog that's quite good for me. It also reminded me how unimportant Trackbacks (or Pingbacks) have been to me in order to see who's linking in thanks to the relative wonder of keeping a watchlist on Technorati.
I hope you like the redesign. Heck, it might even make you come and check me out from your feedreader now and then. Suggestions welcome, but no guarantee I'll be ill and have enough time again until the 2000th post.
Update: You might have to reload the page or empty your cache to see the new design. Or wait until your cache renews itself within the next month. I guess it depends how keen you are to see it all here and now ;-)
Looks much more professional... but I did like the old photo of you!
Get well soon!
Posted by: Neil Winton | May 03, 2007 at 05:47 PM
Great Redesign. So bright,crisp and clean. Get well. Love your blog and I did leave the bloglines confines to see the new look.
Chris
Posted by: Chris Harbeck | May 03, 2007 at 06:01 PM
Well you didn't exactly go crazy with the redesigning did you Ewan ;)
The changes are for the better though.
Posted by: Robert Jones | May 03, 2007 at 06:02 PM
I take it all back - for some reason I was still seeing the old design. This new design is great :)
Posted by: Robert Jones | May 03, 2007 at 06:04 PM
Looks great. Get well soon! OB
Posted by: OllieBray | May 03, 2007 at 06:22 PM
I like this; it's much easier to read than the old design. Good use of whitespace.
My one suggestion for improvement would be that the descriptions under the names in your blogroll are a bit too light to read, at least for me. The dark blue of the names themselves is fine, but the light grey on white below makes me squint, even after increasing the font size.
Overall, I think it's great though!
Posted by: Christy Tucker | May 03, 2007 at 06:42 PM
I see what you mean about the faded grey. I'll try to sort that out. My wife hates the photo of me, too, so I might be retaking that soon with a slightly more flattering pose ;-)
Thanks for all the great feedback!
Posted by: Ewan McIntosh | May 03, 2007 at 07:04 PM
I got the black format first go - so thought you were merely delirious. However, a reload brought me this vision of loveliness - which I much prefer. Never did care for your existential gloom, myself.
Posted by: chris | May 03, 2007 at 07:05 PM
BTW - I agree that the grey descriptors on your blogroll are too faint - but as I've been expunged, am I bovvered? :-(
Posted by: chris | May 03, 2007 at 07:12 PM
You look a bit freaked out in the photo. Unlike the previous Beatlesque thingamy. Maybe this the about to be a father look you're going for??
All in all I absolutely prefer the less is more approach you've gone with and the non-black. However, I'm not a fan of those flickr badges - but that's just me.
An all round "nice" I'd say and well worth being sick for :) PS. Hope we can do pints in Robbies on Leith Walk this summer ;)
Posted by: Graham | May 03, 2007 at 09:22 PM
Not sure about the Flickr badge myself. It's out of sorts. However, the main photo will be changed and cheered up a bit before too long.
Didn't know you were coming to Leith Walk this summer. I'll warm the bar stools.
Posted by: Ewan McIntosh | May 03, 2007 at 09:44 PM
Nice clean look Ewan. Looks great, however, like others before me have said, I did like the old photo of you. ;-)
Cheers!
Posted by: Darren Kuropatwa | May 03, 2007 at 10:28 PM
I love the new look Ewan but your photograph resembles a recovering depressive and we don't want that! (I know you've got lots of great pics).
Posted by: John | May 04, 2007 at 12:05 PM
I prefer the white to the black but its a bit too 'safe' for you.
Posted by: L Lewis | May 04, 2007 at 02:41 PM
Much prefer your new design. With my eyes, although really interested in what you are writing, could hardly read it.
Posted by: sharon mcquillan | May 04, 2007 at 10:53 PM
Great update, Ewan - looks much cleaner. I know what you mean about being ill - I actually startd my blog when I was down with a bad cold, I recall..
Posted by: Antony Mayfield | May 06, 2007 at 12:32 PM