OTB READER SURVEY

“Blogging Research Wordle” by Kristina B is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

OTB READER SURVEY

April 12, 2003

Comments

I’ve been fiddling around with the look and feel of the site for the past few weeks and think I’m about ready to stop. Of course, I’ve also made the switch to Moveable Type. Both with some considerable help from Kathy of On the Third Hand.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to note them in the Comments below. Some things I’m especially interested in feedback on:

* The fonts–Is the blog readable? It looks great on a new 19″ flat-screen monitor at 1280×1084 and pretty good on the smaller one at the office. Can you read it? Is the font too small/large/funny looking?

* Are the various lines, borders, colors, etc. useful in helping guide you through the content, differentiating quoted material from my own commentary, and all that? Or is it too much?

* Are the headlines for each post easier to read centered or left aligned?

* Some of my posts are long compared to those on other sites. Would it be better for me to utilize the Extended Entry feature and just provide a link for reading more? Or is it easier the way I have it now?

* Are the links on the sidebars useful? Could they be ordered differently? Does having the Recent Entries list help you, or is it just something to scroll past to get to the good stuff?

* Are there Moveable Type features that you really like on other sites that I am not taking advantage of here?

Feel free to mention other issues as well. Thanks!

7 responses to “OTB READER SURVEY”

Jack Stephens

April 12, 2003 at 10:05 pm

Okay,
OTB doesn’t fit on my monitor screen, which is bigger than average (17″). This isn’t normally a problem for me. I am used to having the links and blogroll to the left, and the posts on the right.
The font is excellent, and the site is very readable. There’s no need to surround quotes with the dotted lines, which I personally find a bit distracting.

Thanks for asking
ray

April 13, 2003 at 12:23 am

The fonts are fine. I am very happy with the size. What’s the point of having almost microscopic print on a website? The Weekly Standard, for instance, is damn near unreadable due to its having micro-print. What are they doing, saving space???

I prefer the headlines adjusted to the left but really it’s no big deal.

The colors are just right.

Your posts are just brief thoughts in comparison to Den Beste. hehe. Seriously, I find that I’ll read a post as long as it holds my interest no matter what the length.

A possible addition: a booklist. Some books you find useful, accurate, well written, etc in areas of your expertise. I’m always looking for good recommendations.

Yeah, thanks for asking…
phillip

April 13, 2003 at 6:18 am

Never, ever ask for opinions! If they like the comment they’ll come (look at Drudge!!!) However, being that you did ask, Left-align the headlines!!!
MommaBear

April 13, 2003 at 8:18 am

Minor personal quibble, only: would prefer Arial over Times New Roman. Like the font size, though, as MB is no longer a teen-ager :-). MB works with a smaller than full-screen browser display, but as long as the text-boxes in the center fit, she can scroll L-R to access the other columns.
Hanah

April 13, 2003 at 9:07 am

I love it, but there does seem to be some kind of scaling problem going on with the width. It looks fine on my 15″ laptop monitor, but it’s too wide for my 17″ monitor at work. Go figure.
James Joyner

April 13, 2003 at 11:09 am

Interesting. The overall table size is 910 pixels, with the center column set at 550 pixels. So, theoretically at least, anyone running with 1000+ resolution should fit the entire table on their monitor (assuming they’re running full screen) and even those with 800×600 should be able to get all of the center column in.

The fonts are indeed scalable rather than fixed to enable re-sizing using the View settings on browsers. The default font is actually Palatino–which is the default on the MT template and I liked it–then Georgia, Verdana, and Arial.

I have shifted the headlines back to the left and changed the blockquote to a solid border rather than the dotted one.
John Ballard

April 14, 2003 at 8:18 am

Thoughtful of you to ask.

I am a newcomer to your site, but it is bookmarked now. I like your photos, by the way, although they still are space and time takers for many readers.

The cosmetic stuff doesn’t interest me much, but the content is more important. That observation ties directly with the length of posts. We live in an ocean of soundbites and aphorisms. I love the cutsies myself, but I also know that as a result most people don’t pay attention to what they read long enough to ingest new thoughts. Instead, they are waiting for the next memorable turn of a phrase. I’m sorry, but prose ideas do no fit well into a poetic medium; take as many words as you like to develop your ideas. If what you write lacks rhyme, alliteration or clever layering of symbolic meaning, so be it. For this reader such writing is easier to grasp and I appreciate what you have done.

—