Time to stir up the water and get a new blog design. Our previous design was very minimalist. We’ve decided too minimalist. We want you to be able to see the range of topics we care about, the various projects we are managing, and have room for things like Twitter and Comments too! Please tell us what you think. We splurged and bought this theme from a top WordPress designer, Brian Gardner. (Internet oddball perhaps, but I like paying for quality services.)
One of the coolest things about blog software is how the design elements and the content are separated, kind of like how editorial and advertising once used to be. :-) In theory, it’s possible to swap out a new “theme” on the WordPress blog, and the database of posts and comments simply gets wrapped in a new look.
In reality of course, it’s not that easy because inevitably we want to tweak a little here, change a color there, add a widget, hide a widget, and make all new graphics too! It’s so emblematic of the state of the web these days. On the one hand the glass is half-full: so many things are free and creativity abounds. OTOH, the glass is half-empty: it takes hours and hours to find stuff and make it work the way we want it to, a full spectrum of brain matter is useful when managing the wide and deep terrain that covers coding, design, and ultimately writing a coherent message!
I interviewed a marketing exec from IBM back in 2002. He said they had already survived 11 iterations of their web site over the past 6-7 years! Meanwhile, many small businesses are content to have one iteration every 10 or 11 years! (OK – so maybe I exagerrate a little.) Here’s a list of things to think about to see if it is time to redo your website.
We want some of our clients to update their sites; “unfortunately,” we built them with the most modern tools available at the time, so the sites are surviving, if not thriving. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it makes sense. But then there is the question: what opportunities are being missed that can only be gained with new technology?
One last thought. I used “we” a lot in this post. Really, it is Shane who gets the big kudos as he researched the WP themes, did all the extra programming, and even added some upgrades to the templates that he is sending back to Brian, the original developer. Mahalo nui Shane. You are no ka oi!
You can follow and connect with Roxanne on 
You can follow and connect with Shane on 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm, I am in the middle of updating my other site now, too. The Fawnskin Flyer was the first overhaul.
Now my primary one (online since 1995) is a HUGE project…closer and closer…I think it is my fifth update—not sure as I lost count.
Maybe this design will work well for you but I do hope you personalize it a bit more—trust you will.
Consider a more intimate and branded header with a tad more color—your personality is a bit more perky than the colors you now have.
Just my seven cents (inflation and all).
Rox & Shane,
I still consider myself, my online footprint, my site a work in progress. I wonder if I’m making the right choices, but now after having also purchased the Revolution Pro Media and relaunched my site I know in terms of themes, I am at least thinking like the true leaders!
http://www.faleafine.com/?p=47
Aloha,
NEENZ
@GG – thanks for your comments. In the old days, we would spend months working on a site design. This time, we spent less than a week. We are hoping that the content (flickr, beach walks, more attention to graphics in the posts) will add some of that personality you are mentioning. And we actually do want to customize it some more too. Your feedback is awesome.
Besides, go check out @NEENZ’ site
@NEENZ – OK now I am really convinced we were separated at birth. I mean, how may WP themes are there? Tens of thousands right? Must be “great minds theme alike” in process. BTW< Shane did a hack for the featured post so you don’t have to use a 125×250 graphic. Want a copy of the code???
I’ve been working on switching our studio’s website over to WP for the last two weeks and finally got it up a couple of days ago. I spent about two hours tonight checking out Brian’s themes for another site, then I come here and WOW!
Good choice! Hemolele!
Rox & Shane… you are true inspirations!
Mahalo nui nui
I didn’t use Brian’s design on our site, we used another premium theme designer. (I do have a few client sites going live using Brians work – which is top notch!)
It is really incredible that such development services are affordable and effective, and I am glad that I have the chance to interact with people who love what they do as much as I do.