Sorry your browser is not supported!

You are using an outdated browser that does not support modern web technologies, in order to use this site please update to a new browser.

Browsers supported include Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 10+ or Microsoft Edge.

Geek Culture / Lucky Number 7 - Working on my Web Presence

Author
Message
Seppuku Arts
Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 24th May 2011 21:57 Edited at: 24th May 2011 22:02
Link
I've been thinking about my web presence, there's a few things I'll want feedback on. I am thinking about myself as a writer here and I've been working on my blog since the beginning of the year and it'll be interesting to see what people's opinions are - I've not tried publicizing it other than attaching it to my sig here, because I figure it'd need some activity and for me to settle on what I'm going for.

Today in a bit of banter between me and a friend I've ended up agreeing to write 7 blog posts today and I might end up setting myself challenges for my blog just to make it a little more exciting. I wouldn't mind some feedback on my blog. What I've got is informal and personal, but I want to know if they're interesting and useful to anybody.

Here's a few posts I would like people to read for feedback:
The Lucky Number 7
Cambridge Word Fest Day 1 'Err, Hello' (Part 2 of Cambridge Word Fest)
The Indoctrination Process
That Looks Crap, Change it, Change it, you fail as a writer

I am working on my portfolio website too, but it needs more content before I seek feedback.

Any feedback will be useful.

[Edit]
I know I advertised an older version of the blog a while back, but I wasn't happy with it and started fresh.

Back to top
Profile PM Website
BiggAdd
Retired Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 6th Aug 2004
Location: != null
Posted: 24th May 2011 23:54 Edited at: 25th May 2011 00:07
Link
First of all, the look and feel needs a major overhaul. There is no character to the site what so ever.

The design of the site should reflect you as a character, when somebody visits your page, they should be instantly immersed into your world. At the moment I have no feel for who you are, what interests you and what sort of character you are, so trying to read your blog posts is hard.

Also, break it up. Include pictures, drawings or any other things that interest you. Take the camera out and photograph the things that you find quirky or interesting (apart from lady's bottoms, you dirty old man).


As for the content, for reasons already described I just can't get into reading something until I have a feel of the person who is writing it. Obviously for things like reviews, or journals its different, because the content is not personal. But for something personal like this, you need to improve the surroundings in which you present your stories.


Hope that helps.

EDIT:
For example:
http://www.whatimade.com/
I personally don't visit this site, I just swiped it from the personal blog category of the webby awards. But straight away you get a feel for this person's character. Some may be put off from the site, but maybe they are the same people who wouldn't enjoy the content anyway.

Back to top
Profile PM
Seppuku Arts
Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 25th May 2011 01:21
Link
That's the difficult part. lol

I think I express myself a lot better through writing than I do when it comes to visuals. I got the nickname 'Little Norse Prince' from friends because I have a Viking reputation, I guess the 'prince' part is so they can pet me :/ . I have somehow become Thor's babysitter, it has got to the point where I am able to talk to people about Thor as though he was genuinely my best friend. It kind of started when I took over as President for the Storytelling Society, we had a lot of new members, so my first course of action was to cause a bit of drama - I had a pretend phone call from our halls' manager, I went outside for a few minutes then came in F-ing and blinding about how much it was costing me to get my sink fixed because Thor had decided to smash it thinking it would solve a plumbing issue after he poured oil down there and blocked it.

I think my blog jumps between a serious and non-serious tone, I suppose I could pick up mid way on that - a lot of stuff I write is serious, but I am able to talk about it in a light-hearted manner, for example "That Looks Crap, Change it, Change it, You Fail as Writer", it's not too quirky, it make serious points but in a light hearted manner. I think combined with my 'Norseness' I could probably suss out a feel or look, but then how would I put something like that visually? Perhaps a Norse font for the title, use runes and maybe a few words in Old Norse, yet in a stylistic manner so it doesn't look like a blog on Norse mythology or the history of the Vikings, but a writer who chills out with Thor with a slight gothic look to accommodate for a dark writing style, yet looking friendly and approachable without it looking like I'm biting the heads off of bats.

Too bad I suck when it comes to this sort of thing, but I'll try to figure something out.


Also, that blog is awesome! I want a toast stacker!

Anyway, thank you for the feedback.

Back to top
Profile PM Website
Fuzz
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 14th Nov 2006
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Posted: 25th May 2011 02:19 Edited at: 25th May 2011 02:26
Link
I just read most of your posts and I really enjoyed it. I agree it could be a bit more personalised, apperance wise, but it didn't bother me.

I'd love to read a novel written by you.

Off topic, sorry:

I like writting and like creating fantasy worlds. I started a novel back in 09 and got about 6 pages in and just stopped. I couldn't go on. I've always wanted to share it on here (for feedback) and a blog but I'm worried about people taking it. Do you ever worry about that?

Fuzz.


Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Seppuku Arts
Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 25th May 2011 03:08
Link
Hey man, much appreciated.



Quote: "I like writting and like creating fantasy worlds. I started a novel back in 09 and got about 6 pages in and just stopped. I couldn't go on. I've always wanted to share it on here (for feedback) and a blog but I'm worried about people taking it. Do you ever worry about that?"


I do worry about it, it's why you won't find much of what I write on the Internet, I did put a few small pieces on a website that was brilliant for storying work as it would be encoded into a PDF and was signed digitally so if somebody did steal your writing you'd have proof you wrote it first. I think with any piece of writing I care about I'd make sure I could easily prove I was the person who wrote the piece before putting it out in to the public domain, even if it's just a chapter.

The annoying thing is, the website I am talking about was about to start charging people for the service (it was 6 months free for the first 1000 users) but it seems the website no longer exists, they had publishers visiting the site and somebody even scored a good deal on there but it suffered from a lack of users (I'd put down to web design and marketing). I have been looking for something similar ever since. I wish I stored all of the PDFs so I could redistribute them on my website.

A friend linked me to this, but I've not properly checked it out yet, but it's perhaps worth taking a look:

http://www.authonomy.com/

Also, as a note, I am somebody who's always willing to offer people feedback.

Back to top
Profile PM Website
MrValentine
AGK Backer
14
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Dec 2010
Playing: FFVII
Posted: 25th May 2011 06:11
Link
I couldnt read anything the stark contrast was cleeding my eyes... I must say the layout needs serious working, I ams ure the sontent is nice, but I refuse to read any of it for the time being, I hope I can add it to my blog links soon and also read it on a daily basis.

In regards to publicising it, just use twitter and FB and youll be on your way provided you have enough of a network, also try Linked-in...

I too have set about the blogger life I am a little short coming on the content wise in regards to supporting imagese, but I try my best to make one post an minimum to reflect each passing day, sometimes many posts per day, and i use my mobile to make posts as well as using my mobile to make instant cross network (twitter/fb) posts, so as soon as you make a new blog post, make posts simultaniously onto the social sites to get traffic coming in

I hope to hear more on this, I always enjoy a novelists works.

Back to top
Profile PM
Jimmy
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Aug 2003
Location: Back in the USA
Posted: 25th May 2011 16:21
Link
That's funny. I was just thinking about my web presence yesterday and promptly began designing a blogfolio of my own. Seems to be trending these days.

The only thing I can say, and maybe it's just me, is that I have a difficult time concentrating when I'm reading white on black. I know it's supposed to be better for the eyes, but, for some reason, my brain just wants to skip to the end and be done with it, which causes me to dismiss a lot of content out there. The only reason I don't when I'm reading your blogs, is because I know who it's coming from, and I know it's going to be good.

So, that is my one suggestion: Black on white.

But that's coming from someone who can't really focus on anything. You know what? Forget everything I just said.


May 10th / Jerico2day-OBese87 / VOTE NOW
Back to top
Profile PM Website
Phaelax
DBPro Master
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 16th Apr 2003
Location: Metropia
Posted: 26th May 2011 02:42
Link
99% of blogs are pointless. Just saying...

Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Interplanetary Funk
15
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 19th Apr 2010
Location: Ipswich, United Kingdom
Posted: 26th May 2011 02:50
Link
Quote: "99% of blogs are pointless."

99% of blogs are uninformative pieces of drivel written by attention seekers.

Like those MySpace fan girls.


Visit my blog for any and all info on what I do coding wise.
Back to top
Profile PM
Yodaman Jer
User Banned
Posted: 26th May 2011 04:49
Link
Jeez, you guys are sure supportive of Sepp's endeavors.

I'll take a peek when I have the chance, old chap, but from the quick peek I took yesterday I would also say that black on white might be a better idea, unless you like the look of white on black. Could you make the content boxes white and the post body text black and that way keep the other elements on the page black? If you're using blogger you should be able to use CSS to override the default template.


"The force be with you, may it."
Back to top
Profile
DJ Almix
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 25th Feb 2006
Location: Freedom
Posted: 26th May 2011 05:12
Link
Change the title fonts! There very ugly, and overall the site looks very unpolished. Another big thing was that I the background is all compressed (like a .JPEG saved in paint.)

[center]
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Seppuku Arts
Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 26th May 2011 13:25 Edited at: 26th May 2011 13:27
Link
Quote: "Change the title fonts! There very ugly, and overall the site looks very unpolished. Another big thing was that I the background is all compressed (like a .JPEG saved in paint.)"


As a note I am currently playing around with it, trying to come up with ideas in response to some of the comments here, so now, I suspect different people will see different things as I experiment. It's not representative of anything yet.

Quote: "99% of blogs are pointless. Just saying..."


I realise this, essentially I just want something to show that works as an addition to my portfolio site, but also to tailor to any writers who do happen to come across it. It could be a futile effort, but there's no harm in trying. It's just a shame I suck artistically.

Quote: "The only thing I can say, and maybe it's just me, is that I have a difficult time concentrating when I'm reading white on black. I know it's supposed to be better for the eyes, but, for some reason, my brain just wants to skip to the end and be done with it, which causes me to dismiss a lot of content out there. "


That's what I was thinking, but judging from people's responses, it's not always the case so I've changed it to black on white as it seems to be most common.

Back to top
Profile PM Website
BiggAdd
Retired Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 6th Aug 2004
Location: != null
Posted: 31st May 2011 01:01
Link
Already thats a massive improvement. Feels much more accessible. Keep adding those personal touches!

Back to top
Profile PM
Wolf
17
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 8th Nov 2007
Location: Luxemburg
Posted: 31st May 2011 06:52
Link
Interesting...

you just gave me the idea to write a blog myself! Thanks for that, Seppuku.



-Wolf

I make serious coffee - so strong it wakes up the neighbors.
http://serygalacaffeine.deviantart.com/
Twitter: @Serygala
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Seppuku Arts
Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 3rd Jun 2011 17:44 Edited at: 3rd Jun 2011 17:50
Link
He he, well if anything it's a good place to get your thoughts down.

Anyway, I thought I'd got for a simpler design, two reasons: less of a distraction for the eyes and I'm not very artsy. Instead I've just gone for a Norse Symbol (which looks eerily like a Dharma wheel) with runes surrounding it. Black on white for readability using a font I like, which is readable. I'm going to make more of an effort to put images in, for example, in my latest post: http://littlenorseprince.blogspot.com/2011/06/monday-was-my-22nd-birthday.html where I've just used my birthday to start the post (to keep it personal) and lead on to talking about my book with some useful thoughts on inventing technology in Fantasy and Science Fiction.

The Viking symbols are to go with my Norse obsession and it is relevant to my novel in many ways. I was gonna go for the Mjolnir surround with the writing 'The Great All-Father' written in Norse, which is used in the courts in what I'm writing, but it would look too busy.

I realise the image in the background could be a little better in quality, particularly on one of the runes, but I can easily fix that. I've tested the blog on 1366x768 and 1900 x 1080 (through a HDTV) and I've not noticed any immediate problems.

Back to top
Profile PM Website
Wolf
17
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 8th Nov 2007
Location: Luxemburg
Posted: 4th Jun 2011 02:03
Link
Take care with those runes and nordic symbols. Some of them are linked to Nationalsocialist and NS cult groups and even forbidden in some country's.

Don't want any wrong light to be shining on you



-Wolf

I make serious coffee - so strong it wakes up the neighbors.
http://serygalacaffeine.deviantart.com/
Twitter:@Serygala http://serygalacaffeine.blogspot.com
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Seppuku Arts
Moderator
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 18th Aug 2004
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 4th Jun 2011 02:29
Link
I am blonde haired, blue eyed, white and I can speak German. I could play the part and could do it without even trying, except of course I'd have to shave all my hair off and as a metal head it'd be something I couldn't bring myself to do.

I've researched National Socialist symbols, but haven't come across anything that would make my blog look bad. But on talk of this, I remember watching a video of a guy whose sole-purpose was to tattoo himself with every type of swastika in the world from all the cultures that use it and he is able to tell you the origin of every single one because he wants to promote what they actually mean rather than have them associated with Nazism. However, I don't see the guy ever going to Germany, as sweet as the idea is, I don't think many people will see it that way.

Anyway, my novel uses Norse symbols because it contains Norse pagans, so I figure it's appropriate to use them.

Back to top
Profile PM Website
Back to top

Login to post a reply

Server time is: 2025-05-21 11:54:53
Your offset time is: 2025-05-21 11:54:53