WebKarnage on Blogger
This is Karn's personal view on what is affecting WebKarnage in the world of web and here in the studio. Don't expect subtlety any time soon...
New year, more blogging? More something else? What about Fresh Thinking?
Fri, Jan 1 2010 01:13
| repetition, fresh thinking, Blogging
| Permalink
Hi all! Karn back on the loose again.
Wow, it's been a long time since my last post, far far too long really. I always think I should put more posts up, but about what? Should I just post anyway?
How many times have we all read posts about the value of 'good' content and regular new content being good for your site and profile? Many many times in truth. Isn't that just a symptom of a glossed over issue? How much of this 'good' content being posted everywhere is actually fresh content? Is most of it the same 'advice' as we have seen in almost the same guise somewhere else...
This is a dilemma that stops me from posting more. I'm not going to find someone else's great advice, re-package it and call it mine 3 times a month. There are already many people doing this, and don't mis-understand me, it's not all wasted time as it does spread the message, I just worry when I see whole blogs with no fresh thinking: 'How many more of these do we really need?' It's not what I want this site to be seen as.
We have all been made well aware of lots of IE quirks, like the 32 linked sheet limit (still happening in IE 8) and many more, but how many times can we be told these things before we think of the blog saying it as an 'also typed' and ignore it? There are some brilliant large resources out there I respect hugely like Sitepoint (whose podcast I have had the privilege to produce on a semi regular basis of late). With serious resources like that out there, what's the point of me repeating them in a small blog? Collated good resources are far more useful to us all.
Getting more software specific, there is the awesome Realmac Forum with loads of information regarding RapidWeaver and web design in general. Even there when answering questions you can find you are repeating yourself several times in one day. Do I need to be repeating that stuff here too?
Perhaps I am setting myself the impossible task of fresh thinking in my blog, but that's what I wanted it for in the first place. It's not here just to drive more random traffic to the site or increase my page ranking a bit. I wanted it to speak of my personal vision of things without just repeating what I've already said in other places. Is that just being too fussy?
The big thing I find myself repeating is the idea that web design isn't DTP, although the number of people I see trying to treat it as such is increasing all the time. Apps like iWeb that are wonderful to make a simple personal site actually increase that perception with those trying to move past it's limitations and seem to leave people shocked to find that every app doesn't just work that same way. I feel that the average visitor has less patience on the web than with any other type of media, and if the information they want can't be found double quick, then they are off back to the Google search to find another site.
Getting the most picturesque layout gets very nice responses when you ask how it looks, but who actually notices that when they are looking for the information on the sites they visit with a purpose? It generates an almost subconscious feel for the owners of the site, but that only get's a chance to be a positive thing if the visitor hangs around for long enough. If in a stubborn effort to stick to a design the SEO is significantly compromised (large amounts of text as images for example) then what is the design worth if no-one can find the site to read it?
How can we move ourselves to fresh thinking if we spend our time repeating on forums and then do the same thing in our blogs? Doesn't sound like a positive move forward to me. Newer methods like FontStyler allowing a wider range of fonts and looks that work in all major browsers give us new design options that inspire, we just have to make sure we keep the importance of getting the information across isn't lost in the use of all these great new technologies.
I am looking to give myself a new focus in web design and coding in 2010, as are others I know. I think we need to make sure we are not going around in familiar circles at the end of this new year. Let's burst out of this loop and make a break for it! Make 2010 a year for fresh projects and fresh thinking!
All the best,
Karn @ Webkarnage.
Wow, it's been a long time since my last post, far far too long really. I always think I should put more posts up, but about what? Should I just post anyway?
How many times have we all read posts about the value of 'good' content and regular new content being good for your site and profile? Many many times in truth. Isn't that just a symptom of a glossed over issue? How much of this 'good' content being posted everywhere is actually fresh content? Is most of it the same 'advice' as we have seen in almost the same guise somewhere else...
This is a dilemma that stops me from posting more. I'm not going to find someone else's great advice, re-package it and call it mine 3 times a month. There are already many people doing this, and don't mis-understand me, it's not all wasted time as it does spread the message, I just worry when I see whole blogs with no fresh thinking: 'How many more of these do we really need?' It's not what I want this site to be seen as.
We have all been made well aware of lots of IE quirks, like the 32 linked sheet limit (still happening in IE 8) and many more, but how many times can we be told these things before we think of the blog saying it as an 'also typed' and ignore it? There are some brilliant large resources out there I respect hugely like Sitepoint (whose podcast I have had the privilege to produce on a semi regular basis of late). With serious resources like that out there, what's the point of me repeating them in a small blog? Collated good resources are far more useful to us all.
Getting more software specific, there is the awesome Realmac Forum with loads of information regarding RapidWeaver and web design in general. Even there when answering questions you can find you are repeating yourself several times in one day. Do I need to be repeating that stuff here too?
Perhaps I am setting myself the impossible task of fresh thinking in my blog, but that's what I wanted it for in the first place. It's not here just to drive more random traffic to the site or increase my page ranking a bit. I wanted it to speak of my personal vision of things without just repeating what I've already said in other places. Is that just being too fussy?
The big thing I find myself repeating is the idea that web design isn't DTP, although the number of people I see trying to treat it as such is increasing all the time. Apps like iWeb that are wonderful to make a simple personal site actually increase that perception with those trying to move past it's limitations and seem to leave people shocked to find that every app doesn't just work that same way. I feel that the average visitor has less patience on the web than with any other type of media, and if the information they want can't be found double quick, then they are off back to the Google search to find another site.
Getting the most picturesque layout gets very nice responses when you ask how it looks, but who actually notices that when they are looking for the information on the sites they visit with a purpose? It generates an almost subconscious feel for the owners of the site, but that only get's a chance to be a positive thing if the visitor hangs around for long enough. If in a stubborn effort to stick to a design the SEO is significantly compromised (large amounts of text as images for example) then what is the design worth if no-one can find the site to read it?
How can we move ourselves to fresh thinking if we spend our time repeating on forums and then do the same thing in our blogs? Doesn't sound like a positive move forward to me. Newer methods like FontStyler allowing a wider range of fonts and looks that work in all major browsers give us new design options that inspire, we just have to make sure we keep the importance of getting the information across isn't lost in the use of all these great new technologies.
I am looking to give myself a new focus in web design and coding in 2010, as are others I know. I think we need to make sure we are not going around in familiar circles at the end of this new year. Let's burst out of this loop and make a break for it! Make 2010 a year for fresh projects and fresh thinking!
All the best,
Karn @ Webkarnage.
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