The past month has been a wave of new blog designs popping up all over. I am glad that bloggers take an interest in keeping their blogs unique and for adding new inspiration for the rest of us. Whether you are updating an existing theme or going for a completely new look, take a look at the past months redesigned blogs for some ideas and inspiration.
* Some of the themes I am not sure the exact upload date. The date represented is the date I think I remember seeing the updated theme.
Wider blogs and sidebars
Wider blogs are defiantly in which is a good thing and makes more information to the visitors accessible. Another thing I noticed was that having a wider sidebar, instead of having 2 sidebars is become quite popular. Even integrating content that spans 2 sibebar widths while still maintaining a 2 sidebars is quite common in the redesigns.
More content on top
We are also seeing a lot more content featured toward the top of the designs, such as “Featured” or “Recent” posts. This seems like a great idea to get past post in the lime light for newer readers but it also does move your newer posts and main content down the page and in some cases below the fold of the page.
Is it a blog or a portal?
Problogger has a different type of homepage. He has gone for the more ‘portal’ look and I’m not really a huge fan of it on a blog. Don’t get me wrong, I love the design itself, I just don’t like the portal look on a blog. Maybe he wants to be a portal now or maybe he even might start a new blog-portal trend. It is apparent that he is moving in another direction for his blog.
Releasing a free wordpress theme
CristianR is doing something new and has decided to release his Dream K2 wordpress theme he is currently using, rather than a separate theme. It is a great theme that I’ve tested myself and it is K2 compatible. The great thing about his theme is that you can customize it right in WordPress which makes it a breeze for anybody.
Content in the footer
Footer content has been gaining popularity for a while, but I’d like to note that the trend is still increasing. I do like that people are utilizing the footer for more content because it frees up space on the sidebar and it also gives users links to more information if they hit the bottom of the page with no where to go.
There are a lot of new designs out this past month and since I will be touching up on my blog in the next few weeks I can start to implement some of the trends I really like and test out their effectiveness. Viewing other blogs can defiantly help you see what works and what does not work for you, gaining some new ideas and inspiration.
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Those are great screenshots! Of course I’m biased heh. By the way, could I possibly request that the URL to my blog be changed to add a /blog/ at the end? I’m still undecided on whether to put something else on the top level domain or just redirect it to my blog.
Made the change for you! There were so many changes just in the last 2 months, I needed to say something about it. Hehehe.
Very well written post!
I’ve been talking a bit about those trends on my site, specifically the ones about the sidebar moving to the footer. My site has been undergoing changes for months gradually as I learn more about web design and such. Its been a good learning process as I go and has helped me to figure out what works for me and what doesn’t.
I don’t necessarily think that a lot of those trends are good ones, but a few are worth at least trying. For example, John Chow pushed his content below the fold. The thing is, he is banned from Google last I checked, so he doesn’t have to cater to search engine traffic. If he did, I don’t know that he could get away with that.
Darren’s site is much more than a blog, which is why he moved to /blog. He needed a design that worked well with the ProBlogger forums, as well as his homepage and other ProBlogger business ventures.
I think a portal is a good description for it!
Thanks for tossing the Web Hosting Show into the mix too.
I also agree with the fact that ProBlogger has actually moved beyond what I would really call a blog by the technical or usual opinion.
Thank you for the mention! Many sites have been busy redesigning, haven’t they?
Thanks for including me on that list too
I notice that most of us have dropped banner links for 125 x 125 buttons. I’ve been wanting to do it for a time, so it’s interesting to see I’m not the only one
I’ve also noticed that you picked up on the “Two column” Thing. I remember a post on a well respected make money online blog that said “3 columns are the way forward”, but only had 2 columns herself. I found it odd that!
Personally, I like three columns. Can fit more in above the fold.
Thanks for the link Sarah
P.S : Check your email inbox
yup lots of blogs are changing up their looks recently i noticed too. It just seems to be the thing to do haha. I must agree with you 100% i don’t like probloggers new portal system for the blog. Again it’s a very nice blog but all he has done is make it even more confusing and decreased the simplicity of the navigation on his site. Great post put a lot of work into this
I’m still thinking about how I’m going to place my 125×125 banners on the right side bar for my contest winners. I keep going back and forth on it, but after seeing all the designs laid out it is easier to see what I like and don’t.
@Kyle: I think for sure I will get more content in the footer, why the heck not right? Can’t hurt anyhow is what I think.
@Rhys: I think it is funny when a blog states to do something, but they aren’t doing it themselves. Though I probably done the same thing myself either before now or in the future, I hope somebody calls me on it when they notice LOL.
@shaun: It totally confuses me. It is a portal to me the way it is laid out.
Thanks for the mention.
I think what drove me to putting so much content in the footer is MyBlogLog. I don’t know if anyone else experiences this or not, but a few times a day, the MyBlogLog avatars seem to take F O R E V E R to load, and my page would stop loading at the recent visitors widget in the sidebar.
By moving it to the footer, it still takes a while to load sometimes, but being one of the last things to load, most people would never notice because the main content of the page is already displayed.
Also, I felt it necessary for my sidebar to allow me room for two 125×125 banners side by side.
Totally true Sarah!
I re-designed my site from 2 columns to 3 columns for a shorter page!
Sarah - Excellent post. Though I’m not a huge fan of many of the new blog re-designs, I do appreciate the footers. Also - It appears that many of the new designs seem to be very “ad space” friendly and I doubt this is by chance :).
Are you going to change your blog design too Sarah? Maybe utilize the high points you commented on each blog and use those to redesign it =)?
Thanks for making the change Sarah! I really love looking at those screen shots. Must be a subliminal thing haha.
@Paul: I liked these design as being unique and not like every other designs you seen out there. Sometimes I forget what site I’m at if they all look too much alike and I’m sure they have made them ad space friendly too.
@David: I don’t think I’m gonna do a complete redesign, but I am going to add some new features and add some stuff I see I like from these newer ideas. If they are getting away with some of that stuff, maybe I can get a little more complicated with my design.
It’s also worth noting that I believe all sites took a “fixed” website layout approach instead of a fluid one.
I just found your blog today, and I really like the look of it. I have been taklng note of the trends as well. The one I really like the best is moving featured content up to the top of the blog. It helps the user find some things easier. That is what I liked about Darren’s old blog. It used to be easier to find his flagship posts, not it is more difficult.
I am not sure what I think of adding all the information to the footer. It’s hard to find that way, but I guess if people aren’t looking for your archives on the sidebar, why not have them in the footer?
Nice post, I will have to stop by more often.
@Patrick: Thanks for pointing that out, you are right they are all fixed!
@George: I agree that Darren’s new design is much harder to navigate. My idea on adding info to the footer is that if they get to the bottom of the page and have nothing left to do, maybe it will give them a link to click on your own site rather than going else where. That is what I’m thinking.
These are great screen shots and post is also very informative.
I’m headed out the door so I better make this quick…
You know, one of the trends I’ve been seeing lately is making a square divided in 4 in the right sidebar for ads. I think it’s a great idea because it has obviously been working out for a lot of people.
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Thanks Bush, I been thinking about that too. I’m really crossed since Iike it the way it is. The winners haven’t tossed in their ads yet so I’ve got time!
Great list! I like the designs that seem to have more white space. It makes it that much easier to read. I chose a different theme for my personal blog last month. The results have been great.
Sizlopedia’s my favourite - clean, simple design… apart from the Ads that is!
Out of those thumbnails, I am partial to ShaunLow.com and SiteFever.com. They are clean, elegant, and not distracting when you are looking to read the content on the page.