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Home » Stories, True and Otherwise

Welcome Back, Reader

Submitted by on April 13, 2010 – 10:36 PM64 Comments

Oh, hello. How’s it going? …Oh, you know. Two trips to the vet in one day, which I could have done without, but everyone’s more or less fine, and Little Joe lost a pound and a half!

And speaking of changes: the redesign! Huzzah! Thanks, Glark!

No doubt you have questions and/or anxieties; feel free to post them in the comments. BUT.

1) Please look around for a few minutes first, or read the whole thread, before you post that you can’t find XYZ. Almost everything is still here; it just looks different. And you’ll see new stuff — most commented-on posts (bottom center); a new link to the Twitter feed (top leftish) — scattered around as well. Click around a bit and see what’s what. If you still can’t find a category or get a link to work, let me know.

2) If something is busted or looks unintentionally jenky, definitely comment. Missing graphics on pre-2010 entries is a problem we’ll all have to learn to live with, layout-wise, but I do need to hear about kookiness in IE, posts showing up more than once on the homepage, tags to nowhere, and so on.

3) Don’t forget that you can tweak the look and feel to some extent on your machines and in your own browsers. The font went a little teeny on me too. Try your “View” menu.

4) It’s going to be just fine.

Coming up: The Vine, the N Candy AA Sweet Sixteen, and the return of The Crushed Film Festival.

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64 Comments »

  • Her TMIness approves. I also like the “you can use these tags!” notation below the comment box.

  • Ellen says:

    It’s gorgeous! Love it.

  • Miranda says:

    Looks awesome Sars! Nice work all

  • jill (tx) says:

    Wow! So different! I think I will really like it once I get used to it.

  • erin says:

    very nice looking, glad it is still easy to find everything. my only complaint is that it is less inconspicuous for work reading but that’s my own personal problem :)

  • Cyntada says:

    Huzzah! *feasts upon design awesomeness* LOVE IT!!

    I assume we can thank Glark for the nifty new header graphic among other things? Because I have been mentally redesigning that generic label since the last port. Thanks, Glark!

    Oh, and? Not that anyone likely cares, but the new design degrades nicely when the stylesheet is disabled. Hats off to whomever spent an eternity customizing and checking the CSS that drives the layout *bows low*

    Also: “slightly Littler Joe” Hee!

  • Nilda A says:

    Oh pretty colors and pictures.

  • Sarag says:

    I can’t seem to find a search function. Am I just not seeing it?

  • McKenzie says:

    Love the new layout! I audibly oohed when I got to the site, prompting the hubs to ask what was so impressive. :)

  • Heather Rose says:

    I love it.

  • Marie says:

    I really like it. So much more modern and stylish than the last change which just seemed like a placeholder (that lasted for a couple of years). Well done!

  • Krissa says:

    Love it! I don’t even remember what the old site looked like. Not like this, that’s all.

  • Rachel says:

    Very nice! Pretty!

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    @Cyntada: The header is all Glark (he based it on vintage tomato-can labels). The theme is Arthemia Premium, in case anyone is writing a book.

    @Sarag: Search is at top right. (Kind of under the T in “Nation.”)

    @Marie: Yeah, well…it loaded fast? Heh.

    Those of you participating in the N Candy AA voting will be THRILLED to know that I now have internal poll capability that looks much nicer, and leaves results visible even after active voting has ended. And probably allows standard punctuation.

  • Melissa C says:

    So pretty! I love it!

    I do agree with Erin – much harder to read inconspicuously at work. My life is so hard. Heh. :)

  • robin says:

    OOHH! Pretty! Shiny! Purrrrrrfect

  • Melina says:

    Go Little Joe! Redesign looks great. I love love love that the sides get redder as you scroll down. (I am on my first cup of coffee, but I bet I will still be kind of excited about that once my brain starts working normally again.)

  • Brigid says:

    Like it. Except…no more replying to specific posts? That was a great addition, pre-redesign and I hope it’s implemented here!

  • LaSalleUGirl says:

    Wow! It’s gorgeous. I can’t wait to click around and explore.

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    @Brigid: Not sure what you mean. If you mean nested comments, I scotched that addition for admin reasons.

  • Sue says:

    Fancy Schmancy!

  • CherylS says:

    Love the new look. Navigation is easier than ever! As a fan of DonorsChoose, I’m happy to see it center stage, even if the reason was alphabetical.

  • B. says:

    Well THIS is awesome.

  • Jenn says:

    It looks *terrific*. Glark is a god.

  • Miss Elisa says:

    The site continues to be awesome. Though not your doing, the sponsored ad that came up on my first visit was for the Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato Planter. Classic!

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    @Elisa: Totally got one for my birthday, too. Amazing.

  • Tisha_ says:

    Wow – Anxiety = Perfect Word. I do not like change. (It took a lot to NOT write that as “the cone of change”)

    But, I must say, everything looks very nice. Good job.

  • Maria says:

    Love. It. Love it! Pretty, functional, intuitive, awesome. Well done!

  • Kristina says:

    Love. It.
    Seriously so gorgeous. Glark should, like, do this for a living, or something.

  • RJ says:

    Amazing new set-up – but are Little Joe/Hobey ok???

  • Sandman says:

    Wow! Look at you, in your fancy new duds. Nice.

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    @RJ: Oh, they’re fine. Hobey is having some eye-ointment drama, and he’s bitter about it (as is Hateful Buntsy, RN), but he’s okay. Joe is in fine fettle; the stairs in the new house apparently scraped some weight off him. “Almost 17 pounds” might not sound like a victory to some people, but “fat” is better than “REALLY fat.” I…guess.

  • cayenne says:

    Oo, swanky new digs…nice! Good one, Glark!

  • cayenne says:

    Hey, for next time (…heh), maybe a glossary of proprietary TN ™ words & phraseology. For the newcomers, and also for old hands who always giggle over Jack-the-thief or flaming beehive punishment.

  • elizabeth says:

    wow, it looks fantastic. love the header and the easy links at the top. woohoo!

  • Jennifer says:

    Y’know, I rarely like anyone’s redesigns EXCEPT FOR YOURS.

  • tulip says:

    Ah now this is what the Nation ought to look like!! AWESOME job guys! Yay to @Glark for his wonderful input.
    Really love it. I had no idea WordPress could look this great! :)

  • Kimberly says:

    Really like the new digs! I loved your intro to it too, spoken like someone who has gone through redesigns before. There’s always the “we fear change” crowd.

  • Debi says:

    Huzzah on slightly littler Joe!

  • Jen S says:

    Looks fantastic, yessiree! I like to think of it as an offshoot of Far Thill: “And behind THIS door–my own COUNTRY! I just redesigned the uniforms and painted the houses of the peasantry! Look how grateful they are. No, throwing tomatoes is a sign of adoration here. Wow, they really love you! Is your eye okay?”

    Seriously though. It looks fabulous. Watch out for Jack sneaking around trying to make off with cans of AWESOME.

  • Heidi says:

    Unsolicited tip – you can try the herb Eyebright for Hobie — it’s available in capsules and you can put a dash of the powder in his food. (skip trying to do the eyewash version if he’s on drops). Loads of info via Google on it.

    Congrats on the nice new redo, too. =)

  • Heidi says:

    Gah. Hobey. Apologies, sir.

  • Melissa says:

    Very nice, is Glark up for hire? I could use a redesign as well.

  • jen says:

    Love it!

    Love the Jack references abounding as well. I just told that story to someone, which is a little weird, I know. “once this person had an annoying roommate and wrote to an advice column and this is what she said…”

  • Kristi says:

    Looks great!

  • mctwin says:

    Ah, fun with felines! Good luck with that!

    I wanted to say how much I enjoyed the “Website getting face-lift, come back when swelling goes down” notice! Totally make me laugh out loud! I guess I’m easily amused. Also appreciated “Hateful Buntsy, RN.” You are a laugh-a-minute!!

  • Lori says:

    Love the whole design, especially the archive by month!

  • Jenn says:

    As a visual person, I like the color-coding of the posts.

  • Rebecca says:

    Holy CRAP! It’s… it’s beautiful!!!

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