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The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!
You may have noticed the new ad bar at the top there; I haven’t decided whether to leave it where it is. Unfortunately, I will have to have an ad bar somewhere, at least for the nonce, but if y’all have a preference as to where it goes/what it looks like, I’m happy to work with that if I can.
So, any thoughts? Banner or sidebar? Horizontal or vertical? Let me know.
I’ve (re-)discovered a few things over the course of the recent Days Of Rage. Some of them are great!
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a lonely girl in possession of a library card must be in want of a twin. The child who spends a lot of time in books also spends …
Sidebar always seems preferrable to me. Although I couldn’t tell you why.
Hi Sars,
DEFINITELY sidebar… there’s already a bunch of extra space there whereas putting it on the top just pushes everything down…
Le sidebar.
Yah, I vote sidebar. For everyone who isn’t running at 640×480 (i.e. most people) sidebar is less intrusive.
Vertical on the sidebar, definitely.
my vote is for sidebar, too. on a side note, HEE! for the ad for vine plants. way to pick relevant keywords!
Sidebar, s’il vous plait.
Well, I didn’t notice the ad on top until you pointed it out. So on top doesn’t bother me (but it may annoy the ad guys that I didnt’ notice it).
Definitely vertically on the sidebar.
I also vote for sidebar, but honestly the current one at the top is not that intrusive either. I didn’t even notice it until I read this!
I’d vote right sidebar… you almost learn to just not see them, over there :)
I’ve gotta say I like it at the top the best. To me, the sidebar says “content,” whereas the top is less unobtrusive.
Tomato as the entree, ads on the side.
Sidebar, por favor.
@Kristen – I see your vine ad & raise you ONE NEW PIMP (That’s the other ad I see! WTH??? Hahaha!)
I like it on top. Those are some tee-tiny ads!
Sidebar, below your categories but above your blogroll/tag cloud/whatnots. That way it’s minimally intrusive, but harder for readers to completely ignore. (I probably shouldn’t advocate that position as a reader, huh? Doh.)
If it keeps Tomato Nation going, I don’t care if I have to scroll down two screens worth to get past the ads.
Leave it at the top – I didn’t notice it until I read this and had to scroll back up to see it. Sorry ad guys!
If it’s a side bar then I will always see it at my peripheral vision as I try to focus on the content which I find very disruptive. Especially if they blink – just say no to the blinking ads!
Sidebar, please!
I vote for sidebar (left side) or bottom… can you do bottom?
I agree with the few Topsiders here… I hardly noticed the ads where they are on top. I think sidebar makes it look too much like that’s a list of Sars’ for links and articles and what not. At the top the ads are out of the way and you know that everything below that is all Tomato!
I agree with the minority – the top is easier to ignore! Sidebars are constant peripheral annoyance.
I vote for sidebar! Your header should be at the top.
i really don’t think it matters too much; we come to here to read your writing, not to pick on design features.
also, i’ve never heard the expression ‘for the nonce’ before. what does it mean? in England, ‘nonce’ is slang for a paedophile, so i’m interested to see what it means in the US!
i didn’t even notice it on the top til you mentioned it! i agree that i find side ads more obvious, but whatever works, works. not a biggie either way.
Am I the only one who doesn’t see the ad bar at all, top or side?
“For the nonce” means “for right now.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonce
I’d actually say banner and put it between
1) the prev/next links and the post title
2) The end of the post and the start of the comments.
Yes, two places.
I see nothing wrong with multiple ads on a page, if done semi tastefully.
I vote sidebar.
Apparently, using heat imaging patterns of eye movements, researchers have shown that people scan webpages in the image of a capital F. BUT, they rarely look over to the hard left, instead scanning in the middle, and as a result, often miss navigation bars on the far left.
So, if you’re looking for it to be unobtrustive …
Hi! My vote is for sidebar… And yes, I do see the ad– at the very top of my screen, where I’d vastly prefer to see the big red and gold ‘Tomato Nation’ banner, so yes, make like a lawyer and sidebar it.
I vote sidebar, just because it makes your header look a tiny bit less snazzy on top. But I didn’t notice it at first, so either way…(I got “gifts for your parents” and “wedding hair short”)
I didn’t even notice it at the top until you mentioned it, so…
I vote top!
I’m just amused by the ad for an electronic cigarette. It sounds…confusing.
–Am I the only one who doesn’t see the ad bar at all, top or side?
Heidi, I don’t see it at all either.
heidi – you’re not the only one. I don’t see an ad at all.
I am in the minority – I like it at the top. It’s really easy to ignore that way.
I like the top. I didnt notice it at first either.
I prefer sidebar ads as well, for every reason stated above.
Nonce! NONCENONCENONCE.
Just a fun word. Nonnnnnnce.
pretending i know anything – commence… on the top seems less intrusive to me – i tend to ignore anything above content – and for your site, this probably doesn’t matter since all the new info is on top anyway, but it does push your fold line – if you want someone to scan quickly, having it on top pushes more stuff below the fold, and less likely to be seen…
so – i guess i vote for on top…
Top, please.
I never look at the top of sites, so I vote with the minority top. I just went vertical with my monitor, too, so I’m horizontally hurtin’.
Another vote for sidebar.
I change my mind. After two days of it being on the top, it’s really unobtrusive. I say leave it where it is.
Didn’t even notice. Sidebar would be my vote though, re the F-pattern our eyes follow.
Now that I know there IS one, I’ll try to click through for you. Probably won’t buy anything (admin’s salary and all), but the clicks count, right?
I think it’ll stay on top for right now, but may move around just to keep things interesting. Well, “interesting.”
Anyone getting dirty/NSFW ads should let me know via email — bunting at tomatonation dot com.
Top! As many others stated, I didn’t notice it until you brought it to my attention. Why move it to a more conspicuous place? Kapiche? heh