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Tiny Tyger, Baby Bear and Me: Where Am I Going Wrong (or Right)?

Saturday 31 October 2015

Where Am I Going Wrong (or Right)?

Edit:  Thank you for all the responses and I have made a few changes accordingly.  If you would still like to comment you can give feedback on the current colours/background.

I was really pleased with last week's post where I interviewed my Aspie sister on what it's like to have ASD and her experience of meltdowns.  I was unsure how to top that this week.  A Halloween themed post?  An interview with my dyspraxic, colour blind sister?  Nah, I've decided to enlist your help instead.

At some future point I might self host my blog but for now I'm sticking with Blogger.  However, I am still a technophobe and still a bit clueless when it comes to this blogging business and I'm also hugely indecisive.  Picking what to have for lunch is often an angst-filled process so deciding on the look and content of my blog is just too much and I generally try to avoid thinking about it lest I have a break down.

It's okay, though, I've thought of a way round this!  I'll do what I often do at lunchtime and ask other people what they're planning to eat...or I'll ask other people what they think I should do with my blog (although, lunchtime is coming up so I'd be open to hearing your lunch options too).

Here we go.  I should warn you I am utterly useless when it comes to terminology for...websitey, bloggy stuff.


The Stripes

So, there should be tiger stripes down the sides of the blog.  You know, the backgroundy bit.  This is an example of my awesome MS Paint skills.  I know, I know, I said I was a technophobe then I drop this bombshell on you but I did indeed make those incredibly artistic and sophisticated stripes all by myself.

I actually quite like the stripes.  They fit with the blog name, they're kind of unpretentious, fun and childlike.  I don't like the fact they're not very symmetrical and sort of cut off at the right hand side but I'm not sure if that's dependent on the device you access the blog from and I'm sure it's fixable if I really put my mind to it.

Anyway, whilst I quite like them I'm open to other suggestions.  Or open to the idea of keeping stripes and making them a little more...realistic.  What are your thoughts?


The Horrid Colour Scheme

It's very...brown.  I think pretty much all other blogs I read have white behind the text and on the side bit where all the stuff about Facebook and Twitter go.  I have brown.

It's left over from when I first made the blog and didn't have the stripes and it looked a bit different (not very different, granted, because...all that stuff I said about decisiveness).  I did ask what people thought of the brown on my Facebook page and a couple of people said they liked it but this was going back to when I only had a few page likes - pretty much exclusively friends and family - as opposed to the still fewer than 100 many, many I have now.  White would mean I wouldn't have that annoying white border around photos and badges and...I want to say widgets or something (the Facebook and Twitter bits on the right...or, at least, on the right on a laptop or computer) but would it be too boring?

Do you like the brown with the off-white text?  This is the one thing I'm most likely to change but if it turns out everyone actually does genuinely love the brown I'd suck it up and keep it.  If not brown then what?  White?  There must be a reason it's the choice of most other bloggers out there!  Or a different colour?


Pictures

I imagine there's a way to get a photo somewhere here (other than in the actual blog posts).  Lots of other people do it.  I try to stay relatively anonymous on here because I'm writing largely about other people and predominantly about Tyger and Bear's lives so I won't put up a big picture of my face or anything.  However, I did get my lovely mum to take this photo for me to use as a profile picture for Facebook, Twitter and comments on here:


Do you think I should have this photo (or some other photo) somewhere at the top of the blog?


Content

I don't really have any hard and fast rules when it comes to the content of my blog posts.  I tend to write about ASD a lot and Tyger is often my protagonist but I also write about Bear, myself, other issues (like gender stereotypes and breastfeeding in public) and anything that happens to pop into my head.

So, if you have read a few of my posts, which do you prefer?  Is there anything you'd like me to write about more often?  Or something you'd like me to cover that I haven't written about yet?


Other Things I Don't Really Think About

Any other thoughts?  I lazily use the 'default font' on all my blog posts.  Should I pick something else (more decisions!)?  Should I add more photos to my blog posts?  Should I branch out more on social media (I know how to use Facebook and Twitter - everything else scares me but I'll give it a go if I really should)?  Does anything about my writing style really annoy you (I use parenthesis and ellipsis a lot, for one thing)?  Should I try to figure out how to have actual pages like an 'about me' section and all that jazz?  Or are there any other pieces of advice or criticism I haven't covered you'd like to throw my way?


I genuinely am - possibly foolishly - asking for honest opinions so please don't worry about offending me.  I'm not quite happy with the blog as is, which is why I'm addressing this in the first place.  I'd love answers in any form: in the comment section of this post, in the comment section on Facebook, as tweets to me on Twitter or even face to face if you're one of the lucky people who know me in real life.  Whatever's easiest for you!

*Sits back and awaits tumbleweed.*




Linked with:

Mami 2 Five

My Random Musings

Mummascribbles

A Bit Of Everything

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21 Comments:

At 2 November 2015 at 06:55 , Blogger jeremy@thirstydaddy said...

I don't mind the brown. It makes your blog look a little different than everyone else. I go through this with my blog all the time also, but I can never find anything that I like better

 
At 3 November 2015 at 06:52 , Blogger Morgan Prince said...

Funnily enough I have just started a series of posts about how to customise your Blogger blog!

But anyway... I'll be honest, I'm not keen on the brown.

I think the problem is that after a while my eyes strain to see the white/pale text on a dark background. I wear glasses and my eyes are very sensitive so something like this can turn me off a blog. I much prefer a lighter background (doesn't have to be white) and darker text (doesn't have to be black - in fact better not to be black).

As for your stripes... I like them, but you could perhaps have them closer together so they don't quite look as large. I'm using an iMac and they're largely spaced so I don't quite get the 'tiger' look. Perhpaps you could try a softer shade of tigery colours?

I am no expert - believe me! I have had my fair share of blogger mishaps. But I've been blogging for almost four years and have learnt a thing or two. I do know there's a way to remove the white outline from your photos if that's what you wanted to do. :)

I actually LOVE blogger - although it can be restrictive you have no hassles to do with hosting or down-time.

Sorry for the epic reply. :)
#abitofeverything

 
At 3 November 2015 at 12:41 , Blogger Unknown said...

I don't like the brown — sorry!! ;) You *could* go with black to match the stripes — or be really daring and move away to a lighter background with darker font. A lot of people use this because it doesn't strain the eyes as much as having it in reverse.
I'd probably go with the tiger stripes on the heading, if I were you... but I'm a designer so I guess it's easy for me to flippantly mention that!! Regardless of what your blog looks like, the content is fab — I LOVE your writing :) Thanks so much for linking up with us on #TwinklyTuesday

 
At 3 November 2015 at 15:31 , Blogger Unknown said...

You're brave :-) i actually like it and the thought you've put into it. I think the stripes could be closer together as on my ipad they're I can only see 2 dark ones on the screen, so if they were closer it might be more tiger-y... The font is good the way it is - simple fonts work better and are clear to read. #sundaystars

 
At 4 November 2015 at 04:02 , Blogger Unknown said...

I don't have much to offer as I am a technophobe myself myself. I quite like your brown and stripes though as I think it fits in with your theme. But yes the white font does "bleed" for me after a while as I wear glasses as well and find it a bit hard to focus. Good luck! Hope to see you again at #abitofeverything

 
At 4 November 2015 at 06:15 , Blogger Charlotte said...

I'm not that great at other techy things, I think the brown is different but still readable and goes with your current themey stripes. As for the stripes, I think they are cool, maybe you could make them more stripey (i wouldn't know how to) you could always make them using word instead so they have cleaner lines (thats what I do because i'm not very good at paint but it does take longer to create images) I think your blog is great so far though and has a personal touch to it so try to keep that when thinking about changes :) #abitofeverything

 
At 4 November 2015 at 07:53 , Blogger thisiswhereitisat said...

I am not.verytechie either, I like the brown though X

 
At 4 November 2015 at 14:03 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Haha. I'm just so indecisive!

 
At 4 November 2015 at 14:06 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Don't apologise; epic replies always welcome! I think I will ditch the brown. It feels right. I've already changed the stripes after some of the comments so hopefully they'll show up as tiger stripes a little better now as they're closer together (and more wibbly and fancy...sort of).

I'll need to check out your posts about customising blogger blogs!

 
At 4 November 2015 at 14:08 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Please don't apologise! I asked and I wouldn't have done so in the first place if I wasn't already really iffy about it.

I think I will get rid of the brown. I might go for a light colour with dark brown text instead...decisions, decisions!

 
At 4 November 2015 at 14:09 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Thanks. I have now changed the stripes due to the comments like yours saying they could do with being closer together (have also made them curvier) so hopefully that works better.

 
At 4 November 2015 at 14:29 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Okay, I think I'll opt for a dark text on light since it does seem to be an issue for some people. It's been really handy getting feedback.

 
At 4 November 2015 at 14:31 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Thanks. Since the general consensus seems to be to keep the stripes but have more of them, I've got on and changed that. Hopefully it'll go down well.

 
At 5 November 2015 at 03:24 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not a brown fan in general but I do think it sort of fits in with the theme of your blog. I'd maybe go with a lighter brown though, see what it looks like.

Def. have a picture up on the top right hand side. It also helps to have the same picture on your twitter, facebook and instagram so people start to associate that picture with your blog.

That's just my two cents. Good luck with it x

 
At 5 November 2015 at 05:40 , Blogger Tubbs said...

I was reading this in the office - during my lunch break! - and my boss commented that your colour scheme was bold.

I'm a great believer that as long as your blog is readable on a PC, phone or tablet then the colour scheme is down to you. As long as you're happy with it and the content, then keep doing what you're doing.

 
At 7 November 2015 at 12:57 , Blogger Unknown said...

As you say you have made some changes I imagine you got rid of the brown background and went for white, which I think is a great move! I personally find it really hard to read light text on a dark background and think it always looks better the other way round! I like the stripes though they are individual to you and as you say go with the name! I think it's a good idea to ask for feedback, think we all get a bit bored looking at our own blogs all the time don't we! Thanks for linking to #sundaystars x Julia @ Rainbeaubelle

 
At 11 November 2015 at 06:22 , Blogger Morgan Prince said...

Really liking the new look so far. The brown text on white background is much better. So is the tigery background too. Very nice! :)

Just a heads up, and don't feel like you have to look, but I recently posted about creating your header using Canva. ;)

 
At 11 November 2015 at 06:46 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Thanks. I went with the picture thing and have changed to brown text on white.

 
At 11 November 2015 at 06:47 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

A few people said they found it a bit hard to read so I've gone for brown text on white, instead. Hopefully, the new stripes will give some boldness still!

 
At 11 November 2015 at 06:50 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Thank you. Yes, I got rid of the brown as quite a few people - like you - said they struggle with light text on dark. I just thought if I wasn't keen on the look, chances were others weren't either. Right now, I quite like the changes.

 
At 11 November 2015 at 06:51 , Blogger Lady Nym said...

Thank you! I quite like it (certainly much more than before). I think I'll check it out so thanks for the heads up.

 

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