I spent the better part of the weekend installing and customizing a new blog design.
(My apologies if you stopped by and it was either in maintenance mode or a bit quirky there for a while! I tried to make the switch on Friday night when traffic tends to be lowest.)
There are still a few kinks I'm working out and a lot more tweaks I want to make over the next few days and weeks. In other words, it's a work in progress, but I'm a fan of what Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) said:
If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.
I liked my last design but it wasn't ideal for several reasons. Also, I'm tossing around some bigger plans for the future so this is the first step in the process.
What I'm most excited about
I might expound on those later, but I will say one of the things I'm most excited about is its mobile-responsiveness.
The geek in me is downright giddy about the fact that I (or you!) can now pull up BWA on any mobile device and it automatically adjusts for an enjoyable viewing experience. That is just plain sweet. No more mobile plugins needed and no more itty bitty versions of the desktop version on mobile devices. Thank you StudioPress & Genesis for making this possible. Gotta be prepared because the world is going mobile!
Check out my last two posts about Prose to see how easy you can do this too with Genesis:
P.S. I'm always open to feedback. If you have an idea that would make your experience here at BWA easier, you can shoot me an email at AmyLynnAndrews at gmail dot com. Thanks!
Disclosure: I am compensated for purchases made via the affiliate link(s) in this post.
Your new blog looks great! It just looks so fresh. By the way, I love your blog – so much useful information, thank you.
Thank you Margaret and I'm so glad it's helpful!
I love your new blog design, clean and fresh. (and I love Prose, I use it for all my websites)
Thanks, Marlis. I agree, Prose is awesome…and so versatile, don't you think?
Hi Amy,
The new design looks great on my iPad.
You say that your traffic is lowest on Friday nights. Is this an obvious trend or just a generalization? When I look at my Analytics, I don't see any patterns. I guess this could be because of my niche, or because of my very erratic posting schedule, but I was curious if other people saw these kinds of trends.
Thanks.
I post on Mondays & Thursdays & weekly newsletter on Tuesday. I can see trends.
Lookin' good, Amy! I'm lovin' Genesis and Studio Press. Those peeps are awesome!
Agreed!! They make it so easy, don't they?
Love your new pic, by the way. You pretty thang, you. And I'm excited to have taken the plunge to Genesis with Prose last week. Love it.
Here's my question. I'm trying to merge my website (www.LaraWilliams.org) with my wordpress blog so they are more cohesive — both under the Genesis/Prose theme. I've set up my website with WordPress and am working on design. But how do I get my homepage to be more static rather than blog-like. (Kinda like yours.) Is it possible with Prose? Any tips??
Yes, that's exactly what I did–I wanted AmyLynnAndrews.com and BloggingWithAmy.com to be seamlessly integrated so I can have all my stuff in "one" place. You can easily make your main page static by going to Dashboard –> Settings –> Reading –> set your homepage to a "Static" page of your choice. I installed the same theme on both blogs and then just make the menus exactly the same, making sure the links went to the right places for each. I hope that helps! (Thanks for your encouragement, Lara.)
P.S. I wrote about it here, if you'd like to read more.
Thanks, Amy! Blessings!
Really like the new, clean, fresh and very focussed new look. It made me go and read things on the main site that I had never got to before. It's given me some new ideas already for myself and my clients. Could I offer some unsolicited but hopefully helpful feedback? There is a diagonal stripe in the green behind the top left hand panel which is a little uneasy on the eye (it makes the white type less easy to read). That's how it view on my PC in Firefox anyway.
Thank you Sally and YES! I'm always open to feedback. The green stripe…that's the one in the sidebar, right? I'm on a Mac, so this is really helpful. Thanks again Sally!
Yes in the side bar. Thanks Amy – for your generous nature and excellent information.
Love it Amy and love your new picture!! Beautiful!
Thanks so much, Cyndi.
Love your new blog theme! Very streamlined and user-friendly. And thank you for all the fantastic tips and blogging advice you offer. I'm frequently coming back to re-read old posts when I'm stumped on something I'm trying to do on my blog!
Love the new profile pic, too.
Thank you, Carol. I'm so glad this is a useful place. I hope to organize things further as time goes by!
It looks great Amy, I like the subtle background.
Only it's not coming up on my iPhone very well, I could only read the left half of the post. I'm having the same problem with my blog and prose. Haven't found a solution yet. There's a test site to see how your blog looks on various small screens http://www.studiopress.com/responsive/
Thank you Kristin! I appreciate you letting me know. I had the same issue but thought it was fixed. Back to the drawing board…
What I eventually figured out was that the posts with embedded YouTube videos were the ones causing the problem, so I added a bit of code to get iframes to adjust to 100%. I thought that was the ticket, but I see what you're saying. I just pulled up this post on my iPhone and I only see half. Argh. And the responsive test page is so helpful!
I love love love the new picture! Truly beautiful inside and out.. The new digs are awesome =) I can't wait to check it all out. Thank you very much for all your hard work, inspiration and information.
Thanks so much, Angie. So glad I can get all this info stuck in my brain written out so others can benefit as well! Thanks for hangin' out with me.
Looks beautiful, Amy! It looks so clean and neat. And I also love your new photo. I have noticed on Food Pusher that after I "enabled mobile viewing" I started getting a LOT more traffic.
Thanks Kelly. Was on your site the other day and just so you know, if we ever live in the same place again, I hereby volunteer to be your taste-tester.
That is very encouraging to hear about your experience with mobile traffic. So much surfing is done via mobile now (read one study that said it will overtake desktop internet use in 2013) so it's critical for a good user experience.
You are: amazing. Talented. Beautiful. Tall. And so kind to share your wonderful advice with us. Love love love your new site. And it looks great on my iPad!
Thank you Maggie…and you are very encouraging, plus you rock the homeschooling thing (I'm planning on using the Composers DVD we got at 2:1!!).
Amy, I use Prose, but don't know how to make it mobile using the theme. I used the plugin Problogger recommended, but I like yours better. Any suggestions?
Hi Brenda, if your Prose theme is the most updated version, I think you'll find it will automagically work if you deactivate the plugin.
Love the new look. I have no advice FOR you, but I learn plenty FROM you
Well, the fact that you are hanging out with me means a lot. Thank you Kimberly!
looks great {and I love your pic, pretty lady!!!}. Making changes to adjust fieldstonehilldesign.com to be more mobile compatible…. sigh… it is on the LIST!
Thanks, Darlene. Oh my stars, I've got the LIST too!! Mine is from here to the moon and back. We can only do what we can do, right?
One step at a time…
I love your new blog design. I try to read your emails every day. I have learned so much from you.
Thanks, Jackie. So glad it's helpful!
yes I love your style, you have a clean fun look to your work, and I really enjoy your vlogs on youtube too!
Annie
Thank you. I need to do more videos. I'd MUCH rather talk than write.
Looks beautiful!! Clean and fantastic! Gotta love Genesis & Studiopress!
Thank you and yes, totally agreed about Genesis & Studiopress!
Looks fantastic. Your new photo turned out great, you look beautiful. It is such a super model photo with your hair blowing back a bit
The white background is my favorite change.
Oh that is so funny you say that, you know why? My bangs are in the I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-them stage (cut them? grow them out?) and so when the wind kicked up a bit when we were outside, I was so grateful since otherwise those crazy bangs were falling in my face! It totally was not the plan, but hey, if I can fake a super model look, I'll take it! LOL Thanks, Angela.
Looks great, Amy! And you've given me a good idea. I've been trying to decide if/how I could combine my personal and business sites. They are slightly different audiences, but the messaging is becoming more similar as I'm evolving the content on my personal site. But using the same theme on both sites could make my brand more clear, while still providing a good funnel for each audience. Thanks!
Glad I could spark something for ya!
I love it! So clean and lovely! After you mentioned Prose in your past posts, I hurried up and got it…to add to my many other StudioPress themes, I'm a fan. A question, how did you make the past posts little boxes under the current post? Oh, will you be doing a tutorial on how to make a splash page?
I totally love your blog and how you help us with ours. Thank you!! btw..Love your pic, your Beautiful!!
kristin
LOVE the new site – so clean and organized. Gorgeous pics of you and your family! Can't wait to see what your "bigger plans" are!
Very nice, and I think the, "Warmest," look of any of the Prose sites I've seen.
It's a theme that seems to be underrepresented in portfolios-maybe it's less popular
with designers and more with do-it-yourself bloggers?
In any case, well done!
Are you moving all of your content from the old domain to the new one? bloggingwithamy.com -> amylynnandrews.com? Just checking in to make sure you've got HTTP 301 redirects in place.
I think thesis just released something similar. Too bad I'm not on Genesis I could ask you for help.
Anyway, are you actually seeing that you are truly getting a lot of mobile visitors as compared to regular computer users? I am not seeing that on my site.
I love the look Amy. This looks seamless, and beautiful. Also, your avatar looks awesome !! A few months down the line, I will start looking at rearranging the sight. For now, I'm more focused on getting the traffic. Thanks so much for you wonderful, wonderful tips!
Your new pic is beautiful!!! I've been using my smartphone more often to look up bloggers so I appreciate that your blog will be easy to read.
I'm currently working with a designer to rebrand myself (or at least my blogs) and switch me over to Genesis/Prose. Super excited! Your blog is looking awesome!
Looks awesome! OK, I have to ask: how did you get the boxes around the text on the homepage {"The Blog", "The eBook", etc.}? Is that something that the Prose theme can do?
Love the new diggs and am reading it on my iPad in my comfy bed. Looks great!! Keep up the good work.
I have become a new follower in the past two months and have used your site a lot to start my own blog. Your new website is great and I enjoyed reading 52 things about you! You have lead a fascinating life but what I most admire is your a mother to 4 children….and you write this awesome blog!?! That is just plain awesome and thanks for this great blog…I never would have ventured down this road without this as a resource. Goo luck I all you do!
Love the new digs…
This is so awesome, Amy! I'm a newbie blogger, and thanks to your tutorials and YouTube videos, I was able to decide on a blogging platform (WordPress.org), figure out how to register a domain name (through GoDaddy), obtain a web host (with BlueHost), and decide on a framework (Genesis through StudioPress), and select a theme (which happened to be Prose, too!) I'm more than happy to click through your links, by the way!
I knew that I wanted to have a self-hosted blog, and with so much to read 'out there' in the Blogosphere (not to mention, who to trust), it's sometimes hard to sift through everything without getting information-overload! Your instructions are very clear, concise, and very helpful. BTW, I really like your 'new digs', and am so happy to see that your theme is Prose (I wanted to have a simple and clean-looking blog, that's also mobile-ready…plus, I couldn't pronounce Athawaulpa either, probably mis-spelled it, too). Have a great weekend!
Hi Amy, woow it's just what im looking for. well as a newbie your tutorial really help me alot.
Jesus..! i really love it
thank you amy
Love following your blog; always inspiring! Just nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. Check it out here: http://ipinterest.me/2012/06/16/the-versatile-blogger-award/
Amy,
It's so awesome! I love it… You are such an inspiration… really! I am going to college this fall… at the ripe old age of 54 for e media and web design…. and you're one of the reasons why I knew this was the direction I wanted to go in…
Thanks for your awesome blog and all your information!!!! Always so helpful!
Carri
Looks great Amy!!! Going to go browse and I need to catch up on your Genesis posts.
Hi Amy, I just found your site through a pin on the HelloMornings board (from InspiredtoAction.com, a blog I follow). This is great timing for me, as I'm hoping to launch a blog soon! One note/question: When I opened your site, it stretched off to the right outside my browser window, but there's no scroll bar to move the page and read the rest. I had to zoom out. Weird?! I'm on Windows XP using Internet Explorer 8. Normally I'm in Firefox on my Mac, so that might look better when I try later. Anyway, I love your site already and have subscribed to your feed. Thanks!
I absolutely love the new design! It's so fresh and clean, plus it's still user friendly. I've been a long time reader and have always enjoyed your practical posts. I liked your previous design too, but this one is definitely a step up! Congrats, your hard work really paid off.
I wondered why I don't see any posts since the 13th?
Hi Amy,
You have been such a great inspiration. Your website was one thing that made me open my blog, and I am glad to tell you that I am really enjoying it, getting a moderate amount of success already, and best part is, I have made some fabulous blogger friends. A big thank you
Please accept something that I really want to give you: The Versatile Blogger Award.
http://www.thelady8home.com/2012/06/23/my-first-blogging-award/
Love it, Amy – sleek, smooth and super simple to navigate. Congrats!
Hi Amy!
Is it possible, or do I need to switch to a new theme?
Well, I followed your step-by-step to get set up with the Atahualpa theme and now I'm trying to figure out if I can salvage it, when it comes to mobile devices. It look like a tornado hit!
Thanks so much!
Me again. I have watched your videos over and over and over. Still cannot figure out HOW to MAKE the Nav bar. I keep going to menus and writing things, but nothing shows up anywhere. If i am using the lower nav bar (or at least trying to) that is the secondary bar but it's MY primary?
I have come up with what i would like written on the nav bar but how how how to get it there? In your videos, you show how prose comes up "our of the box". How the heck do you put in the search box, nav bar, and make the side bar (for a quick tid bit about me) show up only on that front page?
somehow, i got lost. will check out wordpress tutorials, too. Thanks, oh patient one. btw, do you ever sleep?
Mary
Hi Mary, I'm so sorry you're having trouble. Are you indeed using Prose? I will assume you are and answer accordingly.
OK, so you will need to go to Menus and create your menu. Then in the left column on the Menus page, you will see a spot for "Primary" and "Secondary." Select from each dropdown menu which menus you want to show up in your primary and your secondary navs respectively. Does that make sense?
Next, you need to make sure under Genesis–>Theme Settings (left column in Dashboard) that the Primary and/or Secondary Navigation checkboxes are selected. This makes the menu show up.
I hope that helps!
I thought I did that. The part that's confusing, is all those choices there. The menus I guess. I thought I was making the nav bar with : Home, Here I am, etc., but it made categories and pages and now the confusion. How do you respond to all these desperate emails? my, my….
Thanks xo