And I am willing to pay at least that much for it!
Any of you who have been bored enough to travel back to the beginnings of this blog know all about my struggles with being all-art-side-of-the-brain impaired. And the fact that I am a computer moron, which is a shame, because these magic boxes are based on logic, and I don’t know nothin’ about no logic.
I like my blog layout, don’t get me wrong. I love the clean, uncluttered look. But there are some problems with this style, or format, or whatever you call it. I have no sidebar in which to stick my many awards, or where I can put up links to my favorite follower’s blogs… (not that I play favorites, mind you)… I also chose a layout that does not allow me to put up big pictures. But the main difficulty is that if you get bored and want to look at my baby pictures or see my earlier work, I think you have to do a whole lot of scrolling down and hitting the ‘older’ post button repeatedly. Maybe you all know an easier way to do it, but I don’t.
So I am asking for your help. I need suggestions. I am not talking about catering to the masses, or changing what I do, but I wouldn’t mind making it easier for you to zoom around see what it is I am doing. I did some clever stuff in my early posts that nobody ever sees. I don’t want to start copying and pasting the old stuff to the front because that is the coward’s way out. I would rather lure you back with my creativity and strange way of looking at the world.
The other thing is my stats. I have 5,869 views. From this staggering number of hits, I managed to keep 108 followers. Now we all know I can’t do math, but even to me, this does not seem like a resounding and unqualified success. I seem to be captivating a fairly low percentage of people to stick around… (although of course my followers are the best followers in the world, and I wouldn’t trade any of you for 500 other followers. Most of my followers are even real people!)… I am most proud of the fact that I have received 1,571 comments, all of them brilliantly clever, which is more of a reflection on you than on me, I suppose. In fact, I also have 16 people who are following the comments, not my blog, so they must think you are more clever than me as well.
Obviously this low rate of returnism can’t be because I am not doing my job of being charming and irresistibly amusing. Perish the thought! So I blame it on WordPress and this hard to use format I chose… (see, I am willing to take partial responsibility)… So help me out. Give me some tech support. If nothing else it will make it easier for you to go back and see what you missed in my first, naive attempts at being a blogger, and see me as a baby, and tons of art, pictures and words that will just sit there being lonely if you don’t visit them… (You may be laughing, but someday you will be stuck at home with a bad tummy flu or a broken limb, and your cable TV will suddenly decide to act up, and you will need something to do after you finish your post)…
In exchange for your good advice, I promise to spend time reading some of your old posts, which I try to do anyway, but there is a lot going on with my brother getting married and the new band, and my final edit on my novel and a dog that gets bored when I sit at the computer and starts nuzzling my hand while I try to type clever comments.
I love you, man!
Pouring My Art Out 
pmao, thanks so much for stopping by my site and leaving a footprint. Don’t’ be afraid of the tech—courage, Grasshopper!
Tech bad… Sulk smash…
*:)First…I love pouringmyartout..as a name. Love it!!! &then the stats can be evil I do think. The longer I delve on those little graphs and numbers…the more pronounced the twitch in my left eye becomes. Which is scary…and reminds me of my nasty kindegarten teacher. Miss Twitchy eye. I will peek at those stats…but no delving*:)
Delv away… you can even delv in my old posts if you get really bored…
I just might have to!! Thanks:)) I just realized we share a love of Dotty! http:/dottyheadbanger.wordpress.com She’s the bee’s knees♥
She is my buddy… and biggest commenter.And I just made her an award.
That sounds interesting…..:))) I found her one day…and it was divine providence. I had just been given some award. I only started this thing 33 posts ago..so I was quite thrilled. I then had to nominate 6 other people. 3 were like..’groovy’…the others…well. No response. How rude! And..one even defriended me on facebook. Gasp! So, I was ready to pull my blog. To hell with it…was my thought. And then, I read Dotty, laughed my head off..and carried on with life. :)) I’ll watch for the award:)
It is in the place of honor, right on her main blog page, top right corner… the brick and sausage thing.
And just keep plugging away. History is full of geniuses who were told they were losers. I thought I would freak out when I got 100 hits.
Hello
Follow Joe Hoovers advice on the layout – essentially it is trial and error and play around with it until you are happy with it. Personally i like clean edges so thinkl your layout is cool. i am a technophobe but the Widgets page is a useful place to start.
As regarding the hits and followers – write what you want to write about – you will find like minded souls who will get what you are about and follow you. It takes a bit of time but the numbers will grow.
Thank you. That is good advice.
No worries!
I don’t know crap about tech stuff, so I am no one to help. Keep writing and reading, although I was slack myself for awhile. Whore yourself out to Reddit, StumbleUpon and such. That’s all I’ve got.
Thank you. I sell myself, but no cheaply.
I’ve had my blog almost a year and only have 169 followers. Maybe about 10 of them are consistent? Don’t worry about the numbers so much. Just keep increasing views each month and you’ll know you’re an arousing success.
Something in that last sentence seems off…
I’m glad you noticed that…
See, what it is is that you are trying to be nice and helpful and give me advice, and then you realized it would tarnish your image, and you decided to be a nutjob. You like me…. you know you do…
You’re like the insane uncle I always try to avoid but we’re roommates together in New York City and get into crazy situations every week.
We are a reality show!
Why aren’t we getting paid for this?
You could always use the sticky post feature to make older posts move to the front of the line.
You use Manifest which doesn’t really have a lot of features.
Twenty Ten is really good, but it’s the most popular, which is kind of why I stay away from it.
Inove is a good theme. It’s fairly clean and very professional looking. It has side bars.
I’m not really being much help. Everyone else seems to have given you some good suggestions.
But you instinctively recognized my fear of the ‘popular’ thing. Thanks.
You could just pick another theme.
Oh if only it were that simple…
It is, actually. You can search trough the themes and preview what your site would look like in that different format and if you like it, press install and Bob’s your uncle.
Other people suggested it, but you make it sound easy. Do not underestimate my abilities as a computer moron…
It’s as easy as “click”!
I am going to go for it. I just haven’t figured out what ‘it’ is yet.
But that was the simplest, right to the point answer. Thank you.
I liked your question and I liked all the helpful comments.
I also really like the look of your page. It IS really clean looking. Those are the ones I gravitate towards.
It seems about half the people like the look, and the other half thinks I could still be uncluttered but have my sidebar, big pictures and easy navigating. The thing is, I am terrified to actually try to switch to a new one. What if I mess everything up? When I go to the WordPress home page, I am still logged in on the old blog my daughter and I started. I can’t even get it to accept my login for this blog.
You are doing good on followers ans views. I just got my 110 and it took me 7500 views. So no worries.
Also, you might be able to keep your format but just change the numer of columns. Many of the themes give you options for the number you want
Thank you kindly.
You can create more categories to help people find older stuff and add those categories to older posts, eg, Photoshop stuff, art, or any recurring theme stuff so if people like certain stuff they can find more. I need to find a way to do that as most stuff is titled Ramblings on mine but they are not really so trying to reclassify them as some older stuff deserves a look but who is gonna go through 68 posts of rambling shit to find it. just not sure how to do it yet.
Anyway, you know I love your blog, but you can always go back easily it won’t muck anything up.
I like that part about categorizing things. I will have to try playing with that. Do I do it in mine, or do I need a new theme first?
I keep typing a reply and my laptop crashes, trade you the info if you solve that problem!
You can see any theme without confirming it, but if you haven’t already got sidebar widgets then you may not see the full effect until you add the widgets afterwards, but you can see what theme you like easily.
Go to Dashboard, then Appearance, then Themes. I filter by A-Z, and then ignore the ones that cost money, click preview and it will show you what it will look like. Don’t click backwords to go back or you will be kicked out of it entirely, on top left of the new window is a little x, click that and you will be back in the theme menus so you can try another one. When you like one just click Acivate.
You can filter them further to narow them down first by clicking filters on the front page of the themes. You can then select things like two, three columns etc so it only selects themes to choose from using that criteria which makes it a bit easier. I knew i wanted a wider type area and one sidebar and used that filter. And tried a few free ones until I got one that had more readable type than my last one which was too scrunched up.
Once a theme is activated you can go back to Dashboard, appearance and widgets to drag over the widgets you want to show in your sidebar, or whatever bar you choose. I have recent comments, recent posts, category list and blogroll (Links). I may move the Blogroll to a page next to the About page (you do this in Pages and list them there in a new page like a post) as I think mine are too far down the page now that people may not see all the other great bloggers I like.
You can select how many recent posts and recent comments you want to show, 5 or 10 etc, depending if you choose to show them anyway that is.
Doing the blogroll as a widget is the biggest pain, you have to add them using the Links section and then add new link and then cut and paste their URL in one area and then type the name of the blog, but if I did it as a Page then I can just do them on the same page without having to create a new link each time, it will just be like typing a new post. Saying that I bet there’s a quicker way of doing it, I can get the job done but I seem to go round the houses when there’s probably a quicker way!
So not too technical myself, just taken me ages through trial and error, I’ll keep an eye on your responses and hope to pick up some tips too
We all just need to help each other. But you went above and beyond. Thank you.
I tend to waffle! Someone may give you the abridged version
I love waffles. And pancakes.
Tech support is on the way. Be available between 8am and 4pm.
Oh, that’s clever…
Your site is rocking. Its the madness and free thought that makes it sweet. Structure is not who you are. At least thats what I think.
That is a very nice thing to say. I have no structure, so I just keep adding rooms to the building. I am the Winchester Mystery House of human beings.
Dad- chill out, you’re doing great. There is nothing wrong with your layout- if people get bored, they can scroll down once and see the archives of your old stuff. They just have to click on a month to see stuff from the past. People know this. They don’t have to keep scrolling down, they just have you go down to the bottom to the archives.
Also, 5,000 clicks and 100+ followers is not a low subscribe rate. 5,000 clicks are NOT 5,000 different people. It doesn’t mean 4,900 people don’t want to subscribe. 5,000 clicks are mostly by your subscribers (if you have 100 followers and have been blogging for 50 days, that’s 5,000 clicks). It doesn’t mean you aren’t retaining people- it just means your subscribers view your page often, and that you have additional traffic on top of that.
People like to help me, because I am a genial computer moron. And I get useful input. And people feel involved… because they are. It is all part of my journey. My blog is a history of me ‘not quite getting it’, misinterpreting my stats and not being able to find the right button. I have an imaginary running battle with WordPress being fought on many fronts, but most of them aren’t anything but a contrived misunderstanding on my part. The thing is, I started off being that dumb, but after I figured out the details, I still continued to run with the gag.
Dad- If you scroll down to the very bottom, there are archives. If someone is interested in reading more, it’s not hard. They just click on a month and they will be taken to the posts from the past. People know this, and it’s like this on almost any layout. You don’t have to keep scrolling down and getting more- if people get bored, they know to check out the archives of your old stuff.
Your rate of people who follow is normal. Most people who come across your blog won’t want to subscribe. If you have over 5,000 hits- those aren’t from 5,000 different people. It is a total of all of clicks from your followers and others (if you have 100 followers who check your blog every day, and you have been blogging for 50 days, that’s 5,000 views).
Chill out- you’re doing great. 100+ subscribers and 5,000 views doesn’t mean 5,000 people don’t want to subscribe. It means your 100+ subscribers have been on your blog a lot, and you have gotten a decent amount of traffic outside of subscribers.
You always cut right to the chase, don’t you? I sort of knew most of that. A friend suggested a layout that would incorporate bigger pictures. And a new look might not be so bad…{;-)
Thank Gawd for kids.
I know, right? She just knows stuff.
She’s really very sweet, just chill out Dad. You are lucky!
That’s the whole deal isn’t it? We want the world to be a better place for them.
She is graduating college in a few weeks. She is awesome. There are pictures of her in earlier posts. On the other hand we drive each other crazy because we are exactly alike… except for the being smart thing…
That answered that question, she can’t help because she’s too busy getting ready for the next part of her life.
I saw a photo of a very pretty blonde woman a while back but I assumed she was your wife.
The Jess and Mollie pictures are near each other. My wife is a lovely brunette.
Okay, I shall scroll again. I want to see all of your girls.
My wife is not in any, I don’t think. Maybe one or two very early ones. She isn’t interested in achieving fame through this medium. She declined to be interviewed.
Good for her. I admire a person who thinks her work should speak for itself!
But wait! There’s more. Maybe she’ll help you add some things from the menu to your blog. There is nothing wrong with the way it looks. I don’t like too much clutter, detracts from the real content.
I think I am torn between a new one and this one. It might be awesome. She is busy right now, and I am not very good at receiving tech support. It requires too much patience to deal with me.
*Tears* I taught him everything he knows.
You were ready to believe I was that dumb…
Ahhhh, I would still be that dumb if it wasn’t for you. But I have learned some things from my blogging buddies. I have the best, most interesting followers of all. We have, for want of a better word, a ‘relationship’… Friendship would not be too strong of a word.
Hey Jessica, today I talked to you in Facebook, text messaging, in this here blog thingy, and I sent you something by U.S. Mail. If we talk on the phone later, or send smoke signals, we may set a record or something. Nobody can say we don’t communicate!
Dear pmao,
If you click on your name on the black bar (next to the follow button), a drop down thingy says that the theme you’re using is Manifest. Click on that and it’ll take you to a WordPress page that tells you more about it.
Love Dotty xxx
You have Twenty Ten already so you don’t need to do anything about the continual scrolling.
On the left side of your dashboard there is a tab called Appearance which has something called widgets to allow you to add things to your blog. No need for thanks- I suspect a gender deficiency whereby you use the right brain/left brain thing to qualify your deficiency.
I just tell people I am special…
So wait, I already have Twenty Ten? That’s what this is?
How come advice always sounds like it is in a foreign language? I know you are trying to help, but can you phrase it like you are talking to a not overly-bright 5 year old?
This one is called Manifest…
Twenty Ten is a theme that has what is called Infinite Scroll. This means that instead of continuing to click on “older posts” it will allow people to just scroll down until they get to the bottom. It also has a widget sidebar and allows you to do Featured Images. It might be closer to what you were looking for?
As far as keeping people around…some people just don’t follow. You’re gaining followers and commenters at a great pace, you’re ahead of where we are. Hell, we just broke 100 followers last month, so I think you’re doing pretty great. Don’t expect it to just happen over night.
I can always count on you.
You are just plain nice.
Can you test a new style without causing problems? It seems like it would do weird stuff. Like one continuous page would be a lot of memory.
Well, it doesn’t load the next set of posts until you get to the bottom of what’s already there.
What I’ve done is set up a second (private) blog that I can mess around with before I make any huge changes on Snobbery. That way no one has to witness it being under construction, and if something doesn’t work/looks stupid, I can fix it before it goes live.
You don’t even need a different email address or anything, you can just start another blog from the wordpress homepage:
How do you change it over when you are done. oh wise and wonderful one?
Once you’ve fiddled with it and have it to your liking, you just make the same changes on your main blog. I keep one tab open with the fake blog that I’ve already changed so that I can refer to it when I’m making the changes on the other.
Someone told me that I already have Twenty Ten? I don’t know what this is called…
Crap, there was supposed to be an image there, but it isn’t showing up.
http://screencast.com/t/CS5Helmwknve
*Grabs a bag of popcorn and waits patiently for techies to help, inadvertently helping self at the same time*
Thanks for the much needed post!
I ask the questions no one else bothers to ask.
It may be useful to take notes here. Perhaps if I bothered to ask some of these questions I would get the answers I seek. For now, I’m going to wait patiently for a good response. 🙂
Feel free to follow my comments. You wont be alone.