| April 20, 2009 | Posted by Martin Ralya |
My friend Darren Hardy, a professional graphic artist and web designer, just put the finishing touches on a complete Gnome Stew redesign.
In addition to the many visual changes, some more subtle than others, you can now a) actually FIND things with our new Google-powered search (go ahead, try it out!), and b) browse the archives by author.
You’ll also encounter a wider main (content) column, better balanced white space, and numerous other visual and usability changes both large and small. Our thanks to Darren for a killer redesign — he nailed it.
For posterity, here’s the old design (click for big):
We hope you like it. Let us know what you think in the comments, and if you spot a bug please tell us about it.
About Martin Ralya
A father, husband, writer, small-press publisher, RPG industry freelancer, and lifelong geek, Martin has been gaming since 1987 and GMing since 1989. He lives in Utah with his amazing wife, Alysia, their awesome daughter, Lark, and their neurotic beagle, Charlie, in a house full of books and games.
16 Responses to Fresh Stew in the Pot: Gnome Stew Redesign
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April 21, 2009 at 3:26 am - Link
great and nicely done changes. I like it
April 21, 2009 at 5:13 am - Link
Oh, man, when I saw the headline on my RSS feed I was worried, but it was for naught; Very nice!
Aaron
allgeektout.com
April 21, 2009 at 7:37 am - Link
I like it, but I think the header with the logo is a bit too big. What if the links bar moved up so the cauldron hung out over the edge a little?
April 21, 2009 at 8:19 am - Link
I love the random taglines in the header and had to refresh till I saw them all (I think).
April 21, 2009 at 9:52 am - Link
Thanks Darren– particularly for the improved search! It’s a nice look too.
April 21, 2009 at 10:00 am - Link
I love Gnome Stew, and you guys just improved it again.
Keep up the good work, and all of these tasty posts. (FUDGE too!)
Daniel
http://www.agyris.net
http://www.monstercommmute.com
April 21, 2009 at 10:10 am - Link
@valadil –
The header is vertically shorter than it was previously, even though the logo is bigger.
April 21, 2009 at 10:20 am - Link
Very nice! I think it looks fabulous, and the new functionality rocks too!
April 21, 2009 at 10:39 am - Link
Good job, Darren, Martin, and everyone. I’m addicted to the stew. Now it tastes and LOOKS good.
April 21, 2009 at 1:06 pm - Link
@valadil – Same here, I thought the header was huge.
April 21, 2009 at 2:37 pm - Link
Love it! It’s very subtle, which is a good thing.
However, there is one thing I noticed that, as an editor with the Senate of Canada, I just can’t let go of. Under “What’s Gnome Stew?”, could the description be changed to:
Written by nine veteran GMs, Gnome Stew is the most widely-read blog dedicated exclusively to game mastering.
… unless you’re also the dedicated exclusively to game mastering off the planet, which might be the case!
April 21, 2009 at 5:24 pm - Link
(Stupid 11-hour days. I curse the irony of being unable to edit my own post above. Ignore the “the” after “also”…)
*le blush*
April 21, 2009 at 11:16 pm - Link
Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad folks are enjoying the redesign so far.
I agree that it’s subtle in a lot of ways. As Yax put it in an email to me, we kept everything good about it and improved the rest.
@Rafe – I don’t know, I think I like the planet bit — it just feels right somehow.
April 22, 2009 at 2:11 pm - Link
@Martin Ralya – I know. I do, too, actually. It’s the order of the wording, but there’s no way to fix it by leaving the planet bit in without making it two sentences. I’ll live with it.
Given I just had to edit 8 pages from a non-native English-speaking senator… “on the planet” is the least of my problems! *commits seppuku with his keyboard*
May 2, 2009 at 10:39 pm - Link
I didn’t notice at first, which is a good thing. On closer inspection, the layout is cleaned up nicely. Sometimes a site does a complete visual overhaul as a way of “re-inventing itself,” as though a new stylesheet and re-arranging all of the buttons people have gotten used to is going to change the facts. And the facts are in your favour: regular posts, good content, straightforward features.
The google search is an interesting touch. I’m sure I’ll make use of it, as I’ve often typed, for example “monsters site:http://www.gnomestew.com” into google. That said, google has its limitations, and I think I’ll find more use out of the new browsing features such as the articles-by-author. When I’m looking for a new article, I tend to prefer a set of logical categories that someone has taken the time to work out. So I’m quite glad to see this. I’d also like some more use of the tagging feature. Are there any tools on the site to take advantage of it? On that note, I’ve noticed only Martin has tagged articles “gnometastic…” Are other authors tagging “gnomelicious” or other variants?
May 3, 2009 at 5:54 pm - Link
@Bercilac – Thank you, Bercilac. That’s great to hear.
I used to use Google with “site:” to find stuff on the Stew as well — a bad sign, when the site had its own search engine.
Honestly, we don’t quite know what to make of tags. We use them, but probably not as well as we could. As it stands, they’re pretty organic: click on one, and you’ll see other articles that also have that tag. But there’s no tag cloud or other interface related to them.
I use “gnometastic” on Gnome Gnews articles, when I remember to include it. There’s no rhyme or reason.