" Question "…..
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It’s a vast improvement, but it still looks like something from 1998. Text over images, particularly scrolling, is difficult to read and will put people off.
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You know, I could i have put up something that my publisher had ” Liked “, said there was nothing ‘ Hard to Read, See or put People Off ‘, this has a Background like My Wolves.I went with instead…If it is so Hard to Read put another off…Why is it that anyone is Bothering w/my post? This I’d like to know…
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I keep asking…How do I get topnotch.com, Dreams, Stolen Tears, Poetry and
Short Stories off my blog???? Distraction…Those four are, I’d like to remove em
I do not know how??? -
I’m sorry, what is it that you want removed?
(1) That “topnotch” thing next to your blog name is called a tagline (UK) or strapline (USA). Just go to your Dashboard’s sidebar > Settings > General > in the “Tagline” box, just remove the words there. Done!
(2) Those things named “Dreams” etc on your navigation menu are STATIC PAGES. It’s very easy to remove them. Just go to the Dashboard again > Pages > remove the named pages. Done!
I’m sure everybody here is very happy that you got published last year. But I’m going to put myself to the hazard and say what is really on our minds – as a published author, you don’t seem to have any inkling about what makes or breaks a writing site (which a blog IS). But that’s no criticism of you – truly not – and we’re more than happy to help in any way possible.
I’ve been in the publishing and printing business for 32 years across 8 different countries around the world, and a published author of two books. Here’s my “Immediate Action” list you should seriously consider:
(i) You chose Modularity Lite and set it to the dark theme. That’s perfectly fine and you don’t have to get another theme if dark Modularity Lite fits in with your artistic preferences. General graphic design principles tell us dark canvasses (backgrounds) are broadly speaking ambitious designs and require care to make the various design elements balance each other.
(ii) Get rid of the background picture because it’s COMPETING with the words. Alternatively, set the background picture to even DARKER so that it becomes a SUBTLE, TASTEFUL PATTERN in the background – if you like, a kind of ‘almost perceptible’ design element for visitors to your blog.
(iii) Play around with some of the settings in your Dashboard. Your ultimate aim is to get your posts to have a NARROWER width. Right now, your posts are on (what we printers say) “full out” – occupying the full width of the screen. That’s very hard to read. The rule of thumb is to set the post width to about half the screen size – but positively no more than two-thirds of the screen size – in order to maintain readability.
(iv) Think of a good, strong, vibrant tagline for your blog. Think of the tagline as your blog’s subtitle – a fish, line and sinker to hook in your visitors to stay and keep reading. For example, my own blog’s tagline is “Hearing ordinary lives talk” – visitors (it is hoped) might want to know what on earth the ordinary lives are talking about.
(v) Keep writing and keep posting on a regular basis. Comments NEVER come just because you put up a couple of posts. This isn’t Facebook. Many of us here have literally written for years before we received our first comment. Some of us who are luckier get regular comments ONLY AFTER literally HUNDREDS of regular postings. If you’re the type who’s roughly expecting instant comments, then Facebook Notes is the platform for you. Sorry to be this blunt – greatest apologies. But true fact, though.
(vi) I can’t speak for others (and I may have misunderstand you too), but if your real-life publisher has been telling you that your blog’s design elements aren’t a distraction, etc, then I’m going to have to say your publisher is taking you for a ‘design’ ride. Sorry to be this blunt (which I’m not generally).
(vii) You must write an About page to give your readers some idea of who, what, how, when, where, why about yourself. It gives a human face to your blog. How much information you want to reveal about yourself is entirely up to you. If you have no About page, 99% of the reading public visiting your blog WILL become uninterested and then disinterested. C’mon, I’ve been in the business for 32 years!
Here are two basic tradecraft items on writing blogs:
(viii) Keep up the reader’s interest! Always include minimum one illustration (photo, drawing, whatever) with each blog post. Don’t force readers to read through a sea of text (even if poetry). Even people who grew up reading real paper books are sick and tired to reading only text! True fact, that.
(ix) For long posts, always put in subheadings to break up the monotony of text. Simple as that. Keep up the reader’s interest.
(x) Give readers a choice of subscription methods. Include both email and RSS subscription. You can fish around for the settings in your Dashboard sidebar under “Settings”.
I do apologise for my tone here – but I mean well and no offence meant. All of us here congratulate you for your book being published and joining us at WordPress (even though we’re not WordPress employees!).
Please do visit our blogs for some design ideas because we truly want your blog to succeed in the best way possible with the littlest of effort.
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Lem – La
unch Thank You for your Honesty, TaNo I did not mind your Bluntness and not Trying to Feed Me a Line. I Appreciated it. :)
I will try again to remove that stuff up top. The thing is…I don’t know how it got there in the first place. Background, I will work on this and check out your Blogs as you had suggested for ideas’. I have an About Page; Can you please go up to my name press on it, there I have two pages one is under my name thee other is under WordPress, this I do not understand. If you can, I sure would Appreciate it.
Thanks Again! -
I don’t see those static pages and other stuff that you didn’t want anymore, so you’ve solved the problem already and that’s good. The background and general appearance is now a very vast and pleasing improvement, and your poetry now really stands out. Well done!
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I was hoping ” My White Wolf ” would have been okay. Yet what I’m not too pleased with is the title…It Needs to Stand Out more, I don’t know how to do this??? I am pretty much still new to the computer, I learn as I go. It has been a Long Hard Journey. I am happy that you likes what I have up now. It was your Help that got Me through those Dark Tunnels trying to Find a way Out. Lem – La`unch :) :) :)
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