Thank you for your feedback on the new design. There have been dozens of e-mails, messages, and comments regarding the new look. There have been positive reviews and justifiable criticism. I wanted to take a few minutes to address some of the most common issues people are having.
The RSS Feed Problems Are Fixed. Earlier today, the feed wasn’t working properly. Beth was kind enough to take time away from her vacation to tackle this bug. I know it impacts thousands of you, and I’m so grateful she was willing to jump right in to fix it. As of 6:00 pm Pacific Time, the feed and e-mail subscriptions are working properly, posts are displaying in their entirety and links are appearing as they should.
The Layout. Some readers are having an issue with finding some of the new posts. We moved The Workday Reading into the new box for two reasons: 1) to refocus the blog on fashion content, and 2) for aesthetics. This is something that we’re trying, and I know it’s an adjustment for readers who are used to a simple chronological design. We’re going to give people a little while to adjust, and if it doesn’t work out, we’ll change it. I don’t want aesthetics to get in the way of user experience.
Subscribing. We had a request from several readers who like to read the fashion content on the site itself but wanted to receive The Workday Reading via e-mail, like a newsletter. So we decided to give people that option. However, if you want to subscribe to every post, select the New Post Update button. This way you’ll receive all of the content including the Workday Reading via e-mail just like before.
Thank you again. After nine years, it was time for a refresh, and I want to make sure we get it right. It may take a few weeks to sort it out, but when we do, it’ll be perfect. Have a great evening.
[image found via CNTraveler]
It looks great! I bet it feels good to finally get it up and going!
This might sound odd, but as soon as the new site went up, my work’s website blocker started blocking your blog. I’m not sure if there is something living in the new code that would make a blocker start picking it up (I know nothing about blockers nor building websites in 2017). I subscribed to the emails as a workaround, but the emails don’t include links so I still can’t access the content:(
The emails should be working with links now, as well. Please let me know if they’re not.
Several readers have said that the blockers are getting them. We have a theory that it might be the subscription pop up, which we will remove in the future (but Beth is on vacation, so I’m happy to wait until she’s back). If it isn’t that, I’m not sure how we find out what’s causing it.
Thanks for fixing it Abra! You’re the best, with the best blog around
Long-time reader, occasional commenter. Take this as just one reader’s opinion and of course, it’s your blog and you should feel free to do with it what you will, but I really, really, really dislike that the posts are no longer in chronological order and that the front page is very cluttered, since the posts are sorted by topic/column title. I know FB, Instagram, and Twitter have all hopped on the non-linear-timeline bandwagon, but it adds literally nothing to the user experience (and makes it worse in a lot of ways).
I appreciate the opinion. It’s something we’re looking at. All of the posts are still chronological, the workday reading is just missing from the list.
I don’t mind the weekly reading getting its own section (especially since I sometimes want to easily look for a link from a recent edition). My only comment would be that it wasn’t immediately obvious to me that the other posts were still chronological because the posts on the top and bottom half of the site have different justifications. Switching the Ask the Edit and Follow me on Instagram boxes over to the right to match the subscription and ad box might enhance the reader experience in that respect.
Overall really happy with the changes, though. Thanks for taking so much time and care to produce such consistently wonderful content for us all.
Thanks for looking out for those of us using Feedly! Nothing frustrates me more than blogs that require you to click through to read their posts. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Amen! The blog looks beautiful, Abra. Appreciate the hard work you and Beth have put in to get it to this point. Stopping by is always a highlight of my day!
CONGRATS on the new look! I’m undergoing the same right now and know all the effort that goes into it. I love how clean and chic it looks!!
I love the new look. You clearly put a lot of time and thought into everything and it shows. Thank you for creating content I look forward to reading each day.
Hi Belle,
I am a long time reader, first time commenter. I appreciate your effort in the upgrade. I personally prefer your posts in chronological order. It looks clutter to me right now. I tend to stay away and lose interest with sites that have a non linear time line. I just don’t know where to focus!
Content wise – I love your posts and your article suggestions (links)!
There still in chrono order (except the reading). There’s an Ask Belle stuck at the bottom, we’ll be removing that just as soon as my developer is back from her trip.
Every time I visit the site, I get a popup asking me to enter my email. Is there any way to get that to go away? It’s a chore to close it literally every time I visit.
We’re working on it.
Just wanted to let you know that as of this morning (8/8) I can access the blog at my office. So whatever changes you made to address security concerns have been effective, at least for me. Thanks!
Glad to hear it, I wish I knew what we did.
I’m still being forced into caps when commenting. Could you maybe not have the subscribe window pop up every time? It’s annoying. I manage a blog, we have it set so that you get the subscribe pop up once every 30 days, it’s less intrusive. Not that you have to do what we do, just a suggestion.
It’s supposed to pop every 14 days. For some reason, that’s not working. I would just turn it off, but I don’t know how to do it myself, and my developer is on vacation.
I really enjoy your link roundups, but ever since the design change, the links don’t show up in Feedly. Is there any way you can fix this?
This should be working for all future posts. We had a snafu yesterday, and those posts didn’t get covered, but it should not be a problem going forward. If you’re still having an issue, drop me an email.
I’m also struggling to understand the redesign – if it needs a user guide, it might be a bit over-engineered. I do love your content, though, so I’ll definitely keep reading, just hoping the layout gets simplified!
Adore the new layout, Belle!
One little design thing (I always browse on mobile, so this may not be an issue on desktop): the text portion of the teaser paragraph always crops out the last word of that opening paragraph. It just strikes me as awkward to have just one unique word added to the first paragraph of the article after the jump.
Just a minor quibble! Thanks for all you do, and for taking the time to design a new layout for all of us to enjoy. Can’t wait to see what comes next.
It’s doing it online too, it’s on my list…which is becoming a scroll.
I certainly appreciate your efforts to make your blog better and more user-friendly, unfortunately this one doesn’t do it for me. I miss seeing summaries and links for workday reading without having to click through something, and I do find the homepage to be confusing and harder for me to use. I haven’t gone and click through anything since the redesign, TBH.
I’ll still visit from time to time, just not as regularly. Obviously, just one (long-time) reader’s opinion!
We’re planning changes to the design to make it more friendly. It’ll just be a week or two to get them loaded. Don’t give up on us yet.