Apr 7, 2010 | Reviews, Top Ten Lists
I’ve been asked by a few folks about starting a blog and making it more like a website. I don’t think the majority of you my dear readers are interested in this type of post, so I promise it won’t become a regular occurence! I just thought I’d share a sort of Top Ten for folks interested in turning their blog into something a little more like a website, a little less like every other blog on the block.  I’ll start by saying I have a longgg… way to go before I’m there, so I’m planning to point you to other websites for examples!
For those of you readers who aren’t into blogging yourselves but would like to comment on what you’re looking for in a site, I’d love some feedback! And I think the other readers would too…so speak up!
My Top Ten Tips for Making Your Blog More Like a Site
(Note: I always count down the top ten, so if you want to read the most important tips, scroll down!)
10. Skip the tag cloud. Unless you’ve got a customized, pretty tag cloud like say, the nester for example, it’s probably a good idea to skip the tag cloud. It isn’t the most attractive or functional use of space, and I don’t know that a lot of readers will peruse your posts in that format.
9. Keep your sidebar consistent. See how my sidebar over there is a big old mess? That’s a no-no. I’m working on it. If you can keep your sidebar attractive and simple, your blog feels less like a mess and more like a nice, clean, inviting space. (Homework: Check out grit and glory’s sidebar. Clean and simple. The Nester has a nice, clean sidebar, too. She’s in design, she knows what she’s doing!)
8. Customize your nav bar. See my boring old navigation bar that’s been that way ever since I started this site? If I didn’t have meals to cook, laundry and a toddler, I would’ve improved it for you a long time ago. Taking the time to customize that little bit of your site will help you stand out from the crowd. (Homework: Check out MckMama’s nav bar – the picture one. I mean she’s MckMama and she can do whatever she wants, but it’s good.)
7. Learn how to google. And google often. A lot of the things you need to know to improve your site can be found on the internet, if you spend a few minutes googling. (That’s probably how you ended up here. Well done!)
6. Consider making your home page slightly different from the page a person will view if they go directly to a particular post or any of your other site pages. Depending on the purpose of your site, this could mean your readers can enjoy a uniquely inviting home page (perhaps with teasers of full posts, for example) and choose where they want to go once they arrive. (Homework: See how Mashable’s home page invites you in with multiple posts to choose from? Teasers might be just the thing for you!)
5. This is big. That’s why it’s long. Customize your look. If your blog has the same layered, paisley, flowery background as every other Mom-blog in the blogosphere, it’s a good idea to work on customizing your site to help it stand out. Otherwise folks passing through will think it is just like every other layered, paisley Mommy blog, (Which it’s not! It’s yours!) and they won’t remember your URL and won’t come back.
If you want to get serious about your customization. You are pretty limited with what you can do to make your site unique if you are working with previously designed templates for wordpress or blogger, or if you’re not a web designer yourself. (I’m not an expert on this, but this is what I have gathered so far.)
I decided to use the Thesis Theme for wordpress, and so far I’m very glad I did. There is A LOT you can do if you upgrade to this theme to instantly customize your site. I started out with NO knowledge of website building, and have made the series of changes you’ve seen around this place to get it this far. The appearance of my site may not convince you that Thesis is worth it, but really, I’ve enjoyed figuring out how to customize using Thesis, and so far for me Thesis + knowing how to Google = serious website upgrades. They regularly upgrade and increase functionality, and the Thesis help community is also pretty outstanding. If you’re thinking about purchasing Thesis and have questions, leave a comment and I’ll try to help!
And if you do decide to purchase Thesis, please come back and click here to do so — the kickback will help support our ministry here in South Africa!
4. Come up with a good theme and URL to match. I just went with my name because I think it has a nice ring to it, and it felt right at the time. Right or wrong? I dunno. But it’s good to give your blog a name that’s easy to remember (and easy to google) to keep your fans coming back. Along these lines, you might want to consider self-hosting your blog (I use Dreamhost, for example) so that you can be www.soandso.com instead of www.soandso.wordpress.com. Because the latter feels bloggy, the former feels serious. Don’t ya think?
3. Clean up!!! A good sign of a good site is having a clean, inviting space to welcome people into. It’s kind of like going into someone’s home. If it’s too busy or too messy, you don’t really feel like staying very long. Considering my busy, messy sidebar, I’m impressed you made it to #3!! (Homework: Check out my friend Adam’s blog. He has a really clean, well-organized site that just matches and agrees with itself nicely. See? You want to come in and stick around for a while.)
2. Use GOOD pictures and graphics. This really enhances the look and feel of your site. I would strongly encourage you to obey copyright laws — don’t steal images. There are a number of good, free websites where you can find decent stock photos to go along with your posts. Honestly, if I come to a blog with a series of posts and it’s all words and no images, I feel daunted and want to move on. Images invite readers into the space and quickly grab attention.
1. Customize your header. This has to be number one! It is the first thing people are going to see when they arrive at your site. If it is boring, doesn’t have any interest, or looks like everybody else’s … well, that’s okay, but it makes it a blog and not a site. I have to mention again that thesis made it really easy for me to customize my header. I designed it myself (what do you think?) and with one upload and a bit of copying and pasting it was on board.
So, those are some basics for making your blog more like a site. Question away, feel free to disagree, and be sure to check out some of the other sites I mentioned that are WAY further along in the game than I am. 🙂
And a little more homework if you’re interested: Check out some of these awesome sites, by folks who customized using Thesis!
Can you really argue with Krispy Kreme?
Copyblogger’s site is a great example of the significant amount of customization possible with Thesis.
Serradinho’s site is also seriously customized. (And can give you lots of help if you decide to buy.)
Feb 13, 2010 | Hometastic Goodness, Reviews
Have I ever told you that I have a really great husband? My Hero Hubby is an all-around goodfella. Without the swearing. Among the many things that make him delightful is the fact that every morning, and I do mean every morning, he makes lattes. Proper lattes. Sit still for a few minutes to sip and enjoy lattes. In these days of tight finances, this is a simple pleasure we enjoy every morning. And it occurred to me that you might be blessed by me sharing this information, because you could do the same thing, and save a whole load of cash if you happen to be a Fourbucks coffee addict.
The first thing you need to know is that it is biblically very important that, if you have one, your husband should make the coffee. If you open your Bible, you’ll see that the book immediately following Philemon, just preceding James, says He brews. And that’s proof enough for me. 🙂
The second thing you need to know (and now I’m being serious) is that there are a couple of tools that will make your coffee moment an absolute pleasure. And good news, neither of them is a $500 espresso maker! The first is a stove top cafetiere. Like him:
I got him for Mark for his birthday. He is made by Bialetti. They are not paying me to write this post. If they were, it would be much, much better. (Dear Bialetti, if you want to sponsor this post, holla at your girl.) Other people make these cafetieres too. I just read lots of reviews and heard good things about this one. And I trust the Italians about a lot of things, including ice cream and coffee. They aren’t very expensive. We’ll discuss how they work in a moment.
The second tool that you might like to strap to your belt is a frother. This is not a necessity but it sure does make a difference. For Christmas I bought Mark a frother. It arrived after we had already left for South Africa. (Christmas 2008) It went back to wherever it was shipped from. I was very sad. Eventually in February 2009 it re-arrived and the frothing began. Â Since the Bialetti Cafetiere had worked nicely, I went with Bialetti again. I think the character on the front is funny. So this is her, the frother:
Sorry I forgot to take a picture without Hero Hubby’s hands in it. But you’ll see more of Frother later.
From here, you have a few basic steps to follow. HH did a bit of barista work as a jack of many trades opening Adventure Centres in the UK. So consider these instructions very professional. (giggle)
You’ll start off putting water into the bottom section of the cafetiere , not above the little steam hole you see on the side there. Next you’ll put coffee into the espresso holder in the middle of the cafetiere. How much you put depends on the strength you like it and the size cafetiere you choose. (HH puts about two heaped tablespoons.) Ours was supposed to be a six-cup model, but it seems tiny — perhaps it makes six wee espressos. Anyway, coffee and water, step one. Exhibit A:
Next you’ll screw the top on the cafetiere and sit him on a reasonably hot stove. Gas really makes this process a little smoother and faster (we discovered in Edinburgh) but our normal old stovetop plates are getting it done just fine these days.
He should percolate until you peek and see a nice dark pot of coffee happily steaming away on top. (About five minutes total.)
While you’re waiting for the percolation to take place, you can work on generating some nice milk. We have found that Long Life Fresh Milk, like the stuff that comes from Spar, is really thick and good for frothing, even when you’re not getting the full-fat stuff. I don’t actually know if they make something like that in the States. The consistency is more like soy milk I suppose. It froths better than other milk we’ve tried, but really I think you can work with whatever you’ve got.
We started out warming the milk up in the frother on the stove, which is what is supposed to happen. It worked nicely when we had a gas stove. However, now that we are working with electricity again, HH has decided his preference is to warm the milk in a pyrex measuring jug in the microwave (full power, 3 1/2 min per 500ml), and then pour it into the frother and work the magic. I suppose you can decide for yourself which method you prefer. (Note: Â HH says the frothing mechanism looked like it was going to warp when the frothing jug got so hot using an electric stove…so perhaps microwaving is the way to go unless you’re cooking with gas. 🙂 )
Once your milk has safely found its way to your frother and has arrived at a hot temperature, the little plunger that looks like the centre of a French Press Cafetiere will froth your milk to a delightful consistency, if you only commit yourself to pumping it up and down for 30 seconds or so. It’s obviously worth the work since HH is willing to do it every day.
And finally, with frothy milk and steamy espresso, you have found the moment you’ve been waiting for. Getcha a big mug so you can enjoy the magic. But first, if you are a sweet tooth like me, add your required dose of the good stuff (2 tsp of golden brown is how I roll). Then pour about a half a cup of frothy milk into each coffee mug. Next, using your best judgement, split the espresso blend between the two cups. Stir. Then add the rest of the frothy milk to the top, and spoon out some fluff so that your cup almost overfloweth. A dash of cinnamon is not a necessity at this point, but in my opinion it sure doesn’t hurt.
Here are the illustrated steps of assembly: Sugar, milk, coffee, stir, top off, and enjoy!
In case you’re wondering, HH’s mug is the “C” mug (it’s bigger) and mine is the Blackbeard’s. It’s a restaurant in my hometown and it feels a little bit like home to enjoy it every day. 🙂 If you decide to try out this delightful coffee making method and save yourself fourbucks or so, let me know!
Here are the product details in case you’re interested in trying this at home!
I don’t think Bialetti is making our particular frother anymore (at least not on Amazon.com — I bought ours in the UK at amazon.co.uk), but here are some similar ones:
Feb 1, 2010 | Reviews
Maybe you’ve already read this one. In case you haven’t, I have to share some praise with you for an awesome book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, which has, honestly, changed my life. I was challenged to the core to think about my walk with Christ and my submission and obedience to Him as my Lord. I was blessed with the reminder of how amazing, incredible, and incredibly powerful and just plain …huge… God is — and yet how beautiful it is that He wants each of us to be in an intimate relationship with Him. He wants each of us to be a part of His story.
I’ve mentioned to you before that Hero Hubby and I listen to Cornerstone Simi’s podcast regularly, and we are challenged and encouraged to live a life of faith by Francis (and other speakers) who are willing to get real, and get really challenging about living a life of faith.
In Crazy Love, Chan’s writing style — very witty, and very “real” — will draw you in to engage with his message quickly. You probably won’t want to put the book down. He begins with an awesome, fresh perspective on the greatness and majesty of our God. He then challenges us to think about our response, in light of the greatness of God. Are you assuming you’re the good soil, when perhaps you’re not? Do you fall into the ‘lukewarm’ category without realising it? Are you serving leftovers to a Holy God? Are you obssessed… Should you be? Could you be a part of the sleeping church that needs to wake up?
A few challenges that spoke to me at the core:
Most of us use “I’m waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life” as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God. (p. 169)
My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil.
Are you satisfied with being “godly enough” to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison with others? Or can you say with Paul that you “want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10)? (p. 67)
The overall theme was one that I think we as believers need to hear more and more and more often. I think we are constantly looking for milk — looking for someone to tell us what to do, to suggest some tidbit of an idea of another way to conveniently add Christ into life as we already live it. How can my life be better? What can the Lord do for me?
He has already done it all, given it all for us, and the right question is what can I do for God? This is very clearly a moment to revamp Kennedy’s famous “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country…” speech. Seriously, we need to ask not what God can do for us, but what we can do for God the God who gave His only Son for us, forgave us, and wants to give us everlasting life in Him.
Instead of the milk of “do this and do that and be more like Jesus,” the overall theme that is eternally relevant and incredibly refreshing to hear is this:
What I can say is that you must learn to listen to and obey God, especially in a society where it’s easy and expected to do what is most comfortable.
Truly, day after day, as I see how other people live in this part of the world, and remember that there is similar distress and poverty, everywhere, I realise what fullness and abundance I have in Christ — what cause I have to be content, and more than that, to be exceedingly joyful and eager to do the will of God. I highly recommend getting encouraged and challenged by the Crazy Love of God, and then living it out day after day.
xCC
Crazy Love
is available on Amazon. And it is really, really worth the price and then some. Really. {That’s an affiliate link, just so’s ya knows.}
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