you gee ell why
Holy shit.
I just realized something.
My website is one of the ugliest things on all the Internets.
Isn’t that weird? I’ve looked at it every single day since 2001, and it just suddenly hit me this morning: I need to redesign and update the site, and I need to do it about a year ago.
So watch for some massive overhauling very, very soon.
Update: I’m not going to fill this up with stupid “bells and whistles,” as some people have feared. I’m mostly going to move some things around, optimize the site so it hopefully loads faster, and remove a lot of the visual clutter that’s all over the place right now. Don’t worry. I’m doing everything I can to ensure that it doesn’t suck.
UpdateUpdate: I also think the BlogAds have got to go. I’ve tried them out for a little while, and it just doesn’t feel right to me anymore. If I was making a huge pile of “Indecent Proposal” money with them each month, it’d be one thing . . . but I really don’t, and I think the “sell-out-ish-ness” I’m currently feeling isn’t offset by the small amount of revenue they generate. So when the current ads run out, they’ll be gone. I’m also working with my friends at igrep to get a smaller, more seamlessly-integrated search box for my site. Right now, I feel like WWdN is an explosion of advertising, and the content is struggling to get a seat at the table. The opposite should be true, and I’ll take care of that in the next week or so.
And I looked at WordPress, because it sounds like it does all the things I want to do . . . I started the “five minute” install around 10 this morning . . . and I’m still trying to make the goddamn thing work at 7:30 tonight. Which is not a comment on WordPress, at all. It’s a shining testament to how shitty my computer skills have become lately. Heh — it’s almost like my creative and techincal skills are inversely proportional to each other.
Now I have to leave and somehow make it to Hollywood for rehearsal in 4.5 minutes. Bending Spacetime is getting *really* hard, you guys.
Oh, and I keep trying to comment on my own goddamn blog, but TypeKey is acting really weird and keeps logging me out and pissing me off. So if that’s happening to anyone else, you’re not alone, and I’ll see what I can do about it.
As soon as I have time. Which I don’t. Now I have to be in Hollywood 2 minutes ago.
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It’s not ugly, it’s just…mmmmmm…unpretentious.
NOOOOOO! 😛
Its the simplicity of the site that I and I think most of yuor readers like, primarily as it makes it seem like your just some normal guy who that we know who has a blog. Don’t get all too professional on us! 😛
My humble effort is here
Ummm.. it’s a little on the homely side.
No offense.
Still good stuff though.
hmj
No! First blog redesign, then whats next?! Camwhore? AMAZON WISHLISTS?!
“You ain’t got no alibi”
/Wilcats
Careful, dude! You’re going to put yourself on the hook for an overhaul now! Pressure!
Ok, this site isn’t pretty. But it’s homey. I think it really just needs to be reorganized a bit– not necessarily overhauled. It’s not bogged down with bells and/or whistles: which is nice.
Haven’t you gotten like a ZILLION offers from peeps looking to redesign it for you as a “favor”?
‘Course you have.
I wouldn’t stress about redoing it. Writing best-sellers has GOT to be better than writing Web applications.
–AJ @ Egg Radio
Noo, don’t takes the precious from usss. The beautiful, simple preciousss!
There’s something to be said for simplicity. Then again, there’s a lot of cool stuff you can do (thining CSS), and I’m sure your coding skills have come a long way since 2001. You don’t want to get too fru-fru, though; you still want people to take you seriously. There’s a lot of ‘bells and whistles’ out there. Eh, just don’t fire the monkeys. 😉
p.s. When I try to comment from my iBook, I get DSBL blackholed, but it’ll let me post from the (Windows-driven) PC on the same connection.
Cute irony.
you should just read the RSS feed, Wil 😉 then you don’t need to care about it looking ugly or not.
Who cares?
“Substance over style any time,” I always say and your site has plenty of substance.
Methinks your time is best spent elsewhere… like maybe doing a “Stand By Me” commentary or working on a new comedy skit for your troupe or writing a fictional short story and sharing it with us or …
One can do alot of really cool things with CSS these days. I have a feeble attempt up on my website. I don’t care to mess with graphics so I don’t ever make anything that fancy. OTOH the new wordpress default theme looks really nice.
I don’t care what it looks like, I just want it to load fast on my crappy dial-up connection.
It’s a simple and clear design at the moment. My only complaint is the right-hand column is a bit graphic-heavy and takes forever to load (even on broadband!) but since I usually read you on RSS it doesn’t matter to me so much. If you want to redesign it, obviously remember the content is the most important thing.
BTW I think you’ve made the right decision about AdSense! Don’t let anyone else decide what pops up alongside your writing. If the vet’s bills are a problem, put a little ‘donate’ button on a sidebar. Your readers have been through it with you, with both Sketch and now Felix. I don’t mind helping out with the vets’ bills.
cat mojo.conf > /dev/wil
Liam
It’s functional; there’s a lot worse that it could be.
Probably some coloring and perhaps a little reorganization would enhance its impact on the eyes; but it’s really well suited to its purpose. Don’t underestimate functionality.
I will send you cookies if you change the color to something less depressing.
You know I’m not kidding.
The site’s design is very simple. And that pleases people. Your site Wil is one of the very few sites online that doesn’t require alot of eye candy to be freaking awesome.
I’d say, if you’re going to revamp it, stick with the simplistic style.
Wil — we all appreciate your non-sucking efforts. I honestly don’t think it needs much work… whatever you can do to streamline and/or make more efficient would be great, but overall, the site’s simplicity and enduring usability are its greatest assests.
(imo)
90% of your problem is the enormous, garish BlogAds. If it were me I’d replace those with AdSense stuff (and probably make more money besides… although you’d be feeding the don’t-be-evil beast.)
Excellent Smithers…. I don’t know about the “ugliest”… However, fresh looks bring fresh readers 😉 I look forward to the changes!
Wil,
I like the look of your blog. It’s simple, easy on the eye, unpretentious and not flashy…so ugly is not how I would describe it.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make it better. You seem happy tinkering around the ‘puter and creating things anyways. Sounds like a fun project. I’m sure we from the the peanut gallery will let you know if you do something really bad!
Hey Wil,
Sounds nice, an update. 🙂 I wonder why people get all scared of bells and whistles and 300k background images.. 🙂 Theres lots of gorgeous stuff to do with simple coding, that’ll keep the site fast, simple, usable all in one 🙂 I’m sure its going to rock 🙂
haha, Wil, this entry reminds me of something.
Remember when you were on TechTV, probably about a year ago now, (on TSS I believe, though, it could have been Unscrewed, i’m not sure) when you were talking about your blog with Martin Sergent. You were talking about how bad your old blog looked, and they put a graphic of your current (this one) blog on the monitor and Martin said something along the lines of, “Yeah, look at that, that’s horrible” thinking it was your old blog. Heh, sorry, bit of a tangent there.
Aaanywho, I love this design, but change can be fun. I usually can’t go a few months without changing the design of my blog. I’m amazed you’ve gone…4 years is it now?
Can’t wait to see the changes!
-cory
I’d be willing to bet you just need to make some sort of change period.
You just went through a pretty traumatic experience and sometimes people need to make some sort of change in their lives afterward. I think it gives them a sense of control over what’s happening with them.
Make whatever changes you want to the site to make you feel comfortable. We’ll all love whatever you do.
Please, for Pete’s sake, get rid of the BlogAds! My previous comment about AdSense stands.
Yes, the site might be a little simple, but that’s part of its charm. I wouldn’t be opposed to an overhaul (I do my site about once a year, but I refuse to link because at the moment it is truly U.G.L.Y) at all, but don’t lose that charm. To me it says “This is an up-front honest site and I do not hide secret disclaimers or demonic incantations in the source code.” By all means, though, throw off the chains of stagnation! New site layouts for everyone!
(You do know what you’re getting yourself into, right?) *Relives the horror of her last site overhaul*
Hey Wil..
personally, i think your site is pretty much just fine..
but if you are really looking to make some changes, i’d point you in this direction..
http://www.zeldman.com
Jeffery Zeldman is pretty much considered the godfather of webdesign..functionality being his specialty…he’s done work for Apple and Adobe if that counts for anything..
and if you need tips on any of the html markup his online mag is THE place for that sort of thing..
it’s called ‘a list apart’ and it’s the corner stone for all webdesigners..
http://www.alistapart.com/
also see
http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/158/158.css&page=0
and (of course)
http://www.dooce.com/
Hey Wil,
I can only encourge you to redesign or get a professional designer to turn your site into something that people cannot keep their eyes off nor be able to stop revisiting.
About your ads, I would only use specific ones such as ads related to movies and TV shows you yourself have been in or of course the new search engine igrep of which you have become a major player (proud of you 🙂 )
Adsense of course if good since it provides results about your content.
Glad to see you back,
Mike
Wil, I very much like you and your site, so please don’t be offended by the following, as I say it only as a suggestion: the igrep search bar at the top of your site adds a “sellout” quality, which is very unbecoming. Especially because through your writing you have shown that you’re more anti-sellout than the average guy.
Hey Wil,
I want to tell you one thing!! Your website is one of the best around. I’m not just saying that to be saying. As someone said in a previous comment, reading your site feels like reading a website of a close friend.They said something like that. My quotes are not worth 2 cents. Just to be able to read your daily updates about your life, makes my day go better. As long as this website is around, I will be to. This is one of the things I look forward to in my day. I know how you feel about not having anytime. Time left me years ago!! I don’t know how anyone else feels, but your website is great no matter what it looks like. Whatever you do or change will only make it that much better. I’m going to get off this computer now because we are having a really bad lighting storm, and my computer ain’t to far from the window. I’m afraid if I don’t get off now, the heavy lighting will off me!! Best wishes to You, Anne, and your family. All of you are in my thoughts everyday!!
I can only encourge you to redesign or get a professional designer…
We’ll give the guy points for self promotion, but the original point was NOT to be like all the other celebrity sites, so I hope you won’t take him up on it.
BTW, when I signed it, it gave my some sort of block error and I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to post a comment. Not that my comments are all that important. In fact, lately, I’ve been really pissing people off. And yet at the same time, people who I thought were ignoring me because I was too blunt or mean or whatever, are now replying to what I write.
After careful consideration (3 seconds), I’ve determined that the Universe has gone insane and there isn’t anything really wrong – everyone is just confused.
Or maybe it’s just me.
Fnord.
Wil
I hope it wasn’t partly my comment that spurred your post about change. After all who I am but some chump that has nothing better to do than read your blog. It was the first time I felt I had a comment to make (about the loss of furred loved ones) and I feel terrible that I my have offended you with my off handed comment about the look of this place. As I said this is a personal site and they can look any damn way.
That said, though, change is always good.
Peace.
I highly recommend WordPress, if you can get it up and running. It’s absolutely exquisite!
You know what is semi-annoying? When reading a blog thru bloglines, I see something like “I changed my design”, “my blog is ugly”, or something as such, and it makes me have to then actually venture over to the blog to see what it looks like. Yeah yeah, I’m whining. But your blog isn’t bad! So you made me take a peek for no reason!! LOL
(and yes, I should get outside of bloglines more and actually visit blogs)
Will, just be sure your timing is right and you have the time and creative energy to mess with it. Sure, we all need to rearrange things now and again. But it sounds like you’ve been pretty traumatized lately. How ’bout waiting till the new show is up and running and home life is settled down a bit.
Whatever you do, your site is addictive. Keep it up!
Hi Wil,
Your blog is definitely not the worst design I have ever seen before. I think you would be better served by simply tidying up your current site or checking out some of the previously recommended csszengarden stuff, it’s quite good.
If you are seriously looking into WP I would highly recommend installing the fully installed version from Alex King’s website (www.alexking.org). He has preinstalled a lot of the plugins and done most of the work for you already. But note that it is possible for people to spam your comment section with WP, right now on my own site (currently outdated since November) I have over 200 spam messages to be moderated/deleted. I know there are spam killers but I haven’t had the time to research them deeply.
Cheers and happy webredesigning (is that a word?)!
Chris
Need any help with getting all the banners to the same size Wil??..
Take a short time in Image Ready..
Cheers,
Keith
You might take a look at http://www.geeklog.net/
I’ve tried WordPress, and it really wouldn’t work for me, no matter what I did to it. Before I installed things to my site the way it is now, I worked with Geeklog and liked it a lot.
Will, you make me laugh. Did you know how funny you are? I am so glad I found you and I hope you don’t mind me visiting often. Yep, your Blog is daggy but if it had of been too professional I probably would not have stopped to read it and wouldn’t be here now. I actually know who you are now… When I first arrived I thought who is Will Wheaton? It’s all coming back to me now! Please stop by my blog for some more uninspiration at Lesley’s Life
Oh, before I go, I totally agree with cutting back on the ad’s it so distracts from you. Are you going to include more pics in your gallery? Do you know your setting yourself up for some big expectations! Not off me though, I will be happy as long as it does not take too long to load and I am able to read about your day.
So feeling bad about the comment about your site, and wasting more of my life looking at picture of your life, the bee pictures inspired me to make a honeycomb like design which I found amusing. I did it in red on black but then changed it to the purple you have here… you can check out the images on my blog http://iamlove.blogspot.com/
– and thanks Wil for spurring my creative juices. May the juices flow when you find the time to redesign.
buh-bye
Wil,
Its 1:20 am in Cleveland and I just finished putting primer on the basement walls of my 55 year old house. The previous owner hadn’t done a single coat of paint down there in 55 years (he was a NASA engineer and presumably had better worlds to worry about). But the primer is now on the walls and just the difference in what was and what can now come forth is pretty cool. Which is to say that I’ll go out on a limb and wholeheartedly agree your color scheme and layout are severaly asthetically-challenged. I totally support getting primer on the walls.
Nonetheless its 1:23 am and I still have to check in here to see if you posted before I steal 4 hours of sleep. ‘The play’s the thing’ should be your blog’s motto. In the end it doesn’t matter what this basement looks like – we all come for the company…
P.S. for those of us stuck with little or no computer savvy – anyone care to tell me what the RSS is? I know I could google it, but I’m a little sleepy now. Many thanks…
P.P.S. Hope I’m not breaking any blog-posting rules, but I have a huge radio antenna in my backyard that anyone who wants to dismantle can have. I think its mostly of historical value, but just FYI.
Wil:
You’re biggest problem is the ads. It looks like you’re giving Martha Stewart a run for her money!
PLEASE DON’T HIT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
😉
Scott
Wil:
You’re biggest problem is the ads. It looks like you’re giving Martha Stewart a run for her money!
PLEASE DON’T HIT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
😉
Scott
i’m all about the words you write here…but if change is coming…i hope there is plenty of green in the color scheme.
When I started reading your blog, I felt that you were (and still are) raising a lot of awareness about the world around us.
I think the redesigning feeling you have is just a spring cleaning bug going virtual. :p You can probably reduce some clutter or you can do what I do when I clean: reorganize the whole thing and find a place for everything! Makes things look neater and you get to keep everything (yeah pack rat that I am).
Wil,
first: the site isn’t *that* ugly….
On WordPress: if you can’t get it up and running in 5 minutes, you’re seriously doing something wrong. What more is there than setting permissions on the directories and editing the database password?
While you’re at it, have a look at http://www.b2evolution.net, WP’s twin brother. It has an antispam feature that absolutely rocks! I’ve been using it on my site for more than a year now, and I’d never go back to MT….
Cheers from germany,
Frank.
I’ve *just* successfully set up a WordPress 1.5 blog for my research. It’s not fully launched yet, but the technical stuff is done, including customization of the skin etc.
If go for WordPress and need help send me a note: reverendp[AT]gmail.com
Oh yeah, if you’d like to have a look, the current URL is http://research.funpic.de
I have set up WordPress for a couple of sites and I really like it. Version 1.5 is greatly improved over previous versions. It’s worth the effort, and the site Chris mentioned above, http://www.alexking.org, has a huge number of themes as well.Most install issues almost invariably are a problem with user rights to your database or typos in the config file. Just make sure your user has all rights to your WordPress database, and can access the database from localhost (also dont forget to rename your config file, assuming you used the sample), and double check your spelling :-p.
Add me to the list of “I use WordPress and offer my services” too. It really didn’t take long for me to get it functional, it’s the site design that takes the longest.
cheers
installing wordpress was easy, customising was not. with mt you can just output certain information to a singular file and use that file on your website, and with wordpress i just cant get that to work. I have to integrate my whole site into the wordpress theme. I dont know if that is what Wil means, but i personally find it annoying, and its one of the reasons why my current website is so fugly, because i’m still struggling with it :’) (and i seriously pay no attention to it atm)
other than that, i love the looks of the program, but its just not flexible enough…
hey wil,
look forward to the new look WWdN, can’t wait to see it.
hope you’re well, and that you made it to Hollywood on time. hope you can figure out a way to make Bending Spacetime a little easier! if i can do it, i’ll let you know!
take care
rach
Your site isn’t ugly. It’s simple and easy on the eyes. Besides, we come here for the content, not the looks. It’s your writing we enjoy! 😉 I’m sure whatever you decide to do for the “new look” will be fine.
Hope you are doing better today. I know how difficult things have been lately with Felix and all. *hugs to you and Anne*