March 18, 2013

Book Blogger Confessions: Blog Design Edition

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers "confess" and vent about blogging-related topics. This meme is hosted by Midnyte Reader and For What It's Worth. So click on the link(s), grab the logo and jump right in! Let's get to know each other a little better :).


March 18 Question: What is important in design for the blogs you follow? What features/elements do you appreciate? What are big turn offs?

IRL, I love both black and strong colours. But they don't often translate well on a web page. There has to be a balance of sorts. One thing I can't stand are clashing colours...or colours that are too similar to one another, so that sometimes you have to squint or to highlight the words in order to read. Also, I refuse to read anything in very small fonts - I don't even make the effort.
I like well organized things. A review blog may be an excellent chance to discover new books and writers...so I like it when the blogger - besides listing books and/or authors - provides an overview of the different genres featured in her/his blog, with links to the pertaining reviews. I did it myself on here - hope it helps!
My firm belief is that anyone should be able to comment, regardless of the type of her/his account. Even those who don't have one, or choose not to use it and prefer to comment with their name only. Since comments can be moderated, I don't see a problem with that. And of course, unless you get a hundred comments a day, it would be polite to acknowledge said comments. If one doesn't, I usually don't come back, even if the blog really interests me.

It's your turn! Please remember this is not a place for bashing or pointing your finger at other bloggers - other than that, you're welcome to share anything :).

14 comments:

  1. You make a really good point about acknowledging comments. That's really important to me to. I don't really care if you comment back on your own blog or if you stop by my blog or if you tweet me back, just in some way acknowledge that you appreciate the comments (unless like you pointed out you get a bazillion comments a day).

    Also - small fonts make me sad.

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    1. Yes, one feels so neglected if her/his comments are not acknowledged in any way. Even a simple "thank you" makes all the difference. I don't mind having to wait for some days - we all have our offline lives to take care of - as long as the blogger comes back with a reply...even a short one.

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  2. I agree about comments and replying to all those visitors that come to the blog. Interaction makes it important with having followers.

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    1. It's so frustrating when one only has a limited number of comment options. Like with the Wordpress blogs, for example - they won't let a Google user comment.
      Also, like you said, interaction is a crucial point. And a lot of fun too!

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  3. Good point. Organization is important.

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    1. You seem to have a very neat blog yourself :) - it's easy to find anything. I'll explore it ASAP. Thanks for commenting!

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  4. I love when people add links to their reviews. At the very least a book link. I've noticed that a lot of blogs aren't doing that anymore and I have to actually search for the book myself!!! Horrors!! lol I'm lazy hehe

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    1. Oops - you know, I thought it was enough to post the blurb for the books, but you made me realise that a Goodreads/Amazon link wouldn't hurt *blushes and ducks*. I'm going to add links myself from now on...to the past books too. Thanks for raising my awareness! :)

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  5. I try to respond to every comment on my blog, unless it's a contest question or something. I don't know if people come back to read what I wrote back though. Oh well. I am trying to organize my review archives...it's a work in progress, lol.

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    1. I don't know if people come back to read what I wrote back though.
      Me does ;D.
      It must be though organizing archives when you already have so many posts - but I'm sure it will be rewarding in terms of response from the readers.

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  6. Roberta, genre listing is a great idea! I can honestly say that never crossed my mind before... I list them in the categories but never thought to make an archive for genres! I think I might work on that soon... i LOVE that idea! I also totally agree about the acknowledgement of comments, a lot of readers/bloggers put a great deal of time into the comment(it's specific to your post, maybe asks questions, acknowledges questions you asked) so I think to not acknowledge those great comments is a bit unappreciative! Great points !!!

    Lauren @ Lose Time Reading

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    1. Glad to be inspirational ;). I had the idea in the first place because there are some genres I'm not interested in myself, so I tend to look for specific things...
      I did notice you are very active when it comes to acknowledging comments :). It can be time-consuming at times, but after all, blogging is not only about having your own little soapbox - it's also about talking with other people and hear what they have to say and acknowledge it...

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  7. Acknowledging comments is something I've started doing more now, but it's difficult due to the speed of my internet. It can take fifteen minutes to respond to one at times!

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    1. I'm sorry to hear that Liviania. I understand your problem - and maybe there are other bloggers out there who experiment the same difficulties as you. I will keep that in mind the next time I don't get a reply!

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Welcome to Offbeat YA! I love hearing from you and always - I mean always - acknowledge your comments. This used to be a full democracy place, because anyone could comment, regardless of being a registered member of any community. Unfortunately, I had to turn off the Anonymous comment option, because I was getting too much spam that didn't get filtered. So, you’ll need to have a Google account (Gmail will suffice) in order to comment. Sorry about that. Anyway, jump right in! Come on, you know you want to...😉 And be sure to leave a link!
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