Hello Everyone! I need help! Yes perhaps the professional kind but that's not why I'm here today.
I was startled to open my blog page this morning and see a message from "the cutest blog on the block" saying my template will be removed on the 23rd of July and I'd need to pick a new one! That's in two days! Actually I'm in Australia and it's already Thursday the 22nd here, and I'll be at work tomorrow when the world catches up so I need to re-design TODAY!
*Gasp* I'm so horrified! I don't know whether this counts as vanity or not but I quite liked my template. It was simple and pretty. Now it's ABANDONING me!
Then I tried to go to the cutest blog on the block's website and it won't connect. The situation was looking bleak.
UNTIL!
Tara from The Bodacious Pen sent my direction flowing to her blog post (which you can view here) on several design sites for my viewing pleasure- and a pleasure it is indeed; now my biggest problem will be picking from the massive array of templates at my disposal.
I am also contemplating a name change. When I first started blogging I wasn't sure how to go about naming the blog, I didn't really know much about the blogosphere, and the direction I wanted to go in. Now I know that it is a place for me to share my writing, share the craft of others that I love, and things that move me. I know it is NOT a place for me to whine and bitch (that's what DM's on twitter are for haha), it is a place to share positive thoughts and creativity and connect with others.
"love miss ali" came about through, obviously, my nickname: ali (I also do have friends who actually call me miss ali) and love as "love from". It is not a desperate plea for people to actually love me, which is the other way the title could be perceived and is the one thing I don't like about the title.
Given what I have said about how I'd like the blog to come across, I pose the following questions:
1) What are your views on name-changing? Have you done it?
2) How did you come up with your blog title?
3) Any thoughts on my own title? Suggestions? Ways me for to come up with a new one?
4) Any other thoughts on my blog in general, the design, theme...etc....?
love FROM miss ali xxx
Hey! I also had to change my template for the same reason. The new site I got my template from is on my blog. I think a name change sounds great...maybe you could do something that has to do with pens/wine/chocolate (I remember that being a part of your work desk)? I know it'll look beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOh, the challenge of re-design *shudders*
ReplyDeleteI've just re-designed but haven't done a name change. My blog title came to me in a brainwave. But I thought about the whole idea of writing as an adventure, and it was there.
Maybe play around with some things that make you think of writing.
As for theme and content, I tend to go for whatever my eye is drawn to first. Hope that helps.
Bit of a shock to have to re-design when you hadn't planned on it. I love your current name, sounds fresh and sweet, but if that's not what you want you should change it..:) Coming up with a blog name just happens when you think about who you are and what your blog aim is, but we often don't really know until we've been blogging awhile..:)
ReplyDeleteIt will be fun to choose a new background, and there are some great ones out there. Your current page is awesome, but change wakes up the senses. :)
ReplyDeleteMy blog used to be titled, The Silent Scribe. I posted flash fiction and opinions on popular culture - totally different than what I do now. I decided to self-title my current blog because my name is weird and I wanted folks to get used to it. And the subtitle, A Writer's Blog is clear and straightforward. Obviously, I'm not very creative and am the wrong person to ask. LOL!
thanks for the comments everyone! i guess the only limitation is my imagination!
ReplyDelete@saumya and lindsay- i am going to check your blogs out right now!
@l'aussie- thanks for the compliment! i like it too but feel i should evolve... :)
@vr barkowski - you make a good point on the name. however as mine is 'alison morris smith' it is not only long but hideously boring and predictable, which would not lend anything to my image haha
i have spotted a couple that i like, but im meant to be working and my supervisor is frowning at me- oops. will have to keep going tonight.
i think i would like to allude to the writing in a title- i think it helps when you are trying to find other writers as well as being clearer about the theme of the blog. i have the byline "following the write path" at the moment but feel it is time to be obvious!
thanks everyone!
I've changed my blog name, oh, four times? None felt right until The Bodacious Pen came to me. I actually used a generator like this one:
ReplyDeletehttp://gzzt.org/pages/weblog_name_generator.php
Not so much for a blog name, but for words that resonated with me.
Can't wait to see what you come up with! :)
oooo awesome tip! thanks tara! yes im excited now! I feel i know more about what I like to blog about, and what I am about myself so looking forward to my blogs evolution :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! I've thought about redesigning, but just don't have the time to shuffle through templates right now (when you have trouble with decisions like I do everything takes 10 times longer).
ReplyDeletei know! it takes forever! i probably wouldnt have considered a redesign for a while if it weren't for the painful template pulling! :) alright well, im off to give redesign a shot! wish me luck!
ReplyDelete