Saturday, March 3, 2012

I'm trying Blogger's Dynamic Templates... Again

Last October I tried Blogger's Dynamic Templates for a day or two before deciding that they simply were not ready for prime time.

I love the crisp, clean look of the Dynamic Templates, but their lack of labels/tags and access to blog archives were simply too much to overcome.

Here's how you find labels, blog archives
and subscribe gadgets.
Well, Blogger recently added some functionality to their Dynamic Templates and so I've returned to give them another shot. On the far right, you can mouse over the edge of your browser and the labels, archives and subscribe functions appear.

I know I use the search function, labels/tags and blog archives a lot on my blog, but I don't necessarily know what my readers' needs are for these kinds of gadgets.  So I'm reaching out for some feedback from you.

1. Do you like the Dynamic look of my blog or should I return to my traditional look? 
2. What functions do you use on my blog? Search, blog archives, labels... etc. 
3. Or maybe none of this matters because you view my blog via an RSS feed or mobile device...

10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I posted a comment, but it appeared twice. When I deleted one copy, the other copy also got deleted. Hum? Anyway, unless you know your blog readers know how to use the choices and actually use them, is there a need to use the dynamic templates? Before you switched to the dynamic choice, were your blog readers satisfied with the older template? I also miss the sidebars, labels, etc. that are not available with the dynamic views templates. Then again, with the dynamic views, information can be viewed in a variety of formats. Just don't think enough people yet are taking advantage of having the choice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks for the comment Judy. I've noticed that Blogger can be very buggy with comments. I appreciate you taking the effort to post your comment for a third time.

    Labels and blog archives are available on the far right. They dock and undock when you mouse over them.

    I'm unsure whether I will stick with this new look or not. I want my blog content to be easily accessible for my readers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like the look! Smart and easy on the eyes. Usually, if I am looking for a particular post on your blog, I just do a google search with your name plus the topic I am looking for (for example; Joe Bower Finland TedTalk). That usually does the trick. This format though seems easy enough to read and the tags are accessible and your pages are easy to find, and you do a pretty good job of linking to your previous posts, so your web of posts in well connected.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Craig. I too use Google to find my previous posts when I need them. I do wish the search function on the Dynamic Templates did more than search the page. It should search the entire blog's archives but it doesn't.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've found that dynamic templates are okay, but I still want to be able to customize more. For example, the labels should be available more easily and you should be able to add a custom logo. I think it works well for your blog, though. I like the clean, clear, minimalist look - sort-of fits your style and approach on this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks John. I'm still unsure. I'm not sure that the Dynamic Views allow readers to access my blog's archives well enough...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like the dynamic templates for blogs with lots of photos, minimal text, and very little depth, i.e.: not YOUR blog. I have toyed with trying the dynamic views and feel it doesn't offer enough choice. Where do all the link lists go? Where does the sidebar content go? I can see the advantages of the new look, but I prefer the older style until Blogger can give more options in the dynamic templates.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Blog search is very important. Dynamic Templates needs to have that. The search box that highlights posts in orange so you can find them by scrolling is laughable. I need a search box that returns results, you know, like Google itself works. With over a thousand posts, no one would scroll through that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. i switched to timeslide and love the array of text/posts BUT my search box does not function

    ReplyDelete