I screwed around with the site layout

January 13, 2008

There’s been a couple of things about the design that have been bugging me (and some that have been bugging the Chef), so I tweaked some stuff today. Feedback is appreciated, because honestly, I know the site could be better, but I’ve stared at it for so long I just don’t know how.

So here’s what’s new:

Recent comments now shown in the sidebar. I’ve seen this used fairly successfully on a couple of blogs (fairly successfully meaning I started paying attention to the feature). Considering that we occasionally comment on old articles, it makes it look like there’s actually activity on the site.
Sidebar sections shuffled around a bit. “The Menu” seems a bit more important for newer visitors than “Fresh Meat” does, so I figured it needed to go first. (I’d love to know what some newer visitors actually think about this, though.)
Fresh Meat and Chef’s Specials now show 3 items each. 10 items apiece was a bit much.
Replaced logo with Chad’s new one.
User profiles now show recent comments. I think it adds a little more personality to your user profile, and again, it actually shows activity on the site. If there’s any other features you want in your profile, we’re all ears. Can’t guarantee we’ll add anything, but we’d love to know what you think.
Admin profiles now show only 5 articles which can be paged. Showing every article was fine at launch, but with 45+ articles on the site written by two people, it’s just ludicrous.
Replaced the names in the footer with a “Cast and Crew” page. I really don’t like my name being on every page, and at the same time, it’d be nice to give this site more of a personal touch.

For those that use them, we’ve also got several RSS feeds available:

For what it’s worth, here’s a thread I posted on TVGA asking for feedback as well.