Monday 30 April 2012

A Spring Clean and a new Monthly Theme


I've made a few changes to the layout of this blog over the past day or so.  The aim is to make it easier to read, easier to navigate around and just more user-friendly.

When I started the blog, a couple of years back, I had no idea how long I'd keep it going.  What began as a record of terrain building has spread to miniature painting, battle reports, book reviews and wargames show pictures.  As I've blogged, I've tried to track everything through the topic headings on the right, but I can see that they're getting a bit long and unwieldy.

That's why I decided to give the blog an overhaul - a spring clean if you like.  A huge thank you in this regard goes to Frontline Gamer, whose excellent site had a post on blogging a week or so back.  Almost all of the ideas for spring cleaning came from him (and, as ever, any mistakes are my own!)  Thanks again, Jody!



So, what's changed?




I've broadened the width of the blog posts on the screen, and started to introduce page breaks.  Hopefully these make it easier to read the introductory paragraphs (which I am starting to add to add the posts) and to scan quickly down the blog posts to find the ones which most interest you.  I'll add page breaks to all of the blog posts in the next week or so.

I've made a list of a dozen topic headings which all the other topics will fit within.  This should be easier for you to track older posts - I know this has been an issue for a couple of you in the past.  I should have worked through this process by the end of the week, work permitting.

I've added a LinkedWithin widget to help first time readers see what else is available on the blog.  The widget is supposed to pick up consistent themes - well, I'm not quite convinced so far, but I like the feature so - what the heck, it stays for now!

Finally, onto monthly themes. I thought it would be fun to have a different background picture for each month, reflecting the theme of something I want to try and paint or build in the next 30 days.  I can change the picture as the projects (hopefully) get finished before the end of each month.  Well, that's the theory - I am sure many of you are raising an eyebrow or chuckling (or laughing loudly) already.  Like most wargamers, I have lots of plans, but the execution tends to lag behind a bit.  I'm hoping a monthly theme might help with that.  Fingers crossed!



Anyway, the first background picture is a British First World War trench map, featuring Rats' Alley  - a British trench on the Western Front.  There were a number of Rats' Alleys on the Western Front, and I doubt that any of them can have been very pleasant.  It's one of those evocative trench names which conjure up a different, now lost, world.  Fans of T.S. Eliot might well remember the trench has a starring role in The Waste Land - "I think we are in rat's alley Where the dead men lost their bones".  Grim stuff indeed, but as good a target as any for my half-finished unit of German trench raiders from Great War Miniatures.  I also thought the map was a fitting background for some more trench terrain for the game which TooFatLardies are presenting at the Battleground South wargames show in July at Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset.  I'm not sure if I can get the terrain and the trench raiders both finished by the end of May, but I'll give it a go (helped by two Bank Holidays in the UK).

Wish me luck!




26 comments:

  1. I'd keep coming to the blog regardless of luck because of the quality but it looks really good Sidney!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Fran. I really appreciate you saying that, mate!

      Delete
  2. I love the new look but I have to say it is the quality of your content that keeps me coming back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lee. I know you put a lot of thought into your blog layout, and I always think BLMA is a great site to navigate around. I'm hoping I've made a few improvements here - but thanks for coming, Lee, whatever the reason. It's always a pleasure to welcome you here!

      Delete
  3. Consider the above comments seconded!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Karitas. Now, all I need to try and do is a banner as awesome as yours, Sir!

      Delete
  4. As I said to you in my email matey, as long as you don't change your content, you'll be golden. I'm glad I could offer you a bit of helpful advice. It's looking really good so far, and it's certainly easier to navigate around now. Top marks! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Again, Jody, thank you so much for all the help so far. You've been brilliant, mate!

      Delete
  5. I'd visit this blog (as I already do), regardless of its looks. Its the quality that counts! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much! It's always a pleasure seeing you here and following your blog also!

      Delete
  6. I've got to say I thought this was a pretty special place to visit before, but I love the new ideas. I tried to keep a monthly theme this year and so far it's has been reasonably successful, but I know what in the painting queue for May and can safely say that the wheels have well and truly come off that idea! The linkwithin widget is great, I have it on mine and it definitely generates traffic. If you check the referring links at the end of the month I bet the widget will be one of the biggest sources of traffic! What is most encouraging about all this is that if you are investing time in spring cleaning then it suggests that Roundwood's World is here to stay; good news for everyone!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael. I'll be watching the widget with interest after your comment! And yes, the blog's here to stay for as long as people are reading and enjoying it!

      Delete
  7. I´ll second Thanos. If you put something up I´m more than likely to come and visit.
    I´m far too lazy to get around to making my blog tidy... :-D
    Cheers
    paul

    PS..Like the margigold gloves..but what´s the rope for?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Paul. I don't think your blog is at all untidy! It's proof of a very active mind, anyway! As for the rope, I have no idea - but it IS an odd thing to have in a cleaning bucket!

      Delete
  8. Cannot add anythung original to the previous comments, Sidney. I don't pay attention to the layout, I'm always eager to see if there's a new post. In any case, the new format looks good to me. And of course, good luck with the new project

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Benito! I think there's a lot of people like you (and indeed me) who look for content and don't worry very much about layout. But I was still curious to try a bit of a format upgrade. But no need to worry, as the content will stay the same - whether any new format helps me get things done on time is anyone's guess!!!

      Delete
  9. Well????.........basically what everybody has already said!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ray! Always great to see you here! Stay tuned as I've a feeling you'll enjoy what's coming this month, mate!

      Delete
  10. I look forward to seeing your progress with both the trench raiders and the new terrain. What will be the theme/design for the new trenches?
    - Curt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Curt. There's two main themes - the first is a double storey bunker (of the sort sometimes built by the Germans on the Siegfried Stellung - it's modelled on The Cockroft near Sint Julien near Ypres); and the second is a ruined version of the bunker. Both models are built into a section of trench which is replaceable into a terrain board. I'm also working on a dedicated unit to fit with the bunker.

      Delete
    2. That sounds brilliant! I quite like the various modules that you can 'socket' into your terrain boards - very versitile. I'm about to embark on my own Great War project and I often refer to your work for inspiration.

      BTW, the new blog reno looks very nice!

      Delete
  11. great new style!Makes for an even better gaming experience, keep the good stuff coming.

    Cheers Sander

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks just wonderful Sidney! I'd follow your blog regardless due to the excellent quality content, but a refresher always is pleasing. Well done!

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The blog is really informative. As per your quote, you have made your blog user friendly. I like to appreciate your task. Thanks for sharing.
    Cleaning Services

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...