By Hunter Wallace
As you have probably noticed, I am redesigning the website. It’s an understatement to say this was long overdue. Too much fresh content was getting pushed down the page.
This is a work in progress. I’m still figuring out the new theme. We’re going to have a lot of fun with our new categories like “cuckservatives” and “Ain’t That America.” Welcome to our new place.
Not sure I like it. Can’t please everybody I guess 😉
How about the mini-awakening we’ve seen over the last few weeks, huh!?!? Between the Confederate flag backlash and this cuckservative thing creeping into the mainstream, it’s as if racially conscious whites are peeking theirs heads outside their burrows, like “is it okay if I come out now?”
On a related note, I noticed you stopped denigrating your readership with accusations of “cowardice” every other day. I’m guessing you’re pleasantly surprised by the recent wave of momentum, eh? The usual dose of pessimism about the “movement” has been refreshingly absent.
Now all we need is a visible public figure who explicitly uses the term “white people” or “white interests” and the roof’s gonna come down… Mr. Trump is nothing if not an opportunist, and you better believe that notion is kicking around in his head.
Keep up the good work my friend.
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There are certainly better options but this is clearly an improvement and appears to be fully responsive, which is a must. The meta content in the sidebar is definitely out of hand. I’d put a categories/tag cloud in the fourth footer column where there’s some extra space and drop it in the sidebar. I’d lose the Archives widget too. The main navigation bar isn’t really suited to the way you’re using it (it’s clearly intended to be a single line only) so reorganizing your menu structure would help clean that up.
Blecch.
I agree that the sidebar is out of hand. Although, I don’t think you need to get rid of anything. Recent Comments and Recent Posts should always be visible in most cases. But when you have a large number of second and third-tier links in the sidebar, you should probably have those in collapsable widgets to keep readers from having to do any unnecessary scrolling. Also, the Categories widget should probably be above everything except the Recent Posts and Comments.
I’d be willing to bet that most of the guests on your website scroll right past that long list of links 99% of the time just to see what’s at the bottom of the page. There are some general rules I always put in place when thinking about scrolling and page size, but they might not all be applicable to this type of site.
I also agree that the main navigation needs to be restructured so that you can keep everything tidy, while still allowing users to get to a targeted category or article with no more than one or two clicks.
I used to get paid pretty good money for SEO projects and website design/maintenance. Most websites lose at least 25% of their potential traffic just from things like slow response times(whether it’s a server issue, bad coding or bloated website) and poorly structured design and user interface. Bounce rates go down dramatically and return rates go up the easier you make it for uses to interact and navigate to find what they want quickly.
How about the comments?
I don’t like the light gray color. I suppose there is away to change that or we could go back to Disqus.
I just uploaded this theme last night. We still have a long way to go with it. My biggest problem with it is the lack of the sidebar on the main page. In order to get to the sidebar, you have to click on an article.
BTW, the navigation menus are excellent. I haven’t had the time to exploit that yet, but I am going to compile a lot of stuff together like the old Carribean posts. It will be much more readable in the end.
We also need a 300 x 100 banner.
Bottom line is far too much material was getting pushed down the page on the old theme.
Too cluttered.
No! Not Disqus!
Dissident websites must avoid the temptation to rely on proprietary third-party hosting solutions for vital content. At any time, without warning or recourse, they could impose some arbitrary “community standards” faggotry which would put final control of your content in the hands of an army of Filipino schoolgirls, a la Facebook.
This way, presuming you’re doing regular proper local backups, you’re a couple hour migration process away from switching over to an overseas host if the Mormons you’re currently entrusting your site to try to pull any shenanigans. The magic underpants folks at Blue Host appear to be quite firmly committed to respecting free expression on their boxes, and the support team is so syrupy sweet it hurts.
I miss the grand old plantation house in the header. At least on the mobile version.
We need a new banner to get the plantation house back.
Here’s what I think. My first look was, not good. The large pictures on the left cover a lot of area and I don’t like scrolling articles. I’m not sure what you mean by ” In order to get to the sidebar, you have to click on an article…”
I see a side bar under the heading “Latest Posts”.
My second look I actually like it. I especially like the Latest Posts side bar. I believe it functions exactly as you say and is a great resource. The busyness on the left distracted me from the side bar.
I’m older so a lot moving pictures and busyness may be just what younger people expect. I prefer just text with lower graphics but that’s just a preference.
The more I see it the more I like it. It has a top post section that you get if you’re a first time visitor to get the main points, below that separated into categories and the side bar gives you a post by post order. It’s great!
The colors I also didn’t like at first but on second thought they’re very…crisp (maybe), clean, distinct. No mushiness which makes a good impression. No SJW beige.
Two thumbs up!
I’m getting rid of the shifting pics.
To be more specific. I really like the way it’s laid out and the “logic” and “theme” behind it. I think you’ve done a great job.
Maybe collapse the Archives widget into a dropdown menu like the Categories?
Done.
I’ve got a lot to sort out in the header, the banner image, and the background image.
I miss the Grand Old Plantation banner as someone else commented. It was beautiful and Southern best. Good luck on putting the new design together.