For too long we’ve been using that old (but nice) standard Blogger template. It has served us well for more than two years, but it was time for a change and since some readers go with RSS feeds as opposed to actually visiting the site, I thought I would write this post so you would know to come pay us a visit. Kick the tires. Suck in all that “new blog smell”. I baked coooookieees!
As long as we’re on the topic… I don’t know what to think about RSS feeds. It’s like, going to Wolfgang Puck’s and ordering Tuna tartare on Potato Gaufrettes then asking them to throw it in a McDonalds bag to go. But… I’m as guilty as the next Illnoise er… person.
So… Something else you might notice are the added buttons, like “PEEPS” and the missing buttons like “Virtual Tip Jar”. I figured if I’m gonna be placing real ads on the left I need to stop begging for money, right? The addition of the ads will help do things like pay my graphic designer bill ,but ALSO help to promote products that I believe in. In other words, I’m actually hand picking each of the sponsors listed. These are products and / or services that I actually believe in. I hope it doesn’t have to come down to selling spots on ebay to an online gambling casino… but for August we are ok.
Now, back to PEEPS. This page, as well as the Amazon Affiliates page (under the STORE button) are works in progress. My designer asked for some info and I just dug up a handful of items so we could make our 8/1/07 deadline. I’m sorry if I missed some of my peeps (skutergruven) but over the course of the next couple of weeks I should have it straightened out. If you feel you were left out in error, send me the link via email at thescooterscoop@gmail and I’ll run it though my “PEEPS-OR-NO-INATOR 3000″ to see what it comes up with.
I hope that you like the new layout. If you have problems reading it or any feedback, send it my way. At the end of the day YOU are the ones that matter… so don’t be shy. As a matter of fact, lemme start out with a poll. What do you really think? (see below)
Thanks for coming by! We hope you’ll visit again real soon… we’ve got a new SHoOOOOW. Expect it in about a week (or so).
2. August 2007 at 5:12 pm
bout the RSS, If you don’t RSS then I can’t follow you and your site. I think that you should put adds in your RSS so the people who use RSS can help generate revenue for you.
I like the new page but i can’t stop buy to see if there is anything new so RSS is a must have.
I appreciate all of the work you do on the site,
Thanks!
2. August 2007 at 5:24 pm
Sure! And I wasn’t actually gonna get rid of RSS/ATOM… I just think it can take away from the experience. Of course, it’s a matter of opinion.
I find myself using RSS for everything (right now I’ve got 84 feeds in my Bloglines) and once in a while I’ll click to read and article on the site.
I know some people fuss with, “should I offer complete feeds, or just partial?” or “should I allow my images to be included or not”, and right now it just doesn’t seem right.
I need to figure out a way to get an accurate count of RSS reads. Right now I don’t have a clue as to how many RSS readers we get.
Thanks for the feedback David!
2. August 2007 at 8:07 pm
The new layout is nice, but I can’t seem to see any posts past the latest one without a tremendous amount of scrolling through a long and mostly blank page. I’m using WinXP with IE6. Other than that, it looks fine. I check the site nearly every day.
3. August 2007 at 4:30 am
The new look is great. I’ve got to figure out the RSS biz to see if that will let me stay connected through my work since the network filters now block all .blogspot domain names.
3. August 2007 at 5:18 am
Niiiiiccceee !! I’d say groovy, but that would tell you my age….
Nice job Steve, very easy to read!
3. August 2007 at 12:19 pm
While it looks nice
the new look is kind of a pain, too much scrolling to get to the older post.
I’ve always enjoyed the scoop but it’s kind of a pain now.
Chris in New Orleans
3. August 2007 at 1:18 pm
Heather and Chris,
I have confirmed that the issue is with IE6. It appears to be working in Firefox and Safari. I’ll be doing some debugging this morning to try to fix that IE longscroll issue.
Thanks for hangin’ in there.
steve