Am I too old skool with site design?

6 replies
It seems like a lot of people like the "magazine" style site design, but I tend to favor the old-fashioned "links down the left-hand side with content on the right" style.

Do I need to get with the times? I'm intimidated by the magazine style. Is it easy to work with? Is it only for blogs or could you do a static site using it?

Love,
Shannon
#design #site #skool
  • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
    Naah. There's more than one way to cook an egg.
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  • Profile picture of the author charlesburke
    Hi Shannon,

    If you'd like to get up to speed quickly with other page layouts, run a Google search for "free templates." Then go download an armload of them, and start digging into them, finding out how they tick, what makes them work, how (and why) the designer put it together the way they did.

    Or, if you're thinking of putting up Wordpress themes, do the same thing. Then set up a "test bed" site and upload a big bunch of themes. Switch back and forth between them, checking to see what each one looks like and how it works.

    This is one of the fastest ways I know to get comfortable with the newest stuff. Just look under the hood and poke around. It gets to be fun.

    Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
    Charles
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  • Profile picture of the author Tracey_Meagher
    Originally Posted by Shannon Tani View Post

    Is it only for blogs or could you do a static site using it?
    I would hate to take on a magazine style layout in static html. I think that would be one huge nightmare!

    Using wordpress to create that layout on the other hand is very easy. The theme does all the work for you. Most come with a great set of instructions and the more up to date themes will allow you set up everything easily from a "theme admin" area.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarkH45
    If you're old school, you may want to dabble in Joomla.. it's almost like putting a static HTML site on crack.

    Personally, I like the layout you suggest especially now with all of the magazine layouts and content on the left. There's nothing wrong with doing things a little different. It makes you stand out a little more.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew G Gowans
    Originally Posted by Shannon Tani View Post

    It seems like a lot of people like the "magazine" style site design, but I tend to favor the old-fashioned "links down the left-hand side with content on the right" style.

    Do I need to get with the times? I'm intimidated by the magazine style. Is it easy to work with? Is it only for blogs or could you do a static site using it?

    Love,
    Shannon
    Hi Shannon,

    I have recently set up a number of Wordpress blogs using free magazine style templates and I have found them easy to work. The huge benefit over static websites is that all the work is done for you and you can concentrate on the important things like posting value-adding content.

    With blogs, the trick is to also include the plugins which help with your SEO.

    Like you, I also have a bunch of websites with the standard nav bar and menu down the left side with the content on the right.

    For me, the question is - are your sites working for you?

    If they are, why would you wish to change them?

    Being quite proficient with html, I have considered setting up static sites using the magazine style theme but I think it would take a considerable amount of work (unless, as suggested, free templates were available).

    Andrew G.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shannon Tani
    Thanks for the suggestions so far!

    My one static site in the non-magazine style does OK. It's about 100 pages and gets good search engine rankings, but it isn't much of a spending topic. It was more a labor of love, though there may be ways to better monetize.

    I just have several other ideas bouncing around in my head and I'm trying to think of the site layout. I like static sites because you can build, say 100 pages and feel "done" with it (of course, you can always keep adding...), but it doesn't have the pressure to keep adding the way that a blog does.

    Love,
    Shannon
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