Introducing You to the New, Greener GYD Site Design

You’ve probably noticed that things look a lot different around here. If you haven’t noticed, either you’re not very observant or you’re reading this via RSS or email. If that’s the case, trust me — the new design is worth a visit. Clearly I wanted to create something that would be even more beautiful than the previous design, still built on the amazing Thesis theme framework, but there are also some functional changes that I want to point out. So if you’re done ogling, take a look at these new (or updated) features:

WHERE’S THE NAV MENU?

Personally, I think it’s in a more obvious place now than it used to be. But if you’re used to the old design and can’t find the navigation menu, it is now conveniently located under the beautiful new header

SUBSCRIBE & SOCIALIZE

I am not a fan of sidebar clutter, so even though I loved the “subscribe” and “socialize” area in the previous design, I wanted to streamline the sidebar further. So you’ll now find the subscribe links in the tabbed sidebar, along with search, categories and archives like before.  If you are a reader, but not a subscriber, now is the perfect time take a look at this new feature and click on it!

Also, the links to all my social profiles (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, etc.) are now along the right edge of your window. They will be there no matter how big or small your screen is, and no matter how far you scroll up or down the page. Cool, huh? Got that from this awesome Thesis tutorial.

ON SINGLE POSTS

• I installed the LinkWithin plugin, which suggests three relevant posts that you might be interested in at the bottom of each individual post.
• Love a post but don’t have time to comment? You can still let me know you care: Click the number or plus sign to the far right at the end of each post to tell me it struck a chord.
• I have enabled threaded comments. This means that if you DO comment, you can reply directly to any existing comment. For example, if a commenter asked how much energy is used by a standard LED light bulb and you know the answer, you can click “reply” under their comment. Your new comment will be displayed directly under the original question, no matter how many other comments have been posted.

THE NEW FOOTER

It occurred to me that noone knows who I am unless they click on the “about” page, so there’s now a small photo and intro in the footer, along with a stream of my recent tweets. Lastly, a lot of people ask me about the design of the site and what theme I’m using. So instead of saying “I designed it, silly!” and shouting “Thesis is the best theme ever created!” from the rooftops, I answered those questions in the footer.

NOW ENERGY EFFICIENT!

There had to be at least one new, overtly green feature, or I wouldn’t be me. So last, but most important, I installed another great plugin called Online Leaf, which puts the website in standby mode if you have been away from the page for a while (maybe viewing another tab, window or program). This turns the entire screen black, which requires less energy to operate on my server and less energy to display on your computer. Not a bad idea if you’re not looking at the site anyway, right? And when you’re ready to see the site again, just move your mouse over the screen and the black disappears. Coolest. Thing. Ever. I plan to install this on every site I own and any I build from now on. Just doing my part

That’s the brief overview of the changes I’ve made. I’ll probably be making some other slight alterations, like customizing the comments section, but I’ll try to keep those to a minimum. If you have a question or comment about any of the new features, or if you just want to stroke my ego a bit (who doesn’t need that once in a while, right?), feel free to leave a comment below! And if you want to hire me to do some graphic design work for you, head over to the Hibiscus Creative website.

Disclosure: I am a Thesis affiliate, mostly because I love the theme so much it almost brings me to tears. So I will earn some money if you click Thesis links anywhere on this page or this site. No matter where you go to buy it, it’s a kick-butt theme with incredible features, in my humble opinion.