*michael parekh on IT*: ON WIDE OPEN VISTAS OF THE NY TIMES AND BLOGS

Monday, April 03, 2006

ON WIDE OPEN VISTAS OF THE NY TIMES AND BLOGS

"OPEN WIDE"...

Anil Dash of Six Apart, the blogging software and services company that hosts Typepad, where this blog is based, has a detailed analysis of the re-design of the New York Times web-site.

As someone who spends loads of time daily on the NY Times site, there's a lot I like about the new look, including the wide-screen presentation and the Georgia font, a Microsoft innovation, according to Robert Scoble.

What held my attention though was what Anil had to say about this "wider is better" presentation, that is apparently being used with success by many blogs based on customized versions of Movable Type, one of Six Apart's blogging software platforms. Specifically, Anil points out:

"The most prominent change is the new wide page layout, which makes great use of the expanded screen real estate that serious web geeks have available on their displays.

A lot has been written about these wider pages recently, but many of the first sites to make smart use of this kind of design have been Movable Type-powered blogs like Gawker Media’s Sploid, Paul Scrivens’ Whitespace, Kevin Cornell’s Bearskinrug, Jason Santa Maria’s blog and Khoi Vin’s Subtraction.

The additional space on the page lets the Times use large and valuable ad units online without compromising the amount of editorial information displayed."

I couldn't agree more. Now, Anil, please ask your folks at Typepad to give us regular Pro subscribers some easy-to-use templates for our humble Typepad blogs.

I'm tired of the one, two or three column design of most Typepad templates, that seem to be squeezing in on the primary content from both sides (the current template of this blog is a case in point).

Although there is a 1-column template, it doesn't allow the ability to layout the many standard components of a blog in a wide-screen manner, as seen in the customized sites referred to by Anil.

Please, allow us to live large too, just like the New York Times.

Posted at 06:27 AM in BlogBits, Media, Old Tech Used New Ways, Personal, Software, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Wished for Feature/Service | Permalink

Comments

Also, for those of us who like to have narrower browser windows for various reasons (mail sticks out from under the side of the browser, in my case, so I don't have to check it), these typepad layouts look cramped.

(One of the reasons my MT blog is in weird one-column land is also that my kitchen laptop is 800x600, and I browse on that when I'm trying to avoid thinking about work.)

Seems to be a lot of folks clamoring for TypePad features lately.

Posted by: candice | Monday, April 03, 2006 at 04:53 PM

"Now, Anil, please ask your folks at Typepad to give us regular Pro subscribers some easy-to-use templates for our humble Typepad blogs."

I'll pass it along! I would like these too, but I do think there are some options, such as the multimedia templates and the fluid designs, that accommodate a lot of what you're talking about. We're always open to more suggestions, and I'll make sure the team knows you're looking for more.

Posted by: Anil | Tuesday, April 04, 2006 at 12:41 AM

Coincidentally we launched a few weeks ago with an almost identical font; also using Movable Type. check it out: http://www.realclearpolitics.com

Posted by: Alan | Tuesday, April 04, 2006 at 10:18 AM

This is such a great resource list of Wordpress Templates. I have posted about your site several times on my blog.

No need for anyone else to keep adding to their list when you have it all.

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