A new look for WDTPRS

In the near future WDTPRS may have a new look. 

This is the direction I am leaning right now.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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40 Comments

  1. Brian Day says:

    Oooh, I like the tabs at the top. A great way to keep important topics readily available without having to scroll down to find them.

    I’ve grown accustomed to the black background, but a white background would be just fine.

  2. Mark says:

    Having redesigned sites myself, I know you may not want to hear this, but… I like your current design! For info, I really like contrast afforded by the black sidebars and header.

  3. Mark says:

    P.S. I do like the tabs too; don’t want you to think I don’t like the new design — I’m just used to the old one.

  4. Paul from Cork says:

    Go for it!

  5. Timothy James says:

    I like this, nice and neat, and the tabs at the top make important items much more accessable than the side-bar does. I think the “Introduction to the series” tab is good to have right at the top, otherwise the a newcomer will be confused as to why the internet’s most popular Catholic blog is called “What does the Prayer Really Say?”. I like the artistic use of your little winking biretta man too!

  6. Ted says:

    Nice clean look, Father! Not that the current one is bad, but the new one is brighter!

  7. David says:

    It looks great! Only the padding/margin of the picture needs ajusting.

  8. PMcGrath says:

    Don’t forget to put your pic on the sidebar!

  9. Paul Stokell says:

    Yes. This. Subito.

    Keep up the good work, Father, and Happy New Year!!

  10. Mary says:

    Tabs could be handy. Like Mark, I’m a fan of the black (and red) borders.

  11. techno_aesthete says:

    I like the new design. The only aspect I found less than optimal is the commenters\’ names in the Recent Comments list. Yellow on gray is difficult to see.

  12. Jonathan Bennett says:

    Finally! A search feature!

  13. Brian Day says:

    Yes, Keep a picture of Fr. Z at the top.

    And keep “Save the Liturgy, Save the World” too.

  14. milanta says:

    Nice, but I love the black background!

  15. Little Gal says:

    Ah…the large print in the upper right ( W D T P R S) reminds me of those charts that they use in vision exams (sorry, but that’s the first thing that I thought of).

  16. Proud Tridentine Catholic says:

    Father,
    The layout is good, but having so bright of a background could lead to eye strain and headaches. I feel that a dark background would be much better. The tabs are a good touch. This could allow you to break up the page and allow it to load faster for those with slower connections.
    Tridentine-Catholic

  17. Tim Ferguson says:

    Ah yes, Little Gal, but isn’t Fr. Z’s blog a sort of vision exam for the Church?

  18. Mark says:

    Father,

    I like the design in general; it\’s a nice improvement – save the washed-out body-text. I prefer a higher contrast for reading. A dab of color looks nice… Perhaps you could have the WDTPRS in Burgundy or Navy.

    One other suggestion is to have a single page for All your PodCatz and PrayerCatz (an archive Page for your MP3 files) in one location where one could easily download several files successively. You know why I don’t do iPod… :-)

    Overall, a clean and fresh new look.

    Bravo!

    Mark

  19. a Premonstratensian says:

    Hello Father. A little bit more colour would be nice, and I hope you will keep your picture for the folks ! Excellent work Father, though I do like the current design very much. Perhaps we could obtain a ‘Motu Proprio’ for those who prefer the old design ?? (ha, ha)

  20. Mark says:

    Like other Mark I second the suggestion for the mp3 page. Whilst I do iPod, the feeds aren’t always reliable. And yes, keep your mugshot at the top. ;-)

  21. Melody says:

    Very l337 Father, especially the biretta smilies. The tabs make the side bar more organized and accessible. However, I agree with Vincenzo’s suggestion of keeping your picture and the “Save the Liturgy…” motto near the top.

  22. Raphaela says:

    That’s a beautiful, clean design for the new layout. Go for it! My only suggestion would be to echo what some commenters have already said about the body text needing a bit more contrast for ease of reading. Apart from that, there isn’t a thing I’d change.

  23. Fr Renzo di Lorenzo says:

    Good, Fr Z, except, well, by now people know I like it black or white! It might be well to darken up the text just a bit.

    Also, for a picture of yourself which I think you should include as well… makes things more personal… why not have it alternate from you preaching to you raising up the Host after the consecration. This would teach what WDTPRS means. After all, Lex orandi…

    Thanks for continuing, Fr Z.

  24. Not Getting Creaky Just Yet says:

    May I join the group suggesting that dove-gray letters on white background is hard to read? If plain black is painful, perhaps a dark–maybe charcoal?–shade of gray or navy would do.

    OT: I live in the diocese of Brownsville and while you wouldn’t think anything at all happened last July, the new pastor has installed a pretty gold-colored framing…something…surround? on the wall around the tabernacle now and he usually says the Confiteor. Also he’s corrected the weird local tendency to stand while saying “Lord I am not worthy…” which is good. As my sweetie says, it’s getting more Catholic around here. Though my decidedly non-churchy spouse also says that if an old-style Mass should be offered in our area, we’ll go. And that was an instant response, he didn’t even think first. I think the professional liturgy-critters underestimate the degree of interest in the silent lay people’s hearts.

    Happy New Year to all. God bless you, Father.

  25. mike says:

    Bully for more Black & Red

    m

  26. RC says:

    Looks pretty good. OTOH, the clerical-black stripes are a cool motif, and maybe there’s some way to keep the color in the new design.

    The only change I’d really like to see, personally, is to drop the bells and whistles from the pages for individual entries, but keep them on the blog’s home page. Since I often read the blog from my mobile device, all those blogrolls, award buttons, and extra graphics just drive the load time and the page size up, up, up.

  27. I have made some modifications based on feedback and also gotten a few more widgets to work.


     

  28. jacobus says:

    Father, were I you, I would not change much at all. Currently, the layout of the blog is very distinctive while the proposed one is very generic. I do think that the addition of a third column on the right side would be beneficial. Maybe blog related things could be put on the right while more general information: links, pages, references, &c could be put on the left.

  29. Fr Renzo di Lorenzo says:

    How about a “people now on line” counter? Even within the individual posts.

  30. Mark says:

    Oooh. I love the ‘new’ new design, Father! Very ‘black and red’! :-D

  31. tgliang says:

    On either design, Fr. Z, one may obtain a 2-column representation of your posts and others’ by doing a selective copy and paste and transferring it to a word processor. While there, one may print it out in a 2-column newspaper format, which is easier on one’s eyes. One can also read faster! The word processor can automatically wrap text around pictures, and the pictures are put neatly in the new format.

    Tom L

  32. Cristhian says:

    is pretty cool but keep the picture or chage to another one

  33. Derik Castillo says:

    Dear Fr. Z.
    Happy new Year!

    That search box will be used a lot. Thanks for
    that.

  34. Dear Fr. Z,

    May the joy of worshipping the new Born King, in loving devotion to His All holy Mother, and all the Angels and Saints bring you and, all who learn from your instruction, find this New Year the fulfillment for all that leads you closer to the Lord. Please pray for this sinner.

  35. Ann Koch says:

    I like the current and I like both the updated possibilities. What is important is that the quality content remains, especially the audio of the prayers!

    I come online to read sense and this is where I find it.

    Happy and Blessed New Year!

  36. RC says:

    That last screen image looked really good. It was rather big, though, so I hope you’ll check the new design on a laptop with, say, a 12-inch screen.

  37. Gretchen says:

    I too prefer you keep a picture of yourself. And for my aging eyes, too much white is not good. God Bless all you do Father Z.

  38. I meant I like the first illustration: white and light grey. And I agree with keeping that picture of yourself.

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