The results are in, and despite how crappy and broken King Bill's blog was, that wind-bag of a tyrant won AGAIN!

As you can see from his bloviating Post d'Triumph, he gives Susie all the credit. I smell a bribe somewhere.

On the other hand, he does make an interesting point in all his blathering.

One might ask why I bother considering the judges' comments since blogging is a form of "personal" publishing (and shouldn't I just do what I want with my site), but the question misses the point. When designing something for publication, useability and reader satisfaction/interest are critical. If nobody likes what you write you have a problem. You also have a problem if they might like what you read but find the site design cumbersome, clumsy, or downright difficult to navigate. If nothing else, what I've learned through winning this tournament five times is a bit more about how people might perceive my blog and my writing.

When I started my first blog, I had no readers, so the only value the blog had to me was that it put my words in print. Over time, that changed. There arose also the value of bringing pleasure to people I liked. After a while it became a LOT of people, and it's now a major factor for me in the blogging experience.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still tickled to see my own words on the internet, but it's not the only factor anymore. It MATTERS to me if my site looks (or loads) like crap, because I want my friends, acquaintances, and lurkers to enjoy themselves when they stop by.

I'm sure a LOT of people are WAY ahead of my curve on this point, and think about their readership from day 1, but... well, I guess I'm just a slow learner.

Anyway, Bill's right. Sometimes being pretty is as important as being talented.

Meanwhile, I'm STILL wondering where the hell he got the 3W from

[ducks]

Posted by: Harvey at 09:22 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 346 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Actually, I really really wanted Walloworld to go down, but I had to vote my conscience...

Posted by: Susie at May 11, 2004 11:56 AM (2QGe0)

2 Now I think I'm hurt. Susie "really really" wanted me to go down? That's TWO reallys. Sheesh. I ain't feelin' much love in the room. On the other hand, bloviating? Blathering? Harvey, in the words of Sally Field, you like me! You really really like me!

Posted by: Bill Wallo at May 11, 2004 12:26 PM (u/SZs)

3 What? You have some kind of fetish for words that start with "B"? Let's just say you make it easy for me to crack wise and I appreciate it, 'cuz I need all the help I can get :-)

Posted by: Harvey at May 11, 2004 11:18 PM (ubhj8)

4 It's okay, Harvey, I understand. You don't have to say how you really feel. BTW: Since I haven't said so already, nice new digs. Loads really quickly.

Posted by: Bill Wallo at May 11, 2004 11:24 PM (RPgzk)

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This week's challenge question:

Who are you? Explain what it means to be you, and why you are good for the blogosphere and the world.

Hint: Remember this is not meant to be a psychology paper. Have fun with the question, and don't just quit.

WalloWorld
GOOD POINTS: ROTFLMAO! Crassly manipulative in that he uses the best lines from my favorite movies to make me like his entry. Nice Machiavelling, Prince.
BAD POINTS: You're a window, eh? That would explain the bird that just flew into your head.
RANK: #1

News From the Great Beyond
GOOD POINTS: Probably a good sign when tears well up in my eyes by the time I get to the end of a post. Also, copious quantities of gratuitous, narcissistic self-linkage. An arrogantly unshakable belief in ones own words as an infallible reference is an asset for a would-be monarch.
BAD POINTS: None visible. The only reason you're coming in second is that Bill finished his piece off with a reference to his intro - I love callbacks. That, and the quarter came up tails.(Seriously, though, it was a tough call. Consider giving it another shot in the next KotB Tournament, if you're so inclined)
RANK: #2

This Liberal
GOOD POINTS: Answered the questions thoroughly
BAD POINTS: A little dry, perhaps could've use some sort of over-arching theme to make the post more cohesive.
RANK:#3

The Whole Blog: Technical Merit & Personality

Here are some technical things I like to see on a blog:

Comments enabled
Permalinks working
E-mail contact info available
Blogger's name/pseudonym prominently displayed
Site search feature enabled
Link to an "About Me" post on the sidebar
Blogger's gender is easily discernable
Blogroll
Readable font style & size
Readable color scheme (for example, NOT bright red type on bright green
background)
Divisions between posts clearly marked
Paragraphing in entries (NOT just writing one fat block of text)

Aside from the tech stuff, I also like to see a blogger's personality shining through, to remind us of the person behind the words.

News From the Great Beyond
GOOD POINTS: Technically perfect. I REALLY like that Songstress7 has her picture, "about me" post, and e-mail link prominently displayed in the upper left. In my opinion, those things BELONG above the fold on the front page. Let the world know who they're reading as soon as they arrive. It gives the blog a very welcoming feel. I also like bold use of colors. It's vibrant without being overpowering, and shows a lot of personality.
BAD POINTS: The sidebar fonts are a little bit on the teeny-weeny eye-strain side, but they contrast nicely with the center column, so who am I to complain?
RANK: #1

WalloWorld
GOOD POINTS: Got all the technical requirements. Nice minimalistic design. Restrained use of different colors adds emphasis without being distracting. Good touches with little symbols & icons, although I have no idea how you get "3W" out of William E. Wallo.
BAD POINTS: Probably not his fault, and he probably wasn't even aware of it, but there are some glitches in Mozilla and Opera (sorry, but my IE went terminal months ago, and it's no longer an option for me). In Mozilla, the wide white background loads last and covers up the whole front page except for the edges. I can see two letters at the left side of the links in the left sidebar. In Opera, the front page displays fine, but the permalink pages have the text scrunched up in a one-inch wide column on the left side. Between the two browsers, I can read everything, though. I'd suggest having someone knowledgable in multiple platforms give it a once-over & see if there are some simple fixes. If you don't know anyone off-hand, ask The Bartender (aka Madfish Willie, aka Mike), who did my site design and just oozes tech-savvy (see the little envelope in the HammerHead designs logo box on my right sidebar).
RANK: #2

This Liberal
GOOD POINTS: All the technicals are in place & functioning.
BAD POINTS: Nothing horrible, just some little things with room for improvement. The background image, even though pale, is a little distracting while reading, and makes me a little motion sick while scrolling. If you like the image (and it is a good one), consider using a form of it as a header in the banner. Also, some more colors, or at least more vibrant colors, would give a snappier look. It's a little bland right now. Finally, consider putting the "about me" & e-mail address at the top of your sidebar and the calendar at the bottom. I can guarantee you that not a single one of your readers ever clicked a calendar link, so there's no reason to let it eat up some of the best real estate on your blog. Put something up there that you want everyone to see first thing when they arrive. If not your information, at least some of your more favored affiliative links.
RANK: #3

Posted by: Harvey at 05:00 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 846 words, total size 5 kb.

1 Thanks for the comments, Harvey. Yes, I'm still wrestling with the design (got it functional in Netscape 6, if that's any consolation, ha ha). Now I have to doublecheck it in Opera and Mozilla. Somehow, I hazard a guess there's an undefined division tag giving me trouble in those as well.

Posted by: Bill Wallo at May 08, 2004 06:01 PM (RPgzk)

2 Oh, and it's BW, not 3W. WW just didn't look right. Also: would you do me a favor and check it in Opera now? I think I fixed the problem, but I'd like to know for sure. In Mozilla, the problem appears to be related to the division at the very bottom of the page (where I have copyright and Moveable Type information. In that browser (and only that browser), it treats the as covering the entire page instead of operating relative to what's gone in front of it. Have to do a bit of tinkering there yet. Again, though - thanks for the heads up.

Posted by: Bill Wallo at May 08, 2004 06:26 PM (RPgzk)

3 Wallo World... I liked Wallo World's nice clean design. His graphics package is excellent without beign overpowering. I especially like his use of graphics in the sidebar... a nice custom touch. Nice easy to read banner. Banner graphics on comments page, although no banner graphics on trackback page. I'd rather have a pop-up comment window like him than be taken to another page. NFTGB... Another nice design, although the design "gurus" will tell you not to have text on a dark background. Nice use of colors without being overbearing. The scale of the sidebar text in relation to the size of the body text is fine - it should be smaller than the post text and it is. Different browsers will render the text different screen sizes and there is not a good way to make it the same for every view AND keep it liquid to where you can scale it up if you are blind. Plus the screen resolution will come into play. Between the two designs, it would be a hard to make a call. Personlly, I would prefer the WW design after he gets the little bugs worked out... which is not as easy as it sounds. Until then, I'm glad you are the judge and not me. Other than that... what the fuck do I know about anything?

Posted by: Madfish Willie at May 09, 2004 04:05 PM (LbKVB)

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