Changing Blog Theme: Lessons Learned

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Usa na ka bulan sukad nga nagbalhin ko sa bag-ong tema dinhi sa YugaTech. Gawas sa nindot nga mga komento ug sugyot para sa mga pagpauswag, aduna’y daghang butang sa likod nga kinahanglan nako atubangon ug unta mas gibutang pa nako ang pagtagad atol sa pagdesinyo.

Aniay pipila ka mga leksyon nga akong nakat‑unan atol sa pag-upgrade sa bag‑ong tema:

  • Dili kaayo daghan ang paagi sa pag-usab sa layout sa usa ka blog. Ang katapusan nga resulta kanunay nga magtan-aw sama sa blog. Bisan pa, ang ubang mga elemento nga imong gibutang og daghang pagtagad kaniadto basin dili mohaom sa bag-ong layout. Hunahunaa ang paglista niining mga elemento ug paghatag kanila og numero sa prioridad. Sa ingon, mas sayon ​​nga matino kung unsang mga elemento ang gusto nimo ibutang una. Kini labi na kaimportante sa nabigasyon ug sa mga butang nga imong ipakita sa sidebar. Kung gikan ka sa double column paingon sa triple column, mas sayon ​​kini. Apan ang pagkunhod gikan sa 3 ka kolum ngadto sa duha ka kolum mahimong medyo lisod.
  • Ang mga PPC ad mahimong maapektuhan og negatibo, depende sa balanse sa sulod ug mga ad nga imong ipakita ingon man sa mga kombinasyon sa kolor nga imong ipatuman. Usa sa pinakadako nga kakulian sa bag-ong tema mao nga naapektuhan ang CTR sa AdSense. Usa kini ka sugal gayud ug usa nga kinahanglan nimo nga andam nga dawaton. Siyempre, ang pag-usab sa mga ad human sa pagdeploy mahimong makatabang nga mobalik sa orihinal nga performance sa ad o mas maayo pa. Ang akong wala, apan nakabalik gikan sa negatibo nga 50% ngadto sa 20% ubos sa miaging lebel.
  • Mga gidak-on sa imahe. Ayaw kalimti ang daang gilapdon sa sulod sa imong tema ug susiha kung unsa kadak-a ang mga imahe ug litrato nga gipakita kaniadto. Ang akong daan makasulod hangtod sa 520 ka pixel ug kadaghanan sa mga litrato akong gigamit naggamit anang gilapdon. Ang problema karon kay ang kasamtangang tema adunay 460 ka pixel ra nga magamit sa kolum sa sulod. Kinahanglan kini nga trade‑off aron makadugang og laing sidebar column. Ang akong solusyon — i‑download ang daang mga litrato, i‑batch resize gamit ang PhotoShop ug i‑upload balik.
  • Ayaw kalimti ang mga direkta nga advertiser. Kung aduna kay mga direkta nga advertiser nga adunay existing nga mga ad, hunahunaa ang ilang posisyon sa bag-ong layout sa tema. Kadaghanan sa mga direkta nga advertiser gusto og above‑the‑fold nga posisyon para sa maximum nga exposure, busa ibutang ang ilang spot una sa ubang mga elemento. Usa pa ka side effect mao ang post‑level link ads — daghan ko og bag‑ong ad nga nawala tungod sa mga kausaban sa permalink structure nga nagwagtang sa tanang PageRank sa tagsa‑tagsa ka mga pahina.

Usa pa ka butang, bisan wala ko kini nasinati, mao ang pag-usab sa mga background. Gusto ko og gamay nga mas ngitngit nga BG karon apan tungod kay ang daan kay puti, kinahanglang magpabilin ko niini o kung dili, ang tanang nag-una nga mga hulagway nga naggamit sa parehas nga background magpahimo sa mga panid nga tan-awon kaayo nga dautan.

Nanghinaut ko nga imong hinumdoman kining mga leksyon sa umaabot nga pag-usab nimo sa tema sa blog. :)

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main limitations of changing a blog layout?
There aren't many ways to change a blog layout. The end result will always look like a blog.
How does the new theme affect advertising performance?
The new theme adversely affected the AdSense CTR. PPC ads could be affected by content and ad balance.
What should be considered when adjusting layout elements?
List elements with priority numbers to determine which to display first, especially in navigation and sidebars.
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Written by
Abe Olandres

Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

View all posts by Abe Olandres →

40 Comments

GT
gta 5 guide · 13 years ago

Hi, I do think this is an excellent web site.
I stumbledupon it ;) I will revisit once again
since I bookmarked it. Money and freedom is the best way to change,
may you be rich and continue to guide others.

Reply
AD
adam · 16 years ago

If yuga would create a school for bloggers I would be the first to enrolled.
Epson T10 printer runs out of ink easily

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ST
StrayArrow · 16 years ago

Same problem with me… cant really decide on what theme… hmmmm tried tweakng free themes but still not satisfied….

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JE
jerome · 17 years ago

eow fho pra san fho yung pinoy friendster. day fho

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JU
Justin · 17 years ago

Whoa… this site is pretty awesome :) your layout is really well designed, and your blogs are (judging from what i’ve read) very interesting. heehee… consider yourself favorited. :-P

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KI
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IZ
izuka01 · 18 years ago

blog optimizing and changing themes is very crucial — you must do the right format and styles to do it more presentable and eligant. well the most tip on it is to act as a user. :)

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SA
safejoibrerse · 18 years ago

I don’t even know,fellow!) continued to write in the same vein, it is interesting people!

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LY
lyra · 18 years ago

ooh great, thanks for the tips, though i used wordpress.org , but this is great:)

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JC
jco · 18 years ago

had just registered a domain..i’m transferring my blog right now.thanks for this

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BA
bascomputer · 18 years ago

thanks for the tips..

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JH
jhay · 19 years ago

I’m on the same boat as Jaypee, I use to take a whole day when changing and customizing themes, now it can take me between 2 to 4 hours. hehe

I edit the theme files on a WP install on my computer and play with it there. Once I’m happy with the results, I just fire up the FTP and upload the themes. Seamless and easy, 70-90% of the time though. ;)

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JA
Jaypee · 19 years ago

Changing or upgrading your blog theme can be both time consuming and fun. Since I’m not that good in creating WordPress themes, I have fun customizing and tweaking public themes. :)

I agree about the darker background. I think it would make the overall layout look better. :D

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RO
roland · 19 years ago

i have watched the ‘mel & joey’ episode last sunday,aug.19—and i was so excited and still very interested to be a ‘blogger’,many thanks if you will be the one could help me in the near future,so hoping for the best! indeed,i am very interested.thank you so much!

ab****@aol.com

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AB
Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 19 years ago

Thanks for the input guys. Will be rolling out an updated version soon.

@Brian, not sure where that figure came from. Definitely not just Adsense. They also failed to mention I co-own one of the largest forums in the Philippines, among other forums.

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BR
BrianB · 19 years ago

Abe, Darker background definitely. Font sucks.I like the ad auction ads. Maybe they should be bigger.

Yuga is making $5,000 a month? That’s just Adsense?

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DA
Dave Starr — ROI Guy · 19 years ago

A few thoughts on the new theme, especially regarding backgrounds in general: Lose them.

The diagonal lines are a pain. First of all they take up screen space that could be put to better use. Second, for anyone with a slow connection, they sometimes take forever to go away as the server seems to only “paint” the final screen long after all the text is already in place. So people are continually trying to red the blog thrpugh distracting diagonal lines. This is not aimed solely at this theme, there are many other popuar ones out there that emphasize graphics “cuteness” at the expense of reader’s ability to read the blog. I’m no CSS guru but I seem to remember reading somewhere that graphics design was supposed to move forward, long ago, from the antiquated idea of paint a screen over and over. Aparently, the puncit’s lied.

Think of the millions of bits per day that your server sends out consisting of nothing but diagonal lines filling the user’s screen to be instantly (or less than instantly) “erased” by the final screen.

I wonder what percentage of the overall ‘Net traffic consists of bits that are never meant to be seen by the human eye?

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JE
jerom · 19 years ago

yup, i did watched it too. actually, i announced about it in my blog yesterday and hopefully many did. thanks yuga for the enlightenment.

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SA
sasieboy · 19 years ago

Yeah that’s a lot of money here in Pinas, after I saw the success of Yuga in Mel and Joey episode my spirit to blog is burning :), Thanks Yuga for sharing your wisdom in the world of blogging.

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JO
joseph · 19 years ago

Just saw the Mel and Joey episode. $ 5,000 a month? Wow.

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