Finding My Way

Just a few short months ago, I jumped into the blogging arena somewhat reluctantly. I knew blogging was an increasingly popular way to information share, but I pondered exactly what I had, or even wanted to offer. There are thousands of blogs out there covering almost every topic. I had some ideas on the overall theme but I needed to be more specific. Finding a distinct direction was my initial goal. So I did some research and found some great articles on blogging. This one on "how to be interesting" really helped narrow my focus.

I decided that my interest and further exploration in technical communication would be a good start. The constant development of new technologies, combined with their sizeable challenges, would offer limitless topics for a theme. I hoped to offer readers awareness and clarification in the advances that are being made with Web 2.0 capabilities. The new developments in this field are affecting personal and professional communication in countless ways.

So once I decided the theme of my blog, I then had to navigate the technical aspects of setting it up. Blogger made this process pretty simple. Although, adding a banner and customization was more of a challenge (good material for another post).

Then came the actual writing part. This proved to be the most challenging (and still is). For me, providing useful information to readers and using a conversational tone to relate my message has been difficult. Most of my educational communication experience has been the opposite, professional and to the point. I have made some progress in this area but will continue to work on it.

In addition, formulating posts proved to be extremely time-consuming. Some of my first posts required at least six hours of writing and rewriting. I only wanted to publish my best efforts. I also started adding images and links to my make my posts more interesting. Technically, this took practice but I became much more competent at this over time.

My blog has evolved over these past few months but there is still work to be done. My writing has improved but there is always room for growth. I would also like to track readers and encourage followers. I just started using tag labels for my posts which should at least help with others finding my blog. It's a start. One thing I learned through blogging is that you have to start somewhere.

image from istock photo

My Blog's Revision

When I started blogging a few months ago, I entered a new medium in which I knew little about. At that time, I had only read a handful of blogs, none of which made a lasting impression. I began this blog for several reasons but specifically to explore the technical aspects of blogging. Simply put, how better to learn about blogging than to become an actual blogger.

I also started this blog to share information that I encounter as I continue my education in the field of technical communication. My intent "to explore and simplify the new innovations of technical communications in order to provide a valuable resource for others" has remained the same. However, while my intent has not changed, my blog's design and layout has evolved. As I learn new elements in relation to design, typography, color and css (cascading style sheets) I have incorporated these fundamentals in my blog.

For those of you that are following my blog, you may remember my initial design.

My first template was dark blue with a contrasting lighter text. I added "about me", "followers", and "blogroll" widgets to my sidebar. Initially, I added an image to further explain the title of my blog. I did not want it to be mistaken for a blog about food. I expanded the width of the blog by changing the outer wrapper 's html code to 792 pixels to move it away from the standard template. I created a personalized banner but adding it to the header was challenging. It would not fit correctly and was visually unappealing with this template. So in order to add the banner, I changed the template. This was my first revision.

Here is the basic new template without the banner.














Here is the revision with a banner. I used this design for several weeks. As I read more blogs and learned more about design, I simplified the header and removed the image as it did not add anything to the overall appearance.


















Once again I had to expand the width of the blog by changing the outer wrapper 's html code to move it away from the standard template and also to fit the width of the banner. I changed the banner to black and the font text to Gil Sans to make it easier to read. I moved the blog archive widget up to the sidebar for easier accessibility. I also changed the main background color to white to provide a better contrast.





















I also added a delicious tag so that my readers could access more information on the technical elements and topics that I blog about.



Here is an image of the next revision. I changed the titles and link text colors to blue to offer more distinction.

















As I continued my blog entries I included more links to outside resources and learned how to incorporate images from my computer and other websites. I used Snagit software to capture images that would enhance my posts and then uploaded them to blogger. I chose the size and layout of each image from this editing window.














My first screenshots were smaller and some of the details were not visible.






I started using the zoom button on my toolbar and creating larger screenshots for better images. I also added a border to frame some of the images for a more finished look.
In my final revision, I enlarged the text to a larger point size, increased the weight and changed the typeface to Times Roman to make it easier to read. I also changed my posts to archive daily so only one will be visible at a time. I also, started using meta tags to make it easier to find my blog. All of these modifications are apparent in this post.

My blog will continue to change as I discover new design techniques and other important aspects of technical communication. I hope it will provide a unique perspective on new information and provoke more food for thought.