Welcome to the newest version of John Chow dot Com. As you can see, we’ve made a lot changes around here. Please take some time to look over the new theme and tell me what you think. John Chow dot Com Version 3 was designed by Nate Whitehill and his team at Unique Blog Designs. Here are some of the highlight of the new theme.
Cleaner Landing Style Front Page
The most dramatic change to the blog has been the switch to a landing style front page. This gives the blog more of a content site look than a blog. The landing style layout allows me to highlight feature articles and videos, give summaries of the most recent posts and create a shorter front page that will load faster.
Those who prefer the normal blog style layout have not been forgotten. All you have to do is change your bookmark to the blog link and the layout will switch to a normal blog format.
Less Scrolling Required
One of the biggest complaint about the old theme came from readers who run low resolution displays. When viewed on a 1024×768 screen, very little of the post was viewable without scrolling down. We’ve fixed this problem by moving the content way up. You can see the different in the comparison screen shot.
New Photo Gallery
John Chow dot Com Version 3 features a photo gallery where you will be able to view my photos. I have tons of photos from my travels that never get published because of space limitation. Right now, the gallery only have a few car and food pics. However, I’ll be loading it up with photos from trade shows and other stuff that you may find interesting.
Lijit Blog Search
The blog search is now powered by Lijit. I think you’ll find the new search feature a lot better than the default WordPress blog search. Give it a try and tell me what you think.
Take The Poll
Another new feature of the blog is the poll. The poll not only helps to increase interaction with blog visitors, but it also allows me to get demographic information about my reader base. The first poll question is asking how you feel about the new theme. Please vote now. More polls will be added in the future.
No More Car In The Header
I was the first make money online blog to put a high performance car in my header. A ton of another blogs copied that. I wonder how long before those blogs remove the car from their headers? 😈