Wednesday, July 27, 2005

My blog evolution

My blog has evolved somewhat since the first time I made an entry to what it is today. Though nothing fancy as some of the other better designed blogs out there, it was a nice place to call my own and where I could rant and rave to my hearts content. I’m not much into controversy and many of the items blogged here are mostly about my mundane life as well as a huge photo gallery for the various photos I’ve taken through these few long years. I first started out due to the encouragement of Adrian but took a while before I got going due to the inert fear of not being used to writing html codes and such. The first few entries were mostly attempts to give a Malaysian insight to places that I've travelled and been and also several entries of personal nature and opinions. This soon evolved into more general writing on current issues, humor and annecdotes while sticking to the main theme of being a photoblog first and foremost. With the discovery of Project Petaling Street I soon turned the blog to one more of a mass appeal rather than just a personal endeavour.

From the start I wanted to streamline my blog, at the current moment I’ve always found that entries are a mess; at times when I’ve a lot to rant there are long entries of written text, some serious others not while during slack times the front page is often inundated with pictures from the various weekly contests that I joined. I always wanted to maintain my entries separated, one section for personal writings while another exclusively as a photoblog but blogger does not allow much in terms of customization for such a feature nor am I able to afford to pay for space online for my own domain being a struggling student and all. These handicaps notwithstanding, I'm pretty happy with what I have accomplish at present though I still wish for a better understanding on code writing to modify the blog template to one more suited for my purpose.

Recently I’ve been toying with the idea of separating my blog into two components such as many of the other bloggers out there are doing yet taking a huge part out of Thousand Words most assuredly will stagnate the main site and lead it down a different path from what it is now and maybe that is too high a price to pay. Who knows, I’m toying with various ideas as of now maybe really splitting my own personal blog and making a separate one especially for photos and Malaysian travel entries. Time will only tell to what effect this will bring to Thousand Words but since I’ve not that many usual readers I don’t think it will be missed that much. What is hoped in the end result is a crisp, easily navigatable and interesting blog that people of various purposes, interests and idiosycrancies will enjoy. Look out for it, as soon as I have time to fiddle around that is.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your blog is ok, looks similar to others though...

narrowband said...

Kerv, your blog is fine just the way it is. I mean, there's no need to have a 'separate' component, that focuses mainly on photos, etc. (Please take note ah, everything said is IMHO, k? :D) Unless you have that many photos to post up frequently, then probably a separate site is a feasible option. But based on my observation, your current approach is good. Sometimes it's a story, sometimes it's a photo. What's so messy about that? ;) I adopt a similar approach myself :P No worries man, blog comfortably, however you want it. It is the originality that appeals.

Dilip Mutum said...

Like Narrowband, I feel that your blog is ok the way it is.
I do have a seperate blog dedicated to the Malaysian automobile industry though.

lucia said...

yeah like the others, i too your blog is ok. it's good in a way to have some mixture - only pictures, then pictures and text, and also text only. that way, it won't be boring. however, if you have a better idea to improve your blog, sure go ahead with it.

Kervin said...

uncover japan: Yeah still stuck at using the templates that came free with Blogger. Except for a few minor changes such as the sidebar. Want to do more but not sure about the codings.

narrowband: Thanks for the suggestion but at times I feel like the travel entries especially if they're backdated are better off in a site dedicated on their on and technically I've tons of pictures (read about 10k) that has not been uploaded because of inappriate themes of no time to write up on their entries. A photoblog might suit that purpose.

adam: Yeah sometimes think a travel blog is more appropriate for some of the entries that requires serious writing and maybe leave this one for lunatical rantings ;)

lucia: Thanks for the good word, got lots of ideas but not sure how to implement them, such as a change of banner, better graphics and a crisper navigation sidebar, the current one cluttered. The area on both side of the blog still a lot of space and maybe 3 colums like yours might be better but again don't know how to implement it.

5xmom.com said...

Awww...Kervin, don't split. I like coming here for some great pics weaved with your words. Somehow, photoblogs seem dry after the initial, oohh, nice pics.

Bustaman said...

If it is not broken,it does need fixing. I enjoyed your wonderful photos and your personal experiences in this blog. Whatever decisions (or tweaking) you make, I hope I can still find your blog.

Reta said...

I too, got bored with blogger's template so I used another and now voila, I have a lily template..

maybe its time to switch to another..3 yrs of using the same one a bit boring..well, that's for me.

Kervin said...

5xmom: :D Thanks for the encouragement but after nearly a year (2 more months till my first anniversary) some changes would be nice, but can't find the time to really do a revamp yet.

Bustaman: Bustaman, :) I'm glad you still view my blog, don't worry whatever it's permutations the essence will still be Thousand Words and I'll make sure you'll find it whatever becomes of it.

cyber-red: House cleaning hehe, need to reinvent oneself to keep with the times, people seeing the same thing might tend to think I've become boring.

Wil said...

Just as there are two hemispheres to your brain, having your text and photo entries appear in the same blog lend an aura of seeing a goodly part of the whole person rather than just a single aspect.

While your travelogues are graphically intense, it's not all that often and shouldn't really be a problem for anyone, broadband or dial-up.

Just my opinion, of course --> leave the content mix the way it is.