Made some changes to the templates governing this blog last night.
With the addition of new guest bloggers, folks had pointed out a problem that was first reported back when SDG began guest blogging some: Difficulty in telling at the start of a post who was blogging.
I contacted TypePad to see if there was a way that I could include the blogger’s name at the top of a post. (They don’t have all the features I think they need, but they do have excellent customer service. Plug, plug!). I asked them:
The blog visitors are finding it confusing figuring out who is talking in a blog post. They find it frustrating that they have to look down to the end of the post (which may run off their screen) to figure out who is speaking in a post and are requesting that the notification of who posted be placed at the top of the post instead of the bottom. I looked for a way to do this and couldn’t find one. Is there a way to do something along these lines?
They responded:
If you’re using an Advanced Template Set, you could modify your templates to display the author name above the post as well as (or instead of) below the post.
Let us know if you’re using an Advanced Template Set and would like further help in doing this.
To which I replied:
Yes! I am using an advanced template set! And I would love help with this, along with general info about the eldritch nether-tongue in which the advanced templates need to be written.
I’ve only made the tiniest changes for fear of upsetting the cosmic balance of the universe by uttering the wrong syllable in an incantation and having to start over.
Much obliged!
Now, up to now it has be a HUGE ORDEAL to make any modifications to my templates, compounded by the fact that I haven’t had an understanding of the language in which the templates are written. (It ain’t ordinary HTML. It’s a propietary Dark Speech used by TypePad.) As a result, I have only been making the smallest changes to the templates, like my favicon (the picture of me you get if you link me in IE).
But thanks to their help, I got the info I needed to crack the Dark Speech and begin making more neat-o cool, user-friendly changes, such as how to add the blogger’s to the top of each post. I’ve played with that and don’t have it quite where I want–BUT–at least it’s there and I can continue trying to tweak it.
Kudos to the folks at TypePad!
