Ros Adopts a Lifestyle Change
After converting my other sites to Brian Gardner’s StudioPress Lifestyle theme, I went for broke yesterday and activated the Lifestyle theme for Wordpress here on NetProfitsToday.
And yes, this is partly in response to the fact that the majority of you said you did NOT like the logo I had designed for NPT at 99Designs — for a whoppin’ $375! So, although I’m still using the Libel Suit font, my mug is back on the header. Ugh. And after that major faux pas, I’m loathe to ask what you think of the header graphic change, but comment if you must. 
In addition to the Featured Content Gallery on the homepage, what I’m loving most about the Lifestyle theme is the drop-down horizontal navigation bar — not, so much from the fact that it’s trippy, because those have been around forever and I could have coded that myself into the old theme (had I been more energetic) — but because it’s making it really easy to see how the older posts and categories can and should be arranged more logically, for a better visitor experience.
OK, go on, tell me what you think – and please let me know if you’re finding broken links. What with all that recategorization and renaming – there are bound to be a few!
Want more info?
Rosalind Gardner is a Super Affiliate blogger, author, speaker, and Internet marketing consultant.
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Love it Ros! So clean, sharp, and easy to navigate. But I gotta say, I LOVE Brian Gardner’s designs – they’re both functional and beautiful, as you’ve proven here! And even though I did not comment on your new logo, I do love this header so much more.
Stephanie
It’s very clean. What made you select this theme? And how do I get a logo design for less than $150. It seems at 99 designs the cheapest project you can launch is $150.00.
Excellent. I was one of the many (dare I say) who disliked the $375 re-design. Now it looks a whole lot better, good colour and eye catching. Good to see your mug on the left side, where it should be for good effect to the viewer. So, I think after all the negative vibes and $375 dollars down, you finally came out the winner. From the positive point of view, you could say $375 well spent!!!
Regards
Robin.
Hey Ros-
I went on a Theme Feeding Frenzy last month and purchased Thesis, Affiliate Theme and also StudioPress LifeStyle theme.
StudioPress Rocks. There is something about the StudioPress theme that makes the site just *pop*, whatever content you fill it with. It has a great Out-Of-Box experience, so I’m not tempted to fiddle with the theme much beyond the header.
I’m glad to see your image back where it was, I missed it before. I like the header graphic.
I’ve never been a big fan of drop-down menus on the web. IMO, they make sense for Windows applications, but not for blogs. On the other hand, you do have an amazing amount of content here, so I can’t think of any better way to harness that content.
At the end of the day, I guess that’s why we all come here…for the content.
Two thumbs up!
Greg
Excellent! Like some of the earlier comments, I love the new look with your photo and good, clean colors — and no ugly logo (sorry).
And once I found that I had missed the drop-downs at the top, I knew what folks were talking about; at first, I was wondering why all the links to all of your excellent material had been replaced by a bunch of ugly, multi-sized that were prominent on the right side.
Very nice!
Thanks as always for sharing!
I love the look, Ros. The Lifestyle theme is awesom. I just used it to create one of my websites. Brian does excellent work.
I also agree with the logo comments. The header with your picture is much better.
Be blessed.
Tim
Well done, Ros. Glad to see your old self here again.
I like the design of your website. You’ve convinced me I need to go ahead and purchase the Revolution Theme instead buying them straight from the site flippers. I looked at your last logo and it’s not a bad looking logo, but it is rather cold and uninviting. However, you make mention of your mug on your webshot, but it is a lovely mug, very inviting with much warmth. I prefer your mug to that $375 logo anyday! With your mug on your site it’s just an extension of you. So, it’s great to see. I really like your blog. They are beautiful! Did you do the converting yourself or use an outsourcer?
Ga-Zing!!!! WELL DONE Ros! My first time back on your site since the fiasco with the stock market guitar pick. Good timing on my part I guess. YES YES YES the site is way better. Clean, crisp, no clutter very functional, easy on the eyes. …and I’ve just added you to my twitter list. (oddly though that goofy guitar pick shows up on my browser tab still, but I guess it’s not too bad, being that small it looks a bit like a two-toned acorn now.)
Ros,
I didn’t have a strong reaction to the changes–but I do care about what you write. Your content is great–and, for me, that’s all that matters.
Best,
Lisa
Hey Ros,
Love Lifestyle. I am changing my own sites to them too! Love the “new” header. The old new one wasn’t so bad, but it just wasn’t you
. Only comment I have is that it took me a few to figure out what people were talking about with the categories in the sidebar. Didn’t even notice them until I was reading the comments and went back specifically to hunt for what they were referring to. Not sure if there is a way to give just that box a background color to give it a little “omph” and separate it from your ads. It blends in to me. You might even do a popular articles or a recently added right under it to pull people to your content cause you have so much great stuff.
Great theme choice Ros… and I like the colour scheme. I’ve been using the Lifestyle theme for some time and just recently upgraded to the latest version as I wanted the full page, no sidebars template.
And your banner looks great!
I think it’s a good choice, Ros. Your website relies on you, and that’s why your image should be the main element on your website header.
The drop-down menus are a little harder to spot at first, but once you put your mouse on them, you have to love them. All the useful links are right there, without cluttering the menu bar. You know, even the web usability guru Jakob Nielsen has recently admitted that drop-down menus are pretty useful!
Just allow me a couple of picky comments from someone who works in advertising and website development (and is obsessed with quality):
- The “.com” in the text of the logo is somehow hard to read (as it is a blue text on a blue background). Yes, I know it’s not the most important element on the header, and that most people with most computer screens will manage to read it. But I would just make it a little more visible (adding a little bit more of white or brightness to the “.com”).
- I know that trimming the transparency of a photograph is not an easy task, and you have blended your portrait into the gradient background very well. But I would just tweak a little bit some areas in your hair: there’s a little white vertical fringe on the left, and I can see a jagged edge on the right.
Anyway, this new design is definitely a great improvement: clean, easy to use and professional. Well done, Ros!
Ros,
The theme is great. However, you’re hair on the header is needing some further photoshop work to mask the white out primarily on the lower left and a little on the lower right.
Let there be no flaws for one of the Internet’s BEST mentors!-)
I’m glad you agreed with me! I was worried I was being extremely picky about those technical details (I’m always caring about the tiniest detail with my designers). But if both of us are seeing the same, then we are probably right.
Love the new look Ros! Another fine example of what you can do with the Lifestyle theme. After checking out how you and some other folks have utilized this theme I am convinced that I made the right choice in selecting it for my website. I can’t wait to start uploading the Lifestyle theme this week!
As far as the logo is concerned I just contracted the services of logoloft.com and was very happy with the resulting logo AND their customer service is phenomenal…all for $150!
Take care!
Hi Ros-
Love the new updated look! It’s good to see your picture back in the header. I like to put a face to the blogs I read. Makes it more trustworthy to the reader. I purchased the same theme several months ago and I’m loving it.
As always, thanks for sharing all the great content.
Regards,
Catherine Anne
Very, very nice, Roz… Now it really looks like THE Rosalind Gardner’s website.
Rosalind,
I’m just getting into the blogging and affiliates thing. So, I really don’t have an opinion yet as to the design of yours. Except I looked forward to it before and I look forward to it now. My comment is about your “mug” comment. I like your mug, and even though I don’t know you personally, it gives me a sense of confidence in the material that I read that you write. Keep it there and soothe a newbies anxiety.
Ros,
The logo isn’t THAT bad. You just have a nice face. If you had an ugly mug people wouldn’t complain about a logo. They would be grateful for the logo. Your face adds personality and it brightens up the page. I don’t like to waste money and it would be hard to part with $375 on the fly, but people pay that much for one day marketing classes and this was a very good lesson learned.
Let’s face it, your face is everywhere. Newbies see you and recognize you on the fly. We can place a face to the the words on the screen with our eyes closed. I can’t say that about too many others. You are probably the only “Super Affiliate” newbies feel like they know and can draw comfort from trust built in your online relationship.
As for the hair comment, I agree. I wouldn’t make it a Saturday Morning project. Most people aren’t here to see Ms. Garner’s picture touch up. The longer they’ve been in the business, the more they are compelled to critique a web page. You’ve heard it straight from a newbie (me).
Hi Ros…
I like your theme… I use the same style theme on my main niche blog spamarketing.ca and found it to be great!
Also are you finding the change in style of site and going to a Wordpress theme has made a big difference in commissions? I know it’s easier to update and use.
But for new affiliates would you recommend starting on Wordpress?
Your 99designs logo was not at all bad… thanks for the site because I recently used the service for creation of a business logo for a side business. And the artwork and designs submitted were outstanding!
Cheers,
John
I have always marveled at your websites. So much content in so little space! Great theme, only thing I don’t like is the help information on the drop down menu. I am always disturbed when they pop up and cover the menu.
Can you turn that off for the main menu only, or is it on for all menu items?
I am still trying to “get it” so your design effort has helped me understand more about what is in a design. If for nothing else your loss is our gain. Thanks again for all you do for us.
Ros,
Thanks for keeping your ‘mug’ on the headline…it is important for many of us to see that folks other than “child nerds” can do extremely well online. Keep up the great work! You are an inspiration to this Great Grandmother!
It’s great to see your face again! Welcome back…and congrats on the new site look!
Looks pretty cool! It seems like a lot of people are using the Lifestyle theme…but you’ve customized it quite well. I do like it better than the previous theme.
Hey, Roz,
Love the new look!
In fact, I recently updated my site and used this same theme.
It’s amazing how different – yet professional – it can look with a few changes from site to site.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the new look. Love seeing your face in the header rather than the logo.
The secret? It makes the site seem personal. The logo was ok(ish), but it made the site seem impersonal and just one-in-a-crowd.
Your brand is YOU.
Wow! What a huge improvement! This is way better than the old look. I love the blue color gradient and the red text “today”.
The only suggestions I have are to add something to the right side of the header, perhaps quote or something.
Also the serif font in the grey navigation bar seems a bit out of place. The other two bars are sans-serif.
Overall this is a great look for the site. Cheers!
Nice! I like it!
While blue is a cool (read “cold”) color, your face and smile puts the warmth back into the site.
Simple, but excellent – much better than the other one.
Oh Thank God…YOU’RE BACK!
I couldn’t stand the 99 designs thing. It was extremely harsh to even look at… you must have been drinking the water from Gallagher Lake when you chose that one!
This one is eye candy!
With great respect,
Michael Rytter
Shame on you guitar man! Anyone can plainly see that the logo was a guitar pick. If anyone liked it, it should have been you. Being a guitarist I noticed the all to familiar shape right away. I thought it was pretty cool and liked it. But there ya go, that’s why there’s chocolate and vanilla. To each his own. Have a good one, Brian
Hi Ros,
Excelent!That´s the power of simplicity.
By the way: your face makes your blog unique and authentic, like a fingerprint. Don´t say Ugh,say WoW!
We love you!
Ros, no wonder you continue suprising me with rich content,this literature help me to position my self better ahead off the financial crunch,long live.
This one is really refreshing one like you have organised your room and now its giving you the pleasure to see that everything placed at the right place and looking beautiful and attractive.
Dear Roz:
First I have to tell you how grateful I am to have found you as a resource. Your material is SPOT ON. No nonsense, easy to grasp and so motivating… AND you make it all sound so easy.. therein lies my problem. I was so inspired, that I bought the Rev 2 Lifestyle template, ordered hosting through Bluehost and thought I could redesign the site myself, be up and running in a jiffy… and now I am totally stuck. I have NO CLUE of how to start. Looks like I will have to hire a developer (didn’t want to do that) At this point I am trying to figure out if I am totally thick OR that web design really is a bit dificult?? Your thoughts Roz? And THANK YOU again for all the wonderful information!! I bought your Super affiliate handbook and have read it twice, I am ready to go but need a website!!
Hi LD,
No, you’re not thick and web design / making changes to themes isn’t that difficult either.
Your options are to work through the StudioPress Support forums and get your questions answered or hire a designer / developer.
The good part about the former option is that there IS support — with free themes you don’t get support.
Too, there is info in the Handbook on uploading using FTP, changing permissions and all that other stuff. You can also access the Wordpress Codex for a WORLD of info about Wordpress.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
Just tried to enter my name and email to get your SuperTips newsletter and it gave me your “What A Drag!” page (Error 404?) I checked my email and I DID receive your welcome message. But I thought the What A Drag page might be an error so I wanted to let you know.
Thanks – Dan
Mo’ bettah!
Hi! Ros
I Love it easy, sharp and clean to navigate.I also agree with the logo comments and the header with your picture is much better.
I really like the change in your blog site. It looks just great and very, very refreshing indeed to look at. Well done.