Well it has been a busy week working on the new layout for the web site and I still have a bit more work to do. I apologize to anyone who tried to access the page in the previous 12 hours however there were still some minor issues that prevented me from going live. The site is running again as you can tell if you are reading this, however there are still some issues that need to be ironed out. If you notice any issues please do not hesitate in letting me know.
The Theme
The theme is designed by Quommunication with some slight modification done on my part. The new theme is a lot more readable with a large font size and a clear layout. It also provides space for advertising and the content is structured far more logically. A screen shot of the current theme is shown below for the people reading this article in their email or a feed reader:
As you can see from the screen shot above the navigation system is far more logical and user friendly with the top navigational menu listing key pages of interest and the sub menu listing the different categories. The left side bar contains a java enabled box for quickly accessing the most popular posts, latest articles, recent comments and the tag cloud. This box will change dynamically by just moving your mouse over it. The most popular content box is shown below highlighting the dynamic content:
The final two additions are a job board displaying latest jobs in the finance industry and bookstore offering some of the best trading books at affordable prices. The book store is powered by Amazon so you can shop using your Amazon account. Over all I am very pleased with the changes that have been made on the Trainee Trader web site. The one feature that still needs to be implemented is machine based translation so people can read Trainee Trader in there natural language, this should be complete very shortly so stay tuned.
What do you think of the new layout? Suggestions? Comments?
Love the new layout the page loads a lot quicker and articles are much easier to read (without my glasses). The one suggestion I have is to remove duplicate entries from the bottom columns.
Hi TT,
I like the theme! Strong colors and very, very professional befitting of the content.
Some suggestions:
I’m not sure I like the black background on the featured post. I know it is eye catching but perhaps it can be more subtle?
People tend to read left to right so I’d reconsider putting your logo on the left and switching its place with the ad. I think you want to brand your own logo rather than someone else
Great new look! I keep on saying I need to redo my own blog but I can never find the time…
Thank you for the comments and suggestions. It really helps to have some feedback.
Sam: Thank you for pointing that issue out. I was aware of it and am looking for solutions, without getting to technical the duplicate entries are occurring as some of my articles are listed in two categories. I will modify the PHP code on the weekend.
Mariam: I have been playing around with several different color schemes and have found the black to be most eye catching. My logo is currently being designed and when that is complete my designer will look at the color scheme of the site for me. It is quite a time consuming process to integrate a new theme into a site that already has established content.
Black backgrounds are very hard to read