Thursday, August 12, 2021

[Updating] Local blogger annoyed by new blog look

There's trouble behind the scenes at evgrieve.com, where a new template — and new fonts — inexplicably made their way onto the Blogger platform. 

As you may recall, there were template/HTML changes last fall that made uploading photos and copy more tedious. 

Meanwhile, as of this evening, the classic EVG template that you've come to enjoy these past 37 years is now apparently gone for good. 

For now, we'll be working on some repairs in the background, which may mean a lack of new posts here in the near future. We'll also see if we can restore all the EVG mixtapes to our MySpace page. 

So please excuse this rather funky look as we stare at our computer.

Updated 
8/13 9:09 a.m.

I am pleased that everyone has bought the "template" story.

So I'd like to introduce you to the EVG OnlyFans page account!

Kidding!

For real, thank you for the kind words — even the commenters who said "If you don't like new Blogger templates, then move to Iowa" and "Blogger used to be such a safe platform" and "Blogger has always been about change." 

So Blogger will let you return to the Classic template that EVG has used since Dec. 21, 2007.

But!
I won't be able to do much with it, such as have access to the theme designer.

Meanwhile, the inventory of available Blogger templates to choose from are uniformly awful — wait till you see their Soho Pink (for real!).

Updated 
8/13 2:24 p.m.

We've spent the day with the Ping Intelligence Team and have made progress with restoring the content to the side of the site (archives, etc.). There is no going back on the previous template (RIP December 2007-August 2021) and will move forward with the Best of the Worst template currently available. 

Thank you for your patience and kind words!

42 comments:

  1. Move to a Wordpress site? I'm sure there is pro bono web help out there for EV Grieve.

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  2. where am i?????? I don't recognize anything???!!?

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  3. bahhh, sorry man. did you try CTL+ALT+DLT yet?

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  4. I was just struggling myself today with the coding of my site. We use the same blogger platform and you'd think Google would make it easy to use their tools, but no...I feel your pain.

    If you need help, let me know.

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  5. time to move over to geocities! they will never change your format like ever....and they got animated gifs!!!!

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  6. πŸ˜‚ At least the humor is still there to help manage through the annoyance.

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  7. Hope you are able to resolve this without too much disruption to your excellent work!

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  8. sorry to hear! hope your format comes back soon!

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  9. Very sorry, Grieve, for the inconvenience to YOU and of course the site doesn't "look like itself" to us out here, your loyal readership.

    It sucks when an entity "fixes" something for you that wasn't broken in the first place, and the look of this site was one that always said "welcome, you're in the right place!"

    I can't imagine how frustrating it is for you, and thanks for doing the extra work to make it all happen. I really miss the photo of the girl on the chair, laptop in her lap -- it's almost your "logo" in my mind.

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  10. My only beef is that "real estate" is in the blog description and it's listed FIRST!
    Please change that, we have enough RE trolls telling us to move back to Ohio every time we complain about the endless assault on are right to sleep at night. Love you EVG!

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  11. Oh, man. I loved that you kept using one of the original templates from 1984. I had used the same on my blog many moons ago. Good luck! We'll keep coming regardless (unless you move into one of those glass towers, then we'll see). Happy Friday!

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  12. Yep - the new look is pretty awful. It won't stop me from reading you, tho!

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  13. Whenever you get this hideous mess sorted out, please bring back the Archives. They are essential as is EV Grieve. Courage!

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  14. Ugh. Sorry. Hope you can resolve the coding situation.

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  15. Thoughts and prayers.

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  16. On my phone it all looks the same as before.

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  17. Just wanted to tell you it looks the same on mobile via my Chrome browser.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! About 26% of readers access the site through smartphones. (And 1 view this past week via Smart-TV!)

      Delete
  18. we'll be here for you, regardless of format!

    quick question: you mention the blog is 37 years old, but also that it was launched in 2007. I was never good at math but...

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! It just seems like 37 years! πŸ˜…

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  19. Isn't it uniformly accepted that the most recent comment is listed at the top of the comment section but here you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see the new ones.

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  20. I noticed the NYPost's online Template was also changed today, coinkydink?

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  21. "EVG OnlyFans page account"
    How/where can I sign up?

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  22. Sorry you have to deal with this. I've can't remember ever having an "upgrade" that didn't change something that I didn't want changed.
    Whatever, I know your readership will be loyal because you're the best we have in the East Village.

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  23. And a happy Friday the 13th to all 😝

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  24. It looks like you have it mostly back to normal, gg

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  25. I still miss the photo of the girl with the laptop sitting on the chair outdoors; I hope you can get that back somehow. But BRAVO to you on dealing with this most-unwanted "update" that was forced on you. (The template-changing people are, IMO, idiots.)

    Have a good weekend, Grieve!

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    Replies
    1. Haha! She’s still there! I managed to move that block down the stack on the side.

      Always one of my favorite pieces of meme-worthy stock art!

      Delete
  26. Not to be toooooo navel-gaze-y... any comments on the new font? Not exactly sure what it is. I don't think there's enough contrast with the words that are hyperlinked.

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  27. Inspecting shows font is "Roboto", a Google system font for Android. It's a little small for my aging eyes but the link contrast is fine.

    ... must. not. make. domo arigato. reference ....

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  28. Honestly not crazy about this new font, b/c it's so bland and oversimplified somehow. Too much sameness? And oddly enough, I find it tiring to read.

    New font also seems WIDER (or more widely spaced?) than the previous font. Somehow, there's not enough "contrast" between headlines and text, etc., in some way that my eyes were used to.

    I'm sure any competent graphic designer could describe exactly what the font change does to the readability of the text. This new font makes me think of highway signs that are meant to be readable when you're moving at 65 mph, which we're not doing here!

    PS: THANK YOU for bringing back the young lady with the laptop; I had to scroll way down the page to see her. Can you prod her a little & get her to live closer to the top of the page? (No, I'm not trying to drive you insane. Just wishing the web page people hadn't messed with this template...)

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  29. The longer I look at it, the more it seems that the letters of the main text are too GRAY. I find myself squinting after reading a few lines.

    So I think the there's NOT ENOUGH contrast between the text color & the background of the page. I'd say the font for the main text needs to be darker.

    PS: You now have about $5 worth of my 2 cents' worth!


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  30. Hi! The font is too light for my eyes, and also maybe a bit small -- it becomes a strain almost immediately. I'm happy (in a way) to see that other people agree and it's not just me and my delicate eyes!

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  31. The previous font was a serif font; this new one is sans-serif. That makes a major difference to how readable the text is ... for proof, go look at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York: you can see how dark the print is, that it's serif, and that the font size is much smaller than what's now showing on EVG.

    I don't know if you have a choice of fonts or font size on this new template, but I just wanted to mention that.

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  32. Thanks for the font feedback. I didn't care for it either. Switched back to the unnamed default font for this template — for now.

    I'll explore some of the other available fonts. Maybe Comic Sans!!!

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  33. Hello Grieve, so sorry about the issues you've had with the blog.The EV "Grieve" has hit home. But luckily you seem to be sorting it out. One thing for sure is you have alot of readers, people that Love you, Love your One of a Kind Blog, we will continue reading no matter what! Best of Luck and Thanks Grieve for keeping up with your daily post, come rain or shine ❤

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  34. Hi Grieve! The Default font is better, fer sure. But in terms of contrast, it'd be *much* easier to read if the regular text were as dark as the BOLD text now is.

    (Then I guess the bold text would become super-bold?!)

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  35. I for one think this is a big improvement. I’m not going to miss all of those Chaturbate pop-up ads and fake chat room messages from Russian brides looking for a sugar daddy at all.

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  36. Thank you for making the text darker!

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    Replies
    1. πŸ‘πŸ‘

      Now I need to figure out how to bring back the social media icons for sharing. They are inexplicably not on this template…

      Delete

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