Welcome to the new and improved MinneapoLiz! I'm so excited to officially check the first item off my 101 in 1001 list, and thrilled that it's one I can see the effects of every day. When I started this blog, I was so utterly clueless about web design and user friendliness...not to mention I had no idea how Squarespace, my hosting platform, worked. Needless to say, the result of my cluelessness was a lot of poking around, messing things up and attempting to customize things I definitely didn't have the skill to customize. Ultimately, I ended up with a functional platform to write on, and as I learned more, I was able to expand the site a bit...but the more and more I looked at what I had created, the less I liked its aesthetic.
I'm a big blog reader. On an average day, I check out probably a dozen different sites for updates, and as I grew less satisfied with my own blog's design, I started paying more attention to others' blogs. The consistent elements I noticed were clean lines, white space, and a consistent layout across pages. With that in mind, I checked out some of Squarespace's templates to see how I could customize. I settled on the "Beatrice" layout for its use of the elements mentioned above (and because the sample site was gorrrgeous, but I digress).
Once I got started, I had a shockingly easy time customizing the template the way I wanted it! The new header, addition of the sidebar and archives to the blog, and expanded visibility across pages makes me so happy...as do the pops of pink through the links! Now I'm feeling extra-inspired to keep checking things off the list and, more importantly, keep writing.
Happy Friday, campers--have a great weekend!