RSS
Archives
New Theme Launched - Welcome Back Comments!
After too many hours sorting out bugs and getting everything looking right, the new theme is up and running!! And yes -Â commenting is back!
Rather than take you on a tour through the theme, let’s answer some questions that I predict to receive about it’s design and implementation:
What’s that ‘Featured Article’ bit all about?Â
It doesn’t make sense to write an awesome article and then have it disappear off the front page because you want to write about some breaking news. With the ‘Featured Article’ section, a useful or important article can stay visible on the front page while more articles are added to the site.
Problogger also recently conducted a poll and found that most readers had been blogging for less than three months. The ‘Featured Article’ section will also allow some money making gems from the past to be introduced to newer bloggers.
Why are comments back? I thought you were against them?
No. The removal of comments was an experiment and the results indicated that the site was better without them…under the old theme that was the correct decision. It was cold, hard science and no feelings were involved.
With a new theme, the comments situation was reconsidered and it was decided that the new theme will benefit from them. It’s going to be awesome when the results of 3 months without comments are published!
To all those who were angered by the removal of comments - now is your chance to comment!
Don’t you think there’s too much advertising?
No way! This site is about making money online and ads make money!! If you really don’t like to see ads, please feel free to subscribe and view the site through a reader.
Was this theme designed by the famous Nate Whitehill?
Unfortunately not. Nate from Unique Blog Designs is one of the world’s best blog designers. As such, he’s a little out of CashQuest’s price range! With all expenses included, this theme cost a grand total of: $0
Do you really think you’re better than me at making money online?
Yes.
This isn’t a ‘blog’ anymore. It’s a ’site’ - how can you still write about blogging?
If you look around the blogosphere, you’ll notice there is a definite shift in site design away from ‘blogs’ and towards ’sites’. As blogs become more like businesses, this is inevitable. However, while you’re debating what to call it - I’ll be making money from it!
WTF? There’s almost no author information on this site? Who writes this awesome content?
Who cares? The site is 100% about making money online and that’s all it will ever be about. Imagine that it’s written by 4 of the richest trained monkeys on the internet and you’ll be pretty close.
If you’re interested in learning about an author, we highly recommend John Chow dot com- he takes photos of his lunch. If you’re 100% interested in making money online - you’re already in the right place.
What’s happening with the ad spaces? I thought there were more?
Nearly all of the advertising space has been sold for the month but we’re still waiting on some advertisers to send their ads through. At this stage, there’s still one 125×125 button left for $60 per month. Contact us to reserve it.
Rich people subscribe to Cash Quests
You said the design cost $0 - did you design and code it yourself?
by Scam
It’s a free template - but with a small number of tweaks and mods
by Cash Quests
I love your approach, you’re a fan of the Rich Jerk aren’t you?
by Sabrina's Money Matters
Nice job, I like the change (a modified SoloStream template?), and the rebirth of comments here is very refreshing.
One suggestion I would like to make is that your “subscribe” and “slogan” graphics should be saved as GIFs (or higher quality JPEGs) to make them crisper.
I don’t know if it’s the JPEG compression or the image editing techniques used, but they seem a bit fuzzy. If you want some help sharpening them up, let me know
by DerekBeau
Thanks Derek. They were made that way, but you’re right - they should be crisper. I’ll change them shortly
by Cash Quests
I did like the old theme quite a lot but I’m sure this one will grow on me. I’ve subscribed to the feed so I’ll check in fairly often. especially with the “related posts” coming through in my feedreader.
Only suggestion I’d make is to make the cashquests logo a link to the home page. I expected it to lead me there and was surprised to find my clicking was in vain.
by scoby
I do like the new theme, feel it’s going back to the more traditional pink of yourself
by Rhys
I’ve always heard of cashquests but have never been to your site
…I have subscribed and will be visiting often. I like the layout. I did catch a glimpse of the old one this morning and I think this one is a nice improvement:)
by Lori
Thanks for NOT getting back to me about the sidebar text link spot.
by Meh
Your mail wasn’t received. Please send it again.
by Cash Quests
Hooray the freedom of speech is back!
Great Theme
I should let you know there are some problems with it in Safari:
- The main content is blue and then seems to sporadically become black and underlined.
- Comments can’t be left. If I try to click in the name box it just refreshes the page.
(I’m leaving this comment in FireFox).
I hope you can get it all fixed without too much trouble.
by Matt Jones
Thank you Matt!
As I don’t have Safari and only 2.76% of CashQuests visitors use it the solution is obviously - use Firefox.
by Cash Quests
Ah a redesign cool. The red is a bit bright and it is also a color of aggression but what is kind bugging me is you’re using a 3-column layout but your left column doesn’t really use much space unless you are planning on selling ad space down the left side it just doesn’t seem to balance the site out.
If you are not placing ads on the left side, I would move it over to the right side and then increase the width of your content so your layout now becomes a 2-column design.
Also your footer has too much ‘white’ (or is it red) space. But again you shrink it or fill it with more ads! lol
I do like the ‘Featured Article’ idea though
by Tyler Ingram
If it was two-column it would be the old theme.
Thanks for your thoughts but those links in the left column didn’t get there for free and they paid to be “above the fold”.
by Cash Quests
So you’re saying the difference between your old theme and the new one is that this is 3 column? You can still have a 2-column look with a different theme.
Though also ‘above the fold’ would be different based on user’s resolution correct? Though I guess if you assume at least everyone is running 1024×768 then I could see why having it on the right side my hinder being ‘above the fold’
How come you went with the red/white high contrast type colour set?
by Tyler Ingram
Like the new site. I agree with you…If a reader wants to know who the author is they should check out John Chow. I never understood why he takes pictures of his lunch! I expect your subscribers to be at least 2,000 by the new year.
by chris
Congrats Kumiko - and sorry for the late response with advertising - just got back from school. Will be in touch shortly. In the meantime - enjoy the comments
by Adnan
New theme is quite impressive.
The mybloglog pics are too small and the footer seems to be empty. If u can increase the size a little it would be good.
Great that commenting is back. A few posts back i wanted to say something but was too lazy to use ur contact form. This is eazzzzy!!!
by Ramanujam
clean. i like clean designs. it almost seems too clean.
by Israel
Finally a reason to actually visit your site. I’ve used this them before. I’m fickle so I had to switch it. I’m not sure how turning off comments added any value to the blog. I would think it wouldn’t bring in ad sales because people wouldn’t visit the site, but would just read it in a reader.
by Roberta
Nice theme, it’s very clean looking.
only one issue for me: Your myBlogLog avatar widget in the footer doesn’t seem to be playing nice… the images are floating up anywhere from 20 to about 200 pixels (depending on the page) from where they should be on IE 7. And in FF it’s not centered.
Keep up the good work, I always enjoy your posts. Don’t start posting about your lunches
by Mocky
I like red and I like white and I like simplicity, but the new theme is too much “in your face”… I would think you would want to make your readers relaxed and comfortable, not irritated…
by John Matenkosky
Kumiko,
How come the comments name/email/url aren’t remembered and also the link (or text) beside the checkbox to subscribe unsubscribe to the comments doesn’t seem to exist
by Tyler Ingram
Whoa, the red is very hard on the eyes. I’ll stick with google reader for your content.
by Christianity and Politics
Oh, you should have kept the old design, but tweak it to add an extra column.
This one looks bad… but that’s my opinion.
-The left column is practically empty.. you need to balance its content with the right one
-Too much red all over the place
Don’t worry, I’ll keep on reading you anyways
by Kiltak
last comment didn’t seem to publish so just checking this is actually working
by Kevin Muldoon
cool ,seems to be working fine
Congrats on the new theme Kumiko, very clean theme and very easy on the eye.
What theme did you modify (as theres no credit link - tut tut)
Not sure why you have removed all references to yourself (Kumiko) from the about page and from posts etc. The site did so well at the start of the blog because of the personal touch . Bring back Kumiko!
by Kevin Muldoon
Actually there was no requirement in the theme for a credit link and it didn’t come with me.
The removal of personal info is purely to keep the focus 100% on the content. I want those who come here to be those who are only interested in making money online. As I wrote, those who are after personal information too should go to JohnChow and enjoy reading about his lunch.
by Cash Quests
I could always offer up the info I have on you (at a price)
Great new theme, maybe a bit too white for my eyes though.
~ Becky
by PreBlogging
I dont think that removing personal information about yourself means that focus is kept 100% on content. Infact, I think you would gain more visitors if you engaged them more with a personal touch.
Just my humble opinion
by Kevin Muldoon
been your reader for the longest time
kutgw! love the new ”monetized look
by uncle sha
What happen to PINK. I remember when we first started out in myLot making money just a few months ago. Now your kind of like one of the big dogs now. Well I like the previous theme better. The new look makes me depress for some reason. Sorry.
by Michael
Actually I quite like your old style. I hope this one grows on me.
by Thomas Sinfield
Under the old theme “no comments” was the right decision but under this new theme “yes to comments” is correct?
Sorry, I’m not buying it. THAT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE! You just made that up because you probably figured out you were suffering without comments.
That’s my take.
by DayJobNuker
You obviously don’t understand how colours affect readership.
Jeez, get a clue!
by Joshua
Whoops…that was me if you didn’t guess.
by Joshua
this theme is definitely more news like. but i like it. clean. very clean.
by Israel
It’s too late Kumiko, I’m never commenting again!
by Joshua
Forgive me if I don’t cry
by Cash Quests
when was the last time you really cried ?
by j1 tax back
I bet it was from laughing after John Chow posted pictures of his lunch…
by Aki
I am glad you added comments again, I don’t agree with your analysis that it was cold hard science to remove them. It diminished the value of your blog greatly and in my opinion was only done to create a stir - which is fine but be honest about it.
by William Ryall
Doing it for a week is creating a stir. Doing it for three months is a strategy.
by Cash Quests
This is a great modified template you have. I could say no more. I would just have to talk about it at my blog. Haha! I like the design and how you place your widgets so wisely..Advertisers are getting every single cent worth.
by Etienne Teo
I been a very long time visitor and I honestly liked the old theme a lot more
The red color is kinda distraction I guess, orange looked fine.
Congrat though!
by WarriorBlog
There may not be any requirements, but when you remove the link yourself, its a different thing.
by Suhweet
You’re right. I actually didn’t realize that I’d deleted author links. I’ll add them back shortly.
by Cash Quests
I’m not surprised at all that he removed the link… nice to see that he put it back though…
by AnnaBella
The voice of the people are back! Power to the PEOPLE!!
I’ve been your regular reader since your blogspot days. Your profile during the blogspot days seemed more personal, slowly getting less personal when you made the switch to Wordpress and now, your About page totally has no reference of your personal info.
I can see the changes in direction towards a blog where you might be preparing to sell off at some point. That is of course your perogative.
Personally, I still prefer the old Kumiko and the previous WP theme.
by betshopboy
Frankly there is not much difference. Still the same bare white uncluttered page. But I think I love the old shade of tangerine and not this common shade of red. If you paid for this kind of design,you must be daft. Just some minor tweaking that’s all.And it looks like everyone is following each other; pushing all trivial stuff down at the footer. The reason for bring back COMMENT because of of the new theme is not convincing. Try reading back all the 12 points you wrote before. Anyway, the design doesn’t bother me at all, I still love reading your stuff!
by kher Cheng Guan
Very nice blog and WP-theme
by MyBlogContest
The new theme looks great; congrats! But something seems wrong to me about the “Subscribe to Posts” and “Updates via e-mail” links; I just can’t guess what.
And the “Better than you at making money online” sounds soooo ‘The Rich Jerk’ type.
No offense meant.
And I just found the first two errors, I think. Wordpress Database error text under both the ‘Wealthy Sites’ links and under the comment box.
You really write great stuff, Kumiko.
by Sarat Chandran
My theory is Kumiko sold the blog shortly after the switch to wordpress because the whole feel of the site changed as well as the writing style. Either that or Kumiko never existed and the author invented her for awhile. I can’t even imagine how big this blog would be right now if she kept the pink and kept the fun. I miss it.
by Laura
Are you sure Nate Whitehill from Unique Blog Designs is one of the world’s best blog designers?Firstly a creative outfit with a name like UNIQUE Blog Design is definitely not UNIQUE!It’s dated. And the new theme or the template design for John Chow is overly-cluttered. Look at the heady header! It’s so “busy” up there. Having the dollar notes and the flashy sporty car is so tacky and it appears like one of those typical online scam sites;flaunting with dollar notes or the dollar sign!
by kher Cheng Guan
I like your theme. It’s simple and organized but still stands out a lot.
However, I think most of all I miss the old Kumiko and all that pink there used to be. You’ve gotten huge though, so I guess times change!
by Tay
Kumiko, Thanks for putting comments back up.
Are they nofollow?
by Contamination
great to hear your voice back kumiko … i mean the comment option … frankly i seldom come back to your site after you removed the comment part …
so today when i check it out, the comment is back together with new theme, great … but i’m not sure red is what i like (why would you care anyway) - it shows kumiko is hungry for blood (money)
so from pink to orange and now to red … care to blog if the color changes affect the traffic in anyway?
cheers kumiko …
by StockTube
[...] ktorý pri predchádzajúcom dizajne mierne zanikal. Takže po vzore Probloggera, Johna Chowa, Kumiko Äi Shoemoneyho aj embuck.com dostáva nový [...]
by Nový dizajn embuck.com » Embuck