AT LONG LAST!
After many exhaustive hours and tense moments spanning several weeks, the new website theme is finally fit for viewing.
This is a responsive (meaning it should display well on any size screen, from the smallest cell phone to the largest desktop) portfolio, highlighting everything about my creative works, affiliations, etc.
One day, after retiring from the dog business, it’s my hope to turn this into a showcase for income-producing endeavours. Pensions aren’t what they used to be and many of us will need a little extra to get by.
Sad statement of the times! Anyway, that’s something for the future. In the meantime, blogging for the sheer joy of it is still one of my biggest obsessions.
Overview of Homepage:
◄ The first panel is a snazzy 5-image slider, featuring some of my photos. After viewing those, either click the red button to take you to the next segment or just scroll down. (The top menu takes you to the main blog page and other categories.)
◄ A voice message welcome, plus details about posts and categories
◄ An “about me” section, with links to the blog and my Amazon store
:
◄ Dogs (of course!) and a link to “Dogs from A to Z” (this year’s April challenge)
◄ A video page showcasing travel and music, with links to more posts in those categories
◄ A carousel of latest blog entries
◄ My work published elsewhere
◄ Affiliations and awards
◄ Search, contact, social media links
View the homepage in action HERE
The world of web design is fascinating! If only I were 30 years younger…Due to my lack of experience and formal training, this has been by turns, frustrating, frightening (when I thought everything was totally fucked up) and exhilarating.
As usual, trusty old Google was there to help, but this time, it wasn’t enough. I’d like to thank the staff at WP Stagecoach (hosts of the testing site) for all their help. Morgan, in particular, took the time (for free!) to teach me about child themes (something I never understood before) and how to edit files using FTP. (Apologies to my non-techie friends.)
Also, the theme designers at Athemes go above and beyond when it comes to design help and troubleshooting. Thank you, Kharis and Vlad for your quick responses! If anyone is interested, the base theme I’m using is called Sydney Pro.
To my blogging friends: I’m sorry to have missed your posts and hope to catch up with you, soon. Thanks for your patience!
Please have a browse around the site and tell me what you think. Also, let me know if something isn’t working right or seems out of alignment, especially if you’re using a cell phone or tablet. This theme is supposed to be completely mobile friendly.
Looking forward to your comments!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
56 thoughts on “THE GREAT UNVEILING: PRESENTING THE DOGLADY’S DEN 2.0!”
Whoa! Your blog is so techo savvy. Truly inspiring. I’m browsing from my cellphone and it looks just perfect. Wish you all the best with your future ventures, Debbie.
I’m glad you like it but am not as tech-savvy as you might think and had many anxious moments. 🙂 It was a great learning experience, though. Good to know it’s displaying well on a cell phone. That was a concern. Thanks!
Congratulations on your new and spiffy site!
Thanks, C. Lee. 🙂 It was a lot of hard work, but a great learning experience.
It looks superb, love the color mix as well. Just your style Debbie.
Congratulations.
You did it on your own but I have given mine up to professionals – I just could not handle the anxiety.
Brave lady you are. 🙂
Thanks, Indy! 🙂 I’m glad you like it. There were MANY anxious moments, but I was determined to try and do it myself. All in all, it was a great learning experience. I’ll be sure to check out your new look as well.
WOW! You HAVE been busy. There’s SO much here, Debbie, and your efforts show. I love the new look, and it’s very easy to navigate. All I need is hours of free time to browse! Pages were slow to load for me, but that’s most likely due to my misbehaving laptop.
Thanks for checking out the new site, Gina. I’m glad you like it. 🙂 I’ve been working on improving the speed. It loads quickly on my laptop. but everyone has a different situation. There might still be some issues with the mobile display.
Congratulations, Debbie! The new theme looks good! Love the red! Everything looks organized. Didn’t find anything wrong on the laptop. Will check on mobile and let you know if something is amiss. See you around!
I’m so glad you like the new theme, Chicky! 😀 It was a steep learning curve, but also fun to do. Thanks for checking out the mobile. I know there’s room for improvement, there.
If I was to only visit one blog, it would be yours.
That’s very flattering, Myke. Thank you! 🙂
The thing I love about you (among others) is that you are so passionate about everything you do. It shows so wonderfully in the dedication to blogging as shown here. I am loving the new layout. Will take my time to explore each aspect and give you feedback too. All the best and congratulations on the new look, Debbie 🙂
Thank you so much, Shailaja! 🙂 I do think this layout is conducive to getting more views. Feedback is always appreciated. I know the mobile version could use some improvement.
This is fabulous, Debbie! Best of luck with everything 😉 I really like the separate pages for the pups, your dad – so touching – all your amazing photos. Very impressive! I’m sorry to read of the passing of your Mom, hon. And it’s wonderful to see you out again!
I’m so glad you like the new look, Diedre! 🙂
My mother lived to be 92, which is longer than most. Thanks for your condolences.
Lovely theme for the new site! Congratulations!
Thanks, Damyanti. 🙂 It was a steep learning curve, but I enjoyed it.
Wow! the site is looking great! So far no problems on my end.
Hope to see you in the BOTB segments again. 🙂
I’m so glad you like it, Jeffrey! 😀 It was a lot of hard work, but also fun to set up. I will definitely see you for the next BOTB. Thanks for dropping in and have a good weekend.
Congratulations!!! This is a great feat… I haven been thinking of self hosting for long, but so scared of taking the plunge. You homepage looks brilliant… loved how it says Abhinandan in Hindi too on top of your audio 🙂 The dog house is really cute section 😀
I’m so glad you like the changes, Raj. 🙂 Good to know the Hindi word was correct, too. I’ve had a self-hosted site since 2013, but this is my first experience with a responsive, portfolio theme. Very steep learning curve! If you do decide to switch to self-hosted, I’d be happy to answer any questions. Thanks for dropping in.
Very nice. Pleasing to the eye and (dare I say it) user friendly, which to me is always the key to a good website, whether a commercial site or a blog. Nothing worse that going to a website that is visually pleasing but about as user friendly as a stick shift car to a teenager.
Thanks for checking out the new site, GB. 🙂 I’m glad you approve. It’s been a difficult but interesting experience. getting it all set up. Cheers!
Hi Debbie, I love the new looks. Congrats! I know it’s a lot of hard work and frustration updating and changing a blog. The colors are awesome and go well together.
Look forward to your upcoming posts on the new blog!
Thanks for checking out the new theme, Lisa. It has been a difficult journey, but I sure learned a lot in the process! I’m glad you like it. 🙂 Cheers!
Hi Debbie,
Many congratulations indeed 🙂
Your blog is all revamped! Yes, the homepage is looking awesome, and so are the other pages, which I’d also be checking on my smartphone later, as I hardly use it all that much. But overall, a very good job done!
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week and a wonderful month ahead 🙂
Nice to see you, Harleena! 🙂 I’m glad you like the new theme. Setting it up has been an intense learning experience.
Oooh..here a red, there a red, everywhere a …:)
Love the new layout and design. Congratulations! And I know how you wanted to do it all in one go.
Looks fab.
Can you tell red is my favourite colour? 😀 I’m glad you like the theme, Sid. Your re-design was my inspiration!
Congratulations on the new theme and look, Debbie. I love the interesting home page – especially how you’ve displayed the categories. Here’s to seeing more of your posts. Happy blogging!
Thanks for checking it out, Corinne. I’m glad you like it. 🙂
I visited your website and it is great! You put a lot of work into it and I have no idea how you did it but it looks great and it seemed to all link up. I heard your voice:) I saw your doggies and miss my lab. I got connected to youtube but I’m at work so I can’t watch all of it. I also saw just a snippet of your Greece trip and love the music. It all seems to work. Will you be blogging here or over at your new site…I’m a bit confused now:)…. typical.
Thank you for checking everything out, Birgit. I’m glad it’s all working; whew! 🙂 The blog is a sub-section of the website (http://thedogladysden.com), right here. You can access it in a few different ways:
– Clicking on a post link
– Clicking on “BLOG” in the top menu
– Clicking on links shown on the home page (“Visit Blog” or further down, from the post carousel.)
– entering the URL http://thedogladysden.com/blog
Yay! You’re back and your new digs look absolutely fantastic. I am lovin’ this new look SO much! Congratulations and altho we all missed you, this was definitely worth the wait! 😀
Thanks, Mimi! 🙂 I’m glad you like it. It was a lot of work, but worth it, in the end.
Girl, you have outdone yourself! It looks fantastic! It’s obvious that you spent a good long time on it. Love your cover image too (can’t think of what it’s called at the moment, but the one that is across the top of your page).
I bet it was fun, even given the frustration. Thankfully you had some expert help. I don’t think I’m brave enough to venture into website design.
Job well done Debbie. It really looks terrific!!
Congrats!!!
XOXO
Michele at Angels Bark
Thank you so much, Michele! 😀 It was a lot of work, but it’s something I’ve wanted for awhile now and just decided to get it done, once and for all. It definitely was fun when things were working right and I sure learned a lot. Maybe I’ll hire myself out for blog redesigns in future.
Kudos for not making the page talk right away. That drives me nuts.
I like that picture of the dogs in the middle, because Sheila and Lisa are my sisters-in-law… XD
Thanks for checking out the new site, John. The page will only ever talk if you click the “on” button. 🙂 Those sites with autoplay are definitely annoying! Sheila and Lisa are good names for humans as well as dogs. That’s quite a coincidence.
🙂 Welcome back, Debbie! Great to see your site up and running again, and that too, so much more fun! I love the photos. Wishing you a healthy, happy stint in your “new” home. Hugs!
Thanks for the warm welcome, Vidya. 🙂 I’m glad you like the new look. It sure is more fun than the old one. Hugs Back!
Great work. The new design is comfortable to look at and read yet stands out in a mellow sort of way so it’s not as harsh as the old design and has nice complimentary colours. It reminds me of the pages of slick paged magazine.
Viewed in The Edge on Windows 10.
Best of luck in your ongoing endeavours.
Chi Chi
Thank you for that great critique, Chi Chi! A magazine style is what I was going for. 🙂
How fabulous, Debbie! Off to check the new design now 🙂
Thanks, Guilie! 🙂 It was a lot of work, but worth it, in the end.
The site looks great on my pc. Good luck with the income generation. That’s something I never really got going to any great extent, but if it does work for you then that’s great.
Now looking forward to your next BOTB post.
Arlee Bird
Good to know the site is displaying well. Thanks, Lee. 🙂 Yes, blogging for money doesn’t work that well unless you have thousands of followers, but I was thinking more in terms of getting those books published and showcasing them on here. We’ll see…..I won’t be retiring anytime soon. Ah, BOTB! I’ll have to check out what you’ve been up to. See you soon.
Congrats Debbie. The shiny new website is looking fab. I love that it has retained the personality of the old blog in a new avatar. Very nice.
Thank you, Lata. I’m glad you like it. 🙂 I will try to work on improving the speed. It is a bit slow, sometimes.
Congrats, Debbie! I’m embarking on a similar project soon. Hope to be as pleased with the results.
Thanks, Lissa! I’m glad you like it. 🙂 Good luck with your redesign, as well.
Welcome Back! I am loving the new look <3
Hi, Mary; It’s good to be back. 🙂 I’m glad you like the site and everything seems to be working. I did lose some share counts, but that’s not such a big deal. Thanks for checking it out!
It’s finally here! The all-new Doglady’s Den, in a responsive portfolio theme. Hope you like it! 🙂