Dynamic!

Feigning Middle Class in Suburbia is having a grand re-opening. I realized today (while wasting time and definitely NOT doing laundry) that the blog design was original and from 2007 with only moderate tweaks here and there.  It was pretty and simple and very me.  Times have changed and my blog deserves a more streamlined and hip* look.

The default view is "magazine" although, if you prefer the old-style, the "side bar" option is probably the closest.  Flipcard is also kind of fun.  It takes a little getting used to but over-all, it seems easier to read.  The preview only shows the first paragraphs, so click the post title, picture, or date banner to read more...

I'm not sure that I really get why a chosen blog opens into a whole new screen, but they can still be shuffled through chronologically with the little arrows at the top left of each blog post.

For those fellow bloggers who have been afraid to transition to the new Dynamic Views, I was too!  They just sat there taunting me for weeks!  The name itself is just scary!  It feels very final when hitting "apply to blog" although after it is done, there is an option to "revert to previous template".  I didn't try it because I happen to like the new one but at least there might be options.  Here is my take before making this dynamic major life-changing decision:

• Dynamic is Better:  
• There are more options to personalize the look.  
• I love how much easier it is to see old posts
• It seems cleaner and easier to navigate. 
• Dynamic is Different:  
• no longer are there options to adjust the width 
• those fun little gadgets / add-ons are not supported, yet (word on the google street is that someday they will be)
• the picture used on the side bar is automatically chosen, not picked by the Blogger.  I believe it is the first picture of the blog, but I could be wrong.
• I was really excited about the option to use my own background picture but it doesn't seem to work the same as the ones that they supply.  Instead of staying stagnant, it continually repeats when scrolling down the page.  It is kind of quirky and annoying so I used a stock picture for now.
  
• Dynamic is Worse:  
• There doesn't seem to be an option to edit posts right from the blog.  Sometimes after glancing over my writing, I realize that it could have been worded better or there is a grammatical error.  At this point, I need to go into Blogger, find the post, and correct it from there.  It seems crazy but I honestly don't see another way.  (SEE REVISION)
• There is also not an option to preview the blog before posting (also seems crazy, but it is true!)
• NO GADGETS WORK
• The stats are off.  The numbers seem right over-all but each blog is hard to tell if it is popular or not.

*do chic people still use the word hip? or since I've used the word hip does it make it decidedly not so?! 

11/19/11 - REVISION! Happy to say that next to the blog title they (whoever they may be) have added a little pencil and can now easily be edited!  

1/25/12 - I've given up on Dynamic Views for now.  The stats are all off, I miss the gadgets.  I will go back someday, but for now, I'm sad to say that the negatives seem to out-way the positives.