Honestly, I'm not a fan of any of the new types of views. I think any animation is a little buggy and will get in the way of the content. So if I had to choose between the 4, I would go with Timeslide. But my top choice is leaving as is and updating the design/layout instead. I don't think you gain anything by adopting one of the new types of design. In fact I think you would lose readers because of the new style of navigation.

Just my thoughts, I'm looking forward to what you come up with!

I like the idea behind several of these, but in the end, most of the views kind of bury your (fantastic) content! If this was just a photoblog full of nothing but eye candy, then several of them would work. Being that I want to actually take in your content, though, I think 1, 2, and 3 end up being too busy.

Timeslide (4) works pretty well, though! Something like that really wouldn't be a bad solution, in my opinion. Otherwise, a clean and fancied-up "regular" blog could work well, too. :)

Good luck and I'm so excited to see what you come up with!

too be honest, i think those are all really confusing to navigate & i wonder if they would load smoothly. i like to see a normal blog, but if i had to choose one of the others i would say sidebar. that's the only one that makes sense. my only real special request is please no more ads. they make me dizzy & the page doesn't load very well.

love your blog & am excited to see what you do :]

I agree with Jamie. I'm not particularly captivated by any of those. They seem annoying like when I can only see a partial post in my google reader. I want all the content in front of me without having to navigate. I have a few sites that I visit that use a similar module to those that you showed, but I don't like going to them because it's confusing. It looks really nice as a front page, but for a blog, I don't think it's a step forward. Would be neat as an alternate for a mobile device site, maybe?

Good luck!

I love your blog and read it everyday, often hopping back a couple of times. I like it just the way it is, but will read it regardless of the changes you make. I'm not a blogger, just a reader and a crafter, curious about new design. And, I do most of my gift shopping through your shop.

I'm definitely drawn to the classic layout--the one you have now. Out of all the creative designs, I like Timeslide best. I think it would need some tweaking to maximize readability and navigation but the idea is interesting--and unique. You're right, though, where would you put the sidebar/advertisements? Good luck with the redesign! I look forward to seeing what you come up with! I'm sure it will be fabulous.

i like the flipcards for a quick view but i hope we can click on it to go to a regular page.
good luck, i'm excited to see the result

Flipcard and Mosaic too a horribly long time to load so I don't feel like those 2 styles are very user-friendly. Timeslide seems too cluttered with words and confusing. I like Snapshot though. It's orderly and clean and still provides you with an intro of sorts to the post. My vote is for Snapshot.

Oh man, please leave it the way it is! The new views make me feel like I have ADD -- and the first took so long to load I had to close the window to escape from it. Love the blog (just the way it is).

I think a cleaner/simplified layout for the blog is a great idea; the "snapshot" view is interesting and could work well for the Poppytalk Market/curated gallery. One of these new views could also be a great "alternative view" for the Poppytalk blog. Personally, I know that ads are important for bloggers and I don't mind them. But overall, I think the blog layout can work as-is with some minor changes; less conflicting graphic styles, lighter colors, and a more streamlined browsing approach. For example, instead of viewing each post in its entirety while scrolling though the blog, a main image and a text blurb summarizing each post would be visible, and then you can expand the post with a click as you choose to read more. This would clean up the overall look greatly.

Honestly I am not a fan of ANY of them. Holy cow they are all way too busy and hard to navigate. Blogs are my guilty pleasure in the middle of the day when I should be working. If they leave me frustrated or bewildered I just move on.
Have you thought about moving to wordpress? I moved my blogger account to wordpress last October and love it!

Number 5 please. I prefer to read a regular style blog.

I agree with Kristine: my vote is either keep it the way it is or Number 4 if you feel you absolutely must change.

Hi! I'm new to your blog so the flipcards were a cool way for me to get a summery of what you've posted lately. Which by the way is awesome. The flipcards did take a while to load though. I lOVE you blog and all the DIY ideas!!

Well, the regular type of blog I think is the easiest way to navigate for the reader. Maybe you should think about changing background picture/header or sth. Actually is hard to decide what is the best.
On the other hand, sth like mosaic or timeslide will exclude you from the other blogs.
That's just my thoughts.
Wish you luck!

http://ieva-thecraze.blogspot.com/

I agree with Jamie, and many of the other commenters that the current interface as its starting point is my preference. I love the site and hope to continue to enjoy it!

If I may also add, there is something about the new font being used as title to each post that makes me feel like its going to be an ad... I must've seen it on another site as their ad font. Or is it the colour? Not sure!

Thanks for asking for our input! As I said, I'm a big fan.

I instantly became very very confused when I saw those other choices! I just found out about you guys YESTERDAY so I'm loving what you have right now! I say, redesign your logos and top design if you're feeling like you need a change, but right now it reads very well!

Jan + Earl -- I adore your site as it is! I'm also a fan of white space and white backgrounds..so crisp..allows you to showcase all the amazing images and content on your blog similarly to that of gallery walls. The great thing about moving to your own .com is that you have total control of how you can organize your Web pages. I would love to see the "search" box higher up....it's so handy and I use it frequently. Of the choices listed, I like "Timeslide" the most because of the layout. Thank you so much for asking our opinions. Cheers!

thanks for the information, i like mosaic because the composition of colours and text is like a bog collage mm but i prefer how it is now,...
enjoy and good luck in the future

keep it the same! i love the character of the current look. all the other options just have nothing to them. They are too busy and hard to navigate, it's hard for people like me to stay focused on one thing.

One of my other fav. blogs recently did a big design make over and to be honest i don't like it very much and don't visit it as often now, i hope you guys don't do anything drastic!

I'm a HUGE fan.

I suggest leaving it the way it is, with maybe an option in your side bar to switch views for those who would want to occasionally see it in a fun format. I think your idea to re-format how a blog is laid out is a good one, but I am not sure I'm a fan of just the images acting as the posts completely.

Maybe you could just do a simple clean-up of what you have going on--maybe re-categorize your sidebar lists of features/info/market info/our contributors/etc. you have in a more unique way? They're simple the way the are now, just a lot of lists that could give you reason to spice them up a bit.

In my opinion, also, I definitely think you should stick to the eclectic/handmade look & feel! I've always enjoyed that about your blog layout.

best of luck, changing things is always refreshing & good! :)

I think the format is fine as is, but if I must choose, it would be #4 (timeslide).

I agree with majority= of these comments. At first I was kind of excited to use one of these for my own blog on blogger, but after trying it out, it makes navigating so difficult and really slows down the loading of the content.

You can always keep blogger and fwd the frame to your .com. Blogger also has an option to use your own domain.

I'm fairly new to this little Poppytalk world as well. In terms of esthetics, I like the mosaic best. As far as navigation goes, I'd be worried about finding things though. For example I'm a huge archive-user. Would we still be able to easily access all the cool older stuff? As long as it was REALLY obvious where to look for everything, then a new design would be fine.

of the choices i liked the timeslide option the best, but i don't like it as a main website. maybe that can be a link to view?

My personal fave is Mosaic. It's really dynamic and eye catching. The others are a bit stale, and timeslide reminds me of a community bulletin (not in a good way).

I am such a fan of Poppytalk. I have to agree with most of the comments. Many of the new formats seem too cluttered. I enjoy the beautiful images with the text below. For me, less clicking is better. But as you know by now, I think less is always more...

because of the audience this is intended for, i would say either TIMELINE/MOSAIC, a little combo of both.

good luck designing!

of all the choices I like the timeline design the best ... But honestly I like your design now, because it's more comfy, nice, cosy, cute, crafty ... o-ow, c-words! haha ... good luck! :)

I would leave the blog as it is. The new possibilitys do really look interesting, but a blog should look as a blog!
Hugs from Germany
Ursel

This is my go-to site for all things regarding the design world / indie community. I agree with keeping the layout as is and perhaps changing the background layout, fonts, etc. I adore your style and know that your end result will be stunning. Thank you for sharing and including your readers in this exciting process :)

Of the options, my vote is for snapshot- it is clean and organized. I love all the beautiful images that poppytalk features to pique my interest and keep me coming back for more! No matter what your final layout will be, I'll be there :)

I definitely prefer the site the way it is to all the other options. I like just being able to scroll endlessly through blogs.

It might be cool to have a link to the Mosaic version, if you'd just like to get a quick "overall" look at the site.

Good luck!

I like it just as it is. The new options are too hard to load and I think they are awfully image-focused. They bury your content too much.

wow, big move! i'm excited to see what y'all come up with. :)

i also like the current interface as is- it's easy to navigate, not too distracting, etc. i do also like the mosaic format too... i like how it works visually, since all of your posts feature such gorgeous images.

happy creating!

-stephanie

http://myyearoffood.net

ok, i also like timeslide... though not as much as the current format. :)

I do enjoy the layout as it stands.
I have interacted with each of the proposed layouts and while they are dynamic, each left me feeling like the gimmick overshadowed the content.

Hi Jan & Earl,
I really love the blog as is- I agree with most people about the other layouts leaving out a lot of the content. I don't mind the 'snapshot' idea once in a while, however if the blog read as that all the time, it would seem out-dated in a hurry.
I also understand the pressure to update the site onto your own url, customized according to however you want it to look. I guess it's a natural transition to move towards, and at the same time, there will be a lot of opinions given with it being hard to accommodate everyone's wishes. You know your blog best- your up-dates have always been done well, so trust your guts. That being said, I prefer white backgrounds to images.
All the best with the updates!

I prefer the regular layout, as the others are too distracting and difficult to read. Simplicity is where it's at.

I like for it to be as easy as possible - I like to have all the content on one page where you can easily scroll down (like the site is now). I don't like having to click "read the rest of the story" buttons that take you to a separate page unless it takes you to a pop-up to read the rest of the story (I hate having to click the "back" button to get back to the main page. Hope this helps! Good luck :)

Keep what you have! What works about what you have now is it's handmade flavor that makes sense for the topic - all of the others are too slick. Changing the header out once a month/quarterly could be fun, or changing the background pattern, but why fix what isn't broke!

please leave it as a normal blog - i don't like any of those things! if a blog makes me click to read of the post i just move on - i never click to read the rest of a post.. not sure why, its just inconvenient. can't wait to see what you come up with :)

Out of the new choices I like #4 the best, but I'm not sold on them. They take the handmade, artistic feel out of what you have now.

So I'd probably say keep it the way it is!

yes i'm going to have to agree with everyone on this - and go with the regular way to read the blog.

For some reason, none of those links are working for me.

Could you tell me please where to get those glowing orbs?? :)

I love your blog...it is simple, beautiful, and thoughtful. Out of the possible new layouts I suppose I like the snapshot design as it has incorporated a text bubble, but I would rather scroll through the current layout. It still looks fresh and uncluttered while you are only looking at one image at a time. The posts are always gorgeous!

I prefer a blog to read like a blog. So I guess the regular old way still makes the most sense to me. Of all the choices the #4 Timeslide may be the more modern version of the old blog look. The others are too much like photo slide shows.

Looking forward to your new design. I enjoy the variety of your posts. Right now I am eating my version of the salad you recently posted. It just looked so good I had to go make it!

my vote is for the current format! i'm a scroller and i'd have a tough time with any of the other formats. i don't like having to click to read more content. i think a lot of the other formats are really pleasing visually, but not functional for me personally.

I'm a big fan of simplicity -- keep the focus on the content and not the container -- however, I really love being able to crawl through stuff sometimes in a different manner. Is there any way to offer an alternative view in addition to the classic blog format? esp. visual / thumbnail. Or to offer it up in mini-format at the bottom of the page (as an alternative to the you might also like type navigation).

I totally love poppytalk as is. Whatever direction you chose to go (or not go) will be wonderful, Jan!!

I agree with the comments above. I tried each one of the suggestions and some took a long time to load and once it was loaded it was confusing. I much prefer a regular blog format and like others said, if I have to click on something to read the post, I will most likely not go any further.... Good luck with your redesign!

You've got such a good thing going, I hope you won't change things too much. I want eye candy AND information from your site. The new options are pretty to look at, but make me nervous and slightly worried that I am missing something. Maybe the best thing would be to "modernize" your type; shift the links, features, etc., to the bottom of the page and run larger photos with the band of advertisers along one side. I love your blog and would happily read it the way it is forever! Thanks for asking our opinion. P.S. I have NEVER clicked on a "you might also like" link on your site or any other site. Don't know why, but there it is!

I vote for 4. Timeslide

Regular view for sure!! If I had to choose between the others, I'd pick timeslide. I like to see type!

I had fallen off the poppytalk wagon for whatever reason but came back to check in. Hit Flipcard but got Mosaic and just enjoyed the different interface, more visual. I like the option of more than one way to experience the site like Gawker, SFist. Thanks, mabarrett4ataoldotcom

I don't like any of the examples. They are not the character of poppytalk. Please stay as you are. The other designs look commercial, clean, not like diy, they are other philosophy. Please excuse my bad English.
Greets from Germany
Kathness

I prefer the layout that you have now to the other options. There have been a couple of blogs that I used to read daily that have made major changes that I hardly read now based on new and complicated layouts. Your content is so great that I think it will showcase itself!

First of all, I just wanna say, always love coming to your blog and I think it's totally cool that you're so popular and you are using blogger still. And with that being said, I checked out all of these delightful features. And I love the mosaic best and the snapshot second. Good luck with the changeover. Looking forward to seeing the new look, although, I'm quite happy with the current one too.

Rambles with Reese
http://rambleswithreese.etsy.com

Mosaic and Flipcare are visually stunning - and allow me to see aesthetic trends and themes by juxtaposing the images you've compiled but I would be afraid of missing a lot of things that I serendipitously and passively find scrolling through your traditional posts. It's the unknown "what will I find that I didn't have to actively seek or click on" that draws me to your blog in the first place.

Abby

Hm. Change. My old nemesis. To be honest, I find most of the other veiws confusing, the timeslide option is maybe the best out of those. I prefer the classic blog layout, though, as you can grasp what the article is about straight away, without having to click open another view.

I have been reading this blog for such a long time, I am looking forward to the redesign. I would leave the blog design the way it is. You are able to easily tell a story with photos and text in the current style of blog posting. The other view options are much to hard to follow. I wouldn't know where to look, so much visual stimulation makes it difficult for the reader to figure out what they should be paying attention to.

#6! I find the current layout easy to use and fun to navigate.

Have you ever looked in to changing over to wordpress? I manage a blog on Wordpress for work and it's extremely user friendly and it has the capability to formatted for any design. It also has some better pre-made templates. I enjoy that your Blog is standard format, it makes it easier to read and navigate. A lot of the new templates feel a bit chaotic and you don't know where too look. With a standard scrolling blog it organizes your content visually much better. I do however like the option "timeslide" that you posted. It just needs a little handmade love to it.

i agree with everybody, please leave it as is. you might want to rework the design if you are tired of it (i still like it very much), but not the layout. the other layouts are hard to navigate and are time consuming. their content is hard to figure out. thank you for asking, this is very considerate of you!
p.s. poppytalk is one of my favorite design site... and it's canadian!

Definitely either leave it as it is, or timeslide- the others are too busy and eat up the content. I do like the eternal scroll function. Otherwise, it looks a bit too much like Pinterest or sites like that (which I love!), but I don't find so conducive to blogging with more content than a single photo per post.

Hope that helps!

i love poppytalk as is! if you crave change just update your fonts and layout a little. all those new designs look like photo tumblers....:( you are more than that!
if i had to choose though i would pick sidebar...
<3 <3

I love it the way it is, actually!
I do like number 2, but it just reminds me of Pinterest and it's not very blog-like...too hard to read/navigate. I think the way it is now is the best; easiest to follow and not tons of clicking and opening new tabs. :)

I'm with everyone else. Like the old song goes, "I love you just the way you are". Please don't change, all that new stuff, only gets me confused. Then I can't appreciate all the beauty, you have posted.

I agree as well. Those other views are neat but they make you click a lot more to read the content, and I'd rather just see it post by post as it is. I can't wait to see what new design you have cooked up! I hope it all goes smoothly.

I love mosaic!

I would love it if the blog remained as it is. None of the other content would load properly for me... all really slow and buggy.

Sorry to be a stick-in-the-mud :(

I really dislike the first three options. I find the traditional style the best, but if I had to choose, time style is all right. The other three are just far too busy.

I like the traditional blog best -- it's a real mix of words and images, and the chronology makes sense. However, of the four alternatives you showed, I like #2 the best for the mixed sizes of images and the inclusion of words, and #4 second best for the words, although I miss the number of images.

Aw...don't leave us...Blogger just won't be the same.
Your blog is too good to give up however, so I think I'll just play tag-along and follow to your next inter-web destination.

Regarding views:
Mosaic had the most dynamic look I think, but if simple is what you're aching for then timeline is a very nice fix.

Best of luck to you in this time of exciting changes!

Cool ideas but I love the blog in the format it's in. Much easier to read and I like it laid out in chronilogical order so I can catch up when I miss a day or two.

Keep it as is, the other versions seem a bit overwhelming- to much clicking and going back. Bad for useability. :)

I love the way the site is now! Leave it be! MMMMUAH!!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Oh, please...leave it the way it is. I suppose I'm old fashioned, but I love to be able to go from one blog to another without switching gears.

i love the mosaic - but kind of understand the general consensus. whatever you do though i'm sure it'll be cool.

while i love the "look" of some of the new formats (especially the mosaic), i too find them somewhat difficult to navigate. i think they function best as "view" features, as blogger currently offers them, rather than as a mainpage template. honestly, i think the regular format is most user-friendly, but if you really want something fresh and cutting edge, of the new design options i find the snapshot to be the easiest to navigate. it is clear and i can easily find interesting content that jumps out at me mostly based on visuals, but i also get a snippet of text when i hover over it, like a preview or sneakpeak. the mosaic is most visually arresting, and the flipcard is far too cluttered. the timeline is kind of interesting if you like the idea of the archive.

i love popptalk and am a regular reader who will continue to read regardless of new or old designs. i enjoy the blog as is, however, i would recommend cleaning up the sidebar. it is full of SO MUCH (which is not in itself a bad thing), but i often have a hard time finding what i am looking for, especially the search bar - when i want to find something i recall seeing or reading but never bookmarked, which actually happens a lot. so i would recommend making it more visible and accessible, because right now it gets lost among everything else.

good luck and i'm sure you'll make it beautiful regardless of what interface you decide on!

xo

as an afterthought, the one thing i do really like about the new interfaces is that they make it a lot easier to discover previous posts/slightly older content. for example, if i haven't visited the blog for a few days, i can easily see what i missed and find what interests me most, whereas with the regular design format, i have to endless scroll and keep clicking on previous pages, which can become exhausting.

As much as I like how clean some of these options look, the functionality is just not there for me.

I would like to see you keep the existing format, for I especially love that I don't have to click to read more after the jump. However i would recommend having less posts per page, for sometimes the load time is longer due to all of the images on the page.

Looking forward to the refresh!

I pick #5 as well. The others took forever to load and didn't make today's content readily obvious. Maybe if the others had fewer boxes it might be more accessible but mostly it was jumbly which is in keeping with most of the comments I've seen here today.