It's not ugly, it's just...mmmmmm...unpretentious.

Posted by: Tina at April 5, 2005 01:55 PM

NOOOOOO! :P

Its the simplicity of the site that I and I think most of yuor readers like, primarily as it makes it seem like your just some normal guy who that we know who has a blog. Don't get all too professional on us! :P

My humble effort is here

Posted by: Noel Burke at April 5, 2005 01:58 PM

Ummm.. it's a little on the homely side.

No offense.

Still good stuff though.

hmj

Posted by: groonk at April 5, 2005 01:58 PM

No! First blog redesign, then whats next?! Camwhore? AMAZON WISHLISTS?!

Posted by: popa at April 5, 2005 02:00 PM

"You ain't got no alibi"

/Wilcats

Careful, dude! You're going to put yourself on the hook for an overhaul now! Pressure!

Ok, this site isn't pretty. But it's homey. I think it really just needs to be reorganized a bit-- not necessarily overhauled. It's not bogged down with bells and/or whistles: which is nice.

Haven't you gotten like a ZILLION offers from peeps looking to redesign it for you as a "favor"?

'Course you have.

I wouldn't stress about redoing it. Writing best-sellers has GOT to be better than writing Web applications.

--AJ @ Egg Radio

Posted by: AJ at April 5, 2005 02:01 PM

Noo, don't takes the precious from usss. The beautiful, simple preciousss!

Posted by: glitchnyc.com at April 5, 2005 02:05 PM

There's something to be said for simplicity. Then again, there's a lot of cool stuff you can do (thining CSS), and I'm sure your coding skills have come a long way since 2001. You don't want to get too fru-fru, though; you still want people to take you seriously. There's a lot of 'bells and whistles' out there. Eh, just don't fire the monkeys. ;)

Posted by: naiah christine earhart at April 5, 2005 02:11 PM

p.s. When I try to comment from my iBook, I get DSBL blackholed, but it'll let me post from the (Windows-driven) PC on the same connection.

Cute irony.

Posted by: naiah christine earhart at April 5, 2005 02:15 PM

you should just read the RSS feed, Wil ;) then you don't need to care about it looking ugly or not.

Posted by: bidrohi at April 5, 2005 02:20 PM

Who cares?

"Substance over style any time," I always say and your site has plenty of substance.

Methinks your time is best spent elsewhere... like maybe doing a "Stand By Me" commentary or working on a new comedy skit for your troupe or writing a fictional short story and sharing it with us or ...

Posted by: Alan at April 5, 2005 02:21 PM

One can do alot of really cool things with CSS these days. I have a feeble attempt up on my website. I don't care to mess with graphics so I don't ever make anything that fancy. OTOH the new wordpress default theme looks really nice.

Posted by: spi at April 5, 2005 02:25 PM

I don't care what it looks like, I just want it to load fast on my crappy dial-up connection.

Posted by: FNRThomas at April 5, 2005 02:51 PM

It's a simple and clear design at the moment. My only complaint is the right-hand column is a bit graphic-heavy and takes forever to load (even on broadband!) but since I usually read you on RSS it doesn't matter to me so much. If you want to redesign it, obviously remember the content is the most important thing.

BTW I think you've made the right decision about AdSense! Don't let anyone else decide what pops up alongside your writing. If the vet's bills are a problem, put a little 'donate' button on a sidebar. Your readers have been through it with you, with both Sketch and now Felix. I don't mind helping out with the vets' bills.

cat mojo.conf > /dev/wil

Liam

Posted by: Liam at April 5, 2005 03:03 PM

It's functional; there's a lot worse that it could be.

Probably some coloring and perhaps a little reorganization would enhance its impact on the eyes; but it's really well suited to its purpose. Don't underestimate functionality.

Posted by: chaoticset at April 5, 2005 03:05 PM

I will send you cookies if you change the color to something less depressing.

You know I'm not kidding.

Posted by: Cookie at April 5, 2005 03:09 PM

The site's design is very simple. And that pleases people. Your site Wil is one of the very few sites online that doesn't require alot of eye candy to be freaking awesome.

I'd say, if you're going to revamp it, stick with the simplistic style.

Posted by: Mettaur at April 5, 2005 03:13 PM

Wil -- we all appreciate your non-sucking efforts. I honestly don't think it needs much work... whatever you can do to streamline and/or make more efficient would be great, but overall, the site's simplicity and enduring usability are its greatest assests.
(imo)

Posted by: BOCK at April 5, 2005 03:25 PM

90% of your problem is the enormous, garish BlogAds. If it were me I'd replace those with AdSense stuff (and probably make more money besides... although you'd be feeding the don't-be-evil beast.)

Posted by: misuba at April 5, 2005 03:28 PM

Excellent Smithers.... I don't know about the "ugliest"... However, fresh looks bring fresh readers ;) I look forward to the changes!

Posted by: Glyn Evans at April 5, 2005 03:49 PM

Wil,
I like the look of your blog. It's simple, easy on the eye, unpretentious and not flashy...so ugly is not how I would describe it.

However, that doesn't mean you can't make it better. You seem happy tinkering around the 'puter and creating things anyways. Sounds like a fun project. I'm sure we from the the peanut gallery will let you know if you do something really bad!

Posted by: Holly at April 5, 2005 03:50 PM

Hey Wil,
Sounds nice, an update. :) I wonder why people get all scared of bells and whistles and 300k background images.. :) Theres lots of gorgeous stuff to do with simple coding, that'll keep the site fast, simple, usable all in one :) I'm sure its going to rock :)

Posted by: releaze at April 5, 2005 03:59 PM

haha, Wil, this entry reminds me of something.

Remember when you were on TechTV, probably about a year ago now, (on TSS I believe, though, it could have been Unscrewed, i'm not sure) when you were talking about your blog with Martin Sergent. You were talking about how bad your old blog looked, and they put a graphic of your current (this one) blog on the monitor and Martin said something along the lines of, "Yeah, look at that, that's horrible" thinking it was your old blog. Heh, sorry, bit of a tangent there.

Aaanywho, I love this design, but change can be fun. I usually can't go a few months without changing the design of my blog. I'm amazed you've gone...4 years is it now?

Can't wait to see the changes!

-cory

Posted by: Cory at April 5, 2005 04:08 PM

I'd be willing to bet you just need to make some sort of change period.

You just went through a pretty traumatic experience and sometimes people need to make some sort of change in their lives afterward. I think it gives them a sense of control over what's happening with them.

Make whatever changes you want to the site to make you feel comfortable. We'll all love whatever you do.

Posted by: ShelaghC at April 5, 2005 07:35 PM

Please, for Pete's sake, get rid of the BlogAds! My previous comment about AdSense stands.

Yes, the site might be a little simple, but that's part of its charm. I wouldn't be opposed to an overhaul (I do my site about once a year, but I refuse to link because at the moment it is truly U.G.L.Y) at all, but don't lose that charm. To me it says "This is an up-front honest site and I do not hide secret disclaimers or demonic incantations in the source code." By all means, though, throw off the chains of stagnation! New site layouts for everyone!

(You do know what you're getting yourself into, right?) *Relives the horror of her last site overhaul*

Posted by: Code Pirate at April 5, 2005 07:44 PM

Hey Wil..
personally, i think your site is pretty much just fine..
but if you are really looking to make some changes, i'd point you in this direction..
www.zeldman.com
Jeffery Zeldman is pretty much considered the godfather of webdesign..functionality being his specialty...he's done work for Apple and Adobe if that counts for anything..
and if you need tips on any of the html markup his online mag is THE place for that sort of thing..
it's called 'a list apart' and it's the corner stone for all webdesigners..
http://www.alistapart.com/
also see
http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=/158/158.css&page=0
and (of course)
http://www.dooce.com/

Posted by: Tyson at April 5, 2005 07:46 PM

Hey Wil,

I can only encourge you to redesign or get a professional designer to turn your site into something that people cannot keep their eyes off nor be able to stop revisiting.
About your ads, I would only use specific ones such as ads related to movies and TV shows you yourself have been in or of course the new search engine igrep of which you have become a major player (proud of you :) )

Adsense of course if good since it provides results about your content.

Glad to see you back,

Mike

Posted by: Site Tutor Web Design and Marketing at April 5, 2005 07:58 PM

Wil, I very much like you and your site, so please don't be offended by the following, as I say it only as a suggestion: the igrep search bar at the top of your site adds a "sellout" quality, which is very unbecoming. Especially because through your writing you have shown that you're more anti-sellout than the average guy.

Posted by: DigiSage at April 5, 2005 08:22 PM

Hey Wil,

I want to tell you one thing!! Your website is one of the best around. I'm not just saying that to be saying. As someone said in a previous comment, reading your site feels like reading a website of a close friend.They said something like that. My quotes are not worth 2 cents. Just to be able to read your daily updates about your life, makes my day go better. As long as this website is around, I will be to. This is one of the things I look forward to in my day. I know how you feel about not having anytime. Time left me years ago!! I don't know how anyone else feels, but your website is great no matter what it looks like. Whatever you do or change will only make it that much better. I'm going to get off this computer now because we are having a really bad lighting storm, and my computer ain't to far from the window. I'm afraid if I don't get off now, the heavy lighting will off me!! Best wishes to You, Anne, and your family. All of you are in my thoughts everyday!!

Posted by: JCade at April 5, 2005 08:27 PM

I can only encourge you to redesign or get a professional designer...

We'll give the guy points for self promotion, but the original point was NOT to be like all the other celebrity sites, so I hope you won't take him up on it.

BTW, when I signed it, it gave my some sort of block error and I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to post a comment. Not that my comments are all that important. In fact, lately, I've been really pissing people off. And yet at the same time, people who I thought were ignoring me because I was too blunt or mean or whatever, are now replying to what I write.

After careful consideration (3 seconds), I've determined that the Universe has gone insane and there isn't anything really wrong - everyone is just confused.

Or maybe it's just me.

Fnord.

Posted by: MamaSlyth at April 5, 2005 08:29 PM

Wil

I hope it wasn't partly my comment that spurred your post about change. After all who I am but some chump that has nothing better to do than read your blog. It was the first time I felt I had a comment to make (about the loss of furred loved ones) and I feel terrible that I my have offended you with my off handed comment about the look of this place. As I said this is a personal site and they can look any damn way.

That said, though, change is always good.

Peace.

Posted by: B at April 5, 2005 08:31 PM

I highly recommend Wordpress, if you can get it up and running. It's absolutely exquisite!

Posted by: Tina at April 5, 2005 08:35 PM

You know what is semi-annoying? When reading a blog thru bloglines, I see something like "I changed my design", "my blog is ugly", or something as such, and it makes me have to then actually venture over to the blog to see what it looks like. Yeah yeah, I'm whining. But your blog isn't bad! So you made me take a peek for no reason!! LOL

(and yes, I should get outside of bloglines more and actually visit blogs)

Posted by: Angie at April 5, 2005 08:39 PM

Will, just be sure your timing is right and you have the time and creative energy to mess with it. Sure, we all need to rearrange things now and again. But it sounds like you've been pretty traumatized lately. How 'bout waiting till the new show is up and running and home life is settled down a bit.

Whatever you do, your site is addictive. Keep it up!

Posted by: anniehay at April 5, 2005 08:54 PM

Hi Wil,

Your blog is definitely not the worst design I have ever seen before. I think you would be better served by simply tidying up your current site or checking out some of the previously recommended csszengarden stuff, it's quite good.

If you are seriously looking into WP I would highly recommend installing the fully installed version from Alex King's website (www.alexking.org). He has preinstalled a lot of the plugins and done most of the work for you already. But note that it is possible for people to spam your comment section with WP, right now on my own site (currently outdated since November) I have over 200 spam messages to be moderated/deleted. I know there are spam killers but I haven't had the time to research them deeply.

Cheers and happy webredesigning (is that a word?)!

Chris

Posted by: Dynamo23 at April 5, 2005 08:56 PM

Need any help with getting all the banners to the same size Wil??..

Take a short time in Image Ready..

Cheers,

Keith

Posted by: Keith Xgaming at April 5, 2005 09:10 PM

You might take a look at http://www.geeklog.net/
I've tried WordPress, and it really wouldn't work for me, no matter what I did to it. Before I installed things to my site the way it is now, I worked with Geeklog and liked it a lot.

Posted by: Cherith at April 5, 2005 09:21 PM

Will, you make me laugh. Did you know how funny you are? I am so glad I found you and I hope you don't mind me visiting often. Yep, your Blog is daggy but if it had of been too professional I probably would not have stopped to read it and wouldn't be here now. I actually know who you are now... When I first arrived I thought who is Will Wheaton? It's all coming back to me now! Please stop by my blog for some more uninspiration at

Lesley's Life

Oh, before I go, I totally agree with cutting back on the ad's it so distracts from you. Are you going to include more pics in your gallery? Do you know your setting yourself up for some big expectations! Not off me though, I will be happy as long as it does not take too long to load and I am able to read about your day.

Posted by: LesleyInAustralia at April 5, 2005 10:01 PM

So feeling bad about the comment about your site, and wasting more of my life looking at picture of your life, the bee pictures inspired me to make a honeycomb like design which I found amusing. I did it in red on black but then changed it to the purple you have here... you can check out the images on my blog http://iamlove.blogspot.com/

- and thanks Wil for spurring my creative juices. May the juices flow when you find the time to redesign.

buh-bye

Posted by: B at April 5, 2005 10:22 PM

Wil,

Its 1:20 am in Cleveland and I just finished putting primer on the basement walls of my 55 year old house. The previous owner hadn't done a single coat of paint down there in 55 years (he was a NASA engineer and presumably had better worlds to worry about). But the primer is now on the walls and just the difference in what was and what can now come forth is pretty cool. Which is to say that I'll go out on a limb and wholeheartedly agree your color scheme and layout are severaly asthetically-challenged. I totally support getting primer on the walls.

Nonetheless its 1:23 am and I still have to check in here to see if you posted before I steal 4 hours of sleep. 'The play's the thing' should be your blog's motto. In the end it doesn't matter what this basement looks like - we all come for the company...
P.S. for those of us stuck with little or no computer savvy - anyone care to tell me what the RSS is? I know I could google it, but I'm a little sleepy now. Many thanks...
P.P.S. Hope I'm not breaking any blog-posting rules, but I have a huge radio antenna in my backyard that anyone who wants to dismantle can have. I think its mostly of historical value, but just FYI.

Posted by: Iakaris at April 5, 2005 10:30 PM

Wil:
You're biggest problem is the ads. It looks like you're giving Martha Stewart a run for her money!

PLEASE DON'T HIT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;-)

Scott

Posted by: Scott T at April 5, 2005 10:49 PM

i'm all about the words you write here...but if change is coming...i hope there is plenty of green in the color scheme.

Posted by: d. burr at April 5, 2005 11:22 PM

When I started reading your blog, I felt that you were (and still are) raising a lot of awareness about the world around us.

I think the redesigning feeling you have is just a spring cleaning bug going virtual. :p You can probably reduce some clutter or you can do what I do when I clean: reorganize the whole thing and find a place for everything! Makes things look neater and you get to keep everything (yeah pack rat that I am).

Posted by: Crissie at April 5, 2005 11:25 PM

Wil,

first: the site isn't *that* ugly....

On WordPress: if you can't get it up and running in 5 minutes, you're seriously doing something wrong. What more is there than setting permissions on the directories and editing the database password?

While you're at it, have a look at www.b2evolution.net, WP's twin brother. It has an antispam feature that absolutely rocks! I've been using it on my site for more than a year now, and I'd never go back to MT....

Cheers from germany,
Frank.

Posted by: Frank Koehntopp at April 5, 2005 11:56 PM

I've *just* successfully set up a WordPress 1.5 blog for my research. It's not fully launched yet, but the technical stuff is done, including customization of the skin etc.

If go for WordPress and need help send me a note: reverendp[AT]gmail.com

Oh yeah, if you'd like to have a look, the current URL is http://research.funpic.de

Posted by: Burn at April 6, 2005 12:06 AM

I have set up Wordpress for a couple of sites and I really like it. Version 1.5 is greatly improved over previous versions. It's worth the effort, and the site Chris mentioned above, www.alexking.org, has a huge number of themes as well.

Most install issues almost invariably are a problem with user rights to your database or typos in the config file. Just make sure your user has all rights to your Wordpress database, and can access the database from localhost (also dont forget to rename your config file, assuming you used the sample), and double check your spelling :-p.

Posted by: harkonnen at April 6, 2005 12:10 AM

Add me to the list of "I use Wordpress and offer my services" too. It really didn't take long for me to get it functional, it's the site design that takes the longest.

cheers

Posted by: lomara at April 6, 2005 12:43 AM

installing wordpress was easy, customising was not. with mt you can just output certain information to a singular file and use that file on your website, and with wordpress i just cant get that to work. I have to integrate my whole site into the wordpress theme. I dont know if that is what Wil means, but i personally find it annoying, and its one of the reasons why my current website is so fugly, because i'm still struggling with it :') (and i seriously pay no attention to it atm)

other than that, i love the looks of the program, but its just not flexible enough...

Posted by: releaze at April 6, 2005 01:51 AM

installing wordpress was easy, customising was not. with mt you can just output certain information to a singular file and use that file on your website, and with wordpress i just cant get that to work. I have to integrate my whole site into the wordpress theme. I dont know if that is what Wil means, but i personally find it annoying, and its one of the reasons why my current website is so fugly, because i'm still struggling with it :') (and i seriously pay no attention to it atm)

other than that, i love the looks of the program, but its just not flexible enough...

Posted by: releaze at April 6, 2005 01:51 AM

hey wil,
look forward to the new look WWdN, can't wait to see it.

hope you're well, and that you made it to Hollywood on time. hope you can figure out a way to make Bending Spacetime a little easier! if i can do it, i'll let you know!

take care
rach

Posted by: rach at April 6, 2005 03:30 AM

Your site isn't ugly. It's simple and easy on the eyes. Besides, we come here for the content, not the looks. It's your writing we enjoy! ;) I'm sure whatever you decide to do for the "new look" will be fine.

Hope you are doing better today. I know how difficult things have been lately with Felix and all. *hugs to you and Anne*

Posted by: Sue R at April 6, 2005 03:35 AM

Hey Wil. Your site's not bad. It's better than mine was up to about a week ago and I finally did a major redesign and ALSO went with Wordpress. They're documentation on their website is TEN TIMES better than anything they've included in the product. It took me about a week to figure out the little things in order to code it up. I did, however, manage to get it installed in less than 5 minutes. Sorry, man. It does help to follow the getting started directions on their website step by step. I first did a beta.mysite.com to play with it and then converted the whole thing to my www.mysite.com main area. I was able to follow their directions on moving the site to manage the mySQL database as directed on their site, so their codex has proven the best documentation they provide.

I do like their comment spam handling methods, and I especially like that it's a content managment system which allows you to use your templates for full site integration. Movable Type might have similar things. Truth be told, I didn't review MT as well as I could have as this was a move off of blogger to my own system and I decided on Wordpress from the outset. The one big difference I can immediately see between the two are how Trackbacks are handled, but that might also be my inexperience with the medium.

Posted by: Elana at April 6, 2005 04:18 AM

I use wordpress and I'm sure once you get it installed you'll be a lot more impressed with it. I used to use MT but threw it out the window when I got WP.
When doing the Extreme Makeover:Web Site Edition, get into using CSS Style Templates, it's what I use and it makes designing a whole lot easier and better.
As far as bells and whistles go, you can have a pretty deasant site with some simple graphic images that are extremely small in file size. Like my background that's only a 1x30px image that's only going across the top of the page using CSS and the teplates place holders also use css to fill in backgrounds using a simple x - y repeat css style. I bet we can expect a great site to come.
Can't wait!

Posted by: MacBros at April 6, 2005 04:24 AM

"Bending Spacetime is getting *really* hard, you guys."

Well no kidding! You no longer have access to an annual axionic plasma sensor NOT TO MENTION the metaphasic containment shield. Those things are in short supply and the freaking technobabble department depleted the universe of those babies years ago.

Posted by: jslicer at April 6, 2005 05:18 AM

I changed over to wordpress 1.5 last week. My 18 year old daughter had to help me with the change. I couldn't figure out how to do it. It works fine but for some reason people using internet explorer can't see the content in my side bar. The wordpress people are very helpful.

madie

Posted by: Madie at April 6, 2005 05:40 AM

I don't think the ads have been too bad. It hasn't at all been a matter of the ads taking over the sight. They're visible, but not intrusive, and definitely not "taking over". The only reason that I was seriously aware of them was because your site and Therisa Neilson Hayden's site was running the same "what the networks don't want you to see" religious ad a few weeks ago for several days running.

If you take the blog ads down (those are the ones on the right column, right?), will you still have the text ads on the left? As soon as I get my own blog going a little bit (www.craigsteffen.net/blog/) I'm thinking about putting an ad up.

Posted by: Craig Steffen at April 6, 2005 06:13 AM

I wasn't trying to sell Wil. I wasn't talking about a corporate looking design either. I run across cool freelancers all day like this dude:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-_h25kw41f6NhaW5Hzj5J_zmx1A--
btw Wil is going to be a part of developing the new igrep search engine
http://forums.seochat.com/
It's going to be great!
Mike

Posted by: Site Tutor Web Design and Marketing at April 6, 2005 06:19 AM

Sorry about the unclickable links, just paste them into your browser if you want to look at them.

Posted by: Site Tutor Web Design and Marketing at April 6, 2005 06:25 AM

I've done three Wordpress installations lately as well as a couple of upgrades to 1.5. I don't know that I'm nerdier than you but I'm willing to scratch my head over it if you need a hand, Wil. I'm reading JAG, btw, and it's really good.

Posted by: scott d. feldstein at April 6, 2005 06:45 AM

Hopefully stick with a simple design/layout (mostly all your site needs is a clean up of the code...prove your geekness and run it through http://validator.w3.org/ (shoot for xhtml 1.0 (if not 1.1) and http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ ).

Posted by: Unearthed Ruminator at April 6, 2005 06:53 AM

I agree, minor changes can make a major difference :)

Posted by: Site Tutor Web Design and Marketing at April 6, 2005 07:08 AM

After reading comments in your last entry I decided to give WP another go. The most recent version has made some great improvements and I switched one of my blogs from MT, and plan on switching the other just as soon as I've given WP an extended in depth test run just to make sure I'm not missing anything. After the initial learning curve I actually found it much easier to setup and maintain than MT. In fact in my experimentations I completely uninstalled and reinstalled 3 or 4 times painlessly, which is not something I would try in MT. My other comments can be found here:
http://heathallyn.com/home/archives/51

Posted by: Heath Allyn at April 6, 2005 07:12 AM

I'd be willing to set up a basic XHTML/CSS template for you Wil, laid out in 3 columns exactly as the site is now...using strictly CSS for layout and whatnot (in other words, no table, cell, or column tags, at all). I actually have one around here somewhere already done...been validated at the W3C already. It would be up to you where to put the content but the layout part would already be done. It wouldn't be too hard for you to modify the style sheet and allow for psuedo-skinning of your site either...if you were interested of course :}

Posted by: Frank at April 6, 2005 07:12 AM

Sorry to add to the noise, but I'm one of the WordPress developers. If you're still interested in trying to get WP going, let us know. We'll be glad to help you out. In the end, though, the important thing is to have a tool that you're comfortable with.

If you want to be able to try out a bunch of different systems, visit opensourceCMS.com.

They have demo installs of a *ton* of different blog/cms systems that you can take for a test drive.

Posted by: Dougal at April 6, 2005 07:21 AM

U-G-L-Y you ain't got no aliby you UGLY!

***---***little itty bitty request-nessy***---***
mr. wheaton sir, for us lowly folks sneaking a peek at your blog from the dregs of our cubicles, would it be possible to make it so that when we try to make the view screen as small as possible, the entire site doesn't come into the little thing? it makes it impossible to read your site... in a covert way.
thanks!
maria contessa III

Posted by: mariazmess at April 6, 2005 07:38 AM

Right now, I feel like WWdN is an explosion of advertising, and the content is struggling to get a seat at the table.

I don't get that impression at all.

it's almost like my creative and techincal skills are inversely proportional to each other

Sort of like you are shifting points between your INT and CHR attributes? Remember, you have to lower one by two to raise the other by one. Don't shift them back and forth too much.

Posted by: Alan at April 6, 2005 08:05 AM

There is nothing wrong with advertisements on a blog as long as it is related to what people might be interested in

Posted by: Site Tutor Web Design and Marketing at April 6, 2005 08:44 AM

Well I wasn't going to say anything but... ; )
Looking forward to the changes. Might I suggest something in a cornflower blue.

Posted by: David Banner at April 6, 2005 08:54 AM

In all honesty? I've noticed the adverts creeping in and taking over for a while now, and that igreb search bar at the top.....eeewww! Slower page loads..annoying flash animation.....I come here for one reason only - to read your blog. I'm looking forward to an updated "This is me, Wil Wheaton" look. Keep it simple....simple is good.....just add your edge to it. Just my lame opinion.

Sharfa

Posted by: Sharfa at April 6, 2005 09:56 AM

Very happy to hear you're going to be cleaning out some of these ads, they are *very* distracting.

Posted by: logovo at April 6, 2005 10:58 AM

It just better not SUCK this time wheaton!

*runs*

Posted by: NephraTari at April 6, 2005 12:31 PM

I am VERY glad to hear about the Ads. :)A new look will just make WWdN even better then it already is, refreshing actually.

Posted by: Quincey at April 6, 2005 12:53 PM

Well, I won't lie... I am glad to see the the ads go.... Cluttered up the place, IMHO.
Not like I should talk.. my blog is a mess. Like my room.

Good luck with the overhaul, Wil! I'm TRYING to teach myself HTML so I can make my blog purty as well!

Posted by: Jeannette311 at April 6, 2005 01:10 PM

Wil,

My name is Jennifer Oestreich, I work for Overstock.com Auctions. http://auctions.overstock.com/

I have been an avid reader for years, and I was actually lucky enough to get a first edition of Dancing Barefoot! I saw that you mentioned that you wanted to sell some autographed items to raise money for your vet bills, I just wanted to direct you to our site.

Please conact me if you are interested in auctioning off your items on our site, I will make sure you are treated well, and get's loads of exposure.

joestreich@overstock.com (I am going to send you an email as well)

Thanks!!

Jennifer Oestreich
Auctions Marketing Manager
joestreich@overstock.com

Posted by: Cowbeverly at April 6, 2005 01:39 PM

I still think Google Ads aren't obtrusive in any way, and are too profitable for you not to use them. At least try them out for a week or two and see how they do.

Posted by: alan at April 6, 2005 02:04 PM

Hey Wil,

I've been watching TNG lately on Spike. It makes me realize how much fun it would have been for you. After doing musicals and plays with school, you come to appreciate the time you had just hanging out with everyone. Even if there was all this fighting and bullshit between people, there's just so much fun to be remembered! I love TNG. It's awesome. You were awesome, I don't know why people hated Wesley so much. Well, I have to go. I have to keep planning stuff for my old high school's trip to a drama festival. It's called DTASC. Have you ever heard of it? If so, that's fantastic! I love DTASC. Looking forward to the new site.

Peace, Love and Donuts,
Ruth

Posted by: Ruth at April 6, 2005 02:07 PM

Oh yeah, I forgot something. I finished your book, and in the back you thank Steve Jackson. My dad knows Steve Jackson through his game store in Riverside. It's kind of weird. Like Kevin Bacon's thing of six degrees of separation. I know my dad (obviously), who knows Steve Jackson, who knows you. Alright!

Posted by: Ruth at April 6, 2005 02:16 PM

Wordpress is what I use, and I'm getting along with it so far. I had a friend help me set it up, though. Sorry about your troubles with it. My firewall conflicted with it, so there's an idea to try...
All I ask with the revamp is that you take pity on those of us still on dialup. No, I can't afford a high-speed connection. Your site has gotten quite a bit slower to load - I'm sure it's because of the ads. Have fun redecorating! Can't wait to see the results!

Posted by: ~S at April 6, 2005 03:22 PM

Wil,

Please keep the blue, as I find it the perfect color with which to read your blog.

Thanks,

Stu
(who enjoys a nice parenthetical expression every now and then)

Posted by: Stu mark at April 6, 2005 03:32 PM

My only problem with the layout is the top left corner - either make the picture bigger or the border smaller. I would keep the volor scheme pretty much the same - I would imagine it's become something of a signature for the site. But as long as the words in the middle remain the same, a bunch of colored boxes is largely irrelevant.

Posted by: KhromeGnome at April 6, 2005 03:44 PM

Please

please

please

please

PLEASE don't go for one of those microscopic font-size CSS layouts with light grey text on a white background!!!

The current design is great in my opinion, legible text and easy-on-the-eyes colors.

Posted by: Blog Sceptic at April 6, 2005 04:15 PM

*shrugs* There's nothing wrong with the site though! Honestly!

Posted by: Kiara at April 6, 2005 04:48 PM

Wil,
What I love about your site and especially your blog is how it's all layed out with the big date and title and how you have what to listen to and watch on the sides. I love the look because it's easy to read and feels homey.
In my opinion a change is not necessary, but maybe the new design will be really far out :)

Posted by: Kjarka at April 6, 2005 05:17 PM

Have you considered using blojsom as your blog software? If you need help with set-up I can vouch for the creator of blojsom. He will walk you through any problems you may encounter with the set-up. blojsom is the blog software that will be packaged with the new Apple server software in it's next release.

Posted by: chad at April 6, 2005 05:48 PM

Hey Wil,

Your friends at slashdot still love you too. Drop by sometime and shoot the breeze...

Love RocketRainbow

Posted by: Rocket Rainbow at April 6, 2005 06:08 PM

I have to agree that Overstock is one of the best affiliate programs out there with the best looking ads out there.

I have added my blog in the link below, a free blogger.com one.

Looks kinda spotty but it beats a being too plain.

Posted by: Site Tutor Web Design and Marketing at April 6, 2005 06:48 PM

btw did you guys notice that being a geek has become cool? Well ... in some cases hehe

Posted by: Site Tutor Web Design and Marketing at April 6, 2005 07:26 PM

Dude, I just wish Doogie up there would quit staring at me. Something about his expression freaks me out.

Have fun playing with the design. That's what it's for, really.

We never really grow up...we just get better toys.

Posted by: MtDewAddict at April 6, 2005 09:47 PM

Wil, I personally have no problem with you advertising on your site. That being said, I don't care for animated gifs, and I have blogad images blocked in Firefox via adblock...but I can still see the text and links, and I've clicked thru several times on ones I find interesting (it's how I got addicted to Egg radio.)

You built the site yourself, there are costs involved in maintaining it, and I don't think any of the regular visitors mind you making some moolah off of it. If you could find a way to do the Google ads in a low-key way I think that would be fine.

Also, thanks for the link to the World Poker Tour video game...I bought it for my nephews as a birthday present, and I think they'll really like it.

Posted by: Chuck at April 6, 2005 10:39 PM

1. we are visual creatures
2. what we present to the world is often reflected in what the world thinks of us.
3. time to spice things up a tad, looking a little white-bread

Posted by: kensan at April 6, 2005 11:08 PM

Looking forward to the changes Wil. Good luck.

Josh

Posted by: ralerjak222 at April 7, 2005 05:26 AM

Wil,
I am not a computer geek by any means. Change the site, don't change the site, I will still come and read! Speaking of reading, I read in Entertainment Weekly recently they are rereleasing Stand By Me on DVD with extras, commentary, etc. They made no mention of you or any input you may have had. What's up with that exactly? Were you excluded or did you choose to not participate? I would have purchased it if I thought you were involved (that's probably the young girl crush talking there). I would love to find out about that... curious.

Sandra
sandraluihn@yahoo.com

Posted by: swl-mom2Bryn at April 7, 2005 05:52 AM

Wil,

The only thing I'd change about the site—aside from the occational colour-scheme change—would be the removal of the "Civilian Deaths" scroll.  I know it's important to keep up-to-date on such things, but currently it's really distracting.

That said, like most of your audience, I don't believe WWdN need to undergo a major overhaul.  As DM I normally advocate fluff over crunch, but in this case the reverse is true.  Substance over style, any day, baby!

~Gaer

Posted by: gaerfindel at April 7, 2005 06:38 AM

Now I have to be in Hollywood 2 minutes ago.

lol, sounds like me. I'm always late, just ... never been to hollywood.

Anyhow, I suggest you not listen to anyone telling you to get a pro-designer. You're clever enough to do your own layout, that's for sure.

I design "professionally", more like, I design to get some extra cash occasionally. And let tell you, most professionals will make designing your site sound a *lot* harder than it actually is.

So, just stick it out, and if you have any trouble with scripts, ask about it on a free forum! There's pleanty of free help out there.

Best of luck to you, Wil!

Posted by: jude at April 7, 2005 08:48 AM

Hey Wil,

Wordpress rocks! I think you will enjoy it very much once you get it running. It is very easy to customize, xhtml/css/xfn/etc. friendly, and pretty fast under most circumstances. The 1.5 upgrade offers huge improvements and an additional feature to easily add static pages. There are many beautiful styles available too! They are great as is, or as a starting point for cusomization.

Posted by: LB at April 7, 2005 09:38 AM

Wil, Wil, Wil...

We don't come to your site to be amazed at the wonderful layout & graphics. We come to your site to be amazed by the content. We love that this actor that some of us grew up with and respect is just a regular schmo, and is willing to share his thoughts and life so freely with us.

Change it, don't change it - whatever. I'll keep visiting either way. Just don't get so preoccupied with how it looks that you stop putting the real important stuff into it.

Posted by: Rodan at April 7, 2005 12:03 PM

Hey Wil,

I added a link to your website to my new site. http://upsidedownBF.blogspot.com. I hope that is okay, if not, I will remove it.
Oh, and by the way, sorry to hear about Felix.

Posted by: peanut at April 7, 2005 12:03 PM

I'm a web designer by trade, and I use Squarespace.com for my blog. I highly recommend them. The user interface is easy enough for a beginning blogger and flexible enough for someone who knows what they're doing. It's the cat's meow, it is.

Fingersnaps,
Coffeegirl

Posted by: coffeegirl at April 7, 2005 02:22 PM

Your site's not that ugly, Wil. I agree about the ads, though.

Posted by: Steve Sutton at April 7, 2005 03:19 PM

Yes I agree... "You-Glee". Your site is becoming cluttered. (Note: I keep on returning because of your CONTENT and not the decor. Ewe r won ov thee feuw peepl hoo kan spel!)

SUGGESTION: Get rid of the trickle down supporters and create your own business with links to support yourself. It's okay to be a little narcissistic to support yourself and your family. If you find this suggestion more successful, you can always send me a Polo/T-Shirt with "50,000 Monkeys @ 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong - www.wilwheaton.net"

As for the massive array of your LINK BUTTONS, you can cycle them weekly/monthly a few at a time and guage their popularity by how many downloads each get. This way you can weed out or revamp the ones that are less popular.

Have fun with the "Redecorating". My vote for blog background color would be Black or Red - NOT!

Posted by: DustyTymes at April 7, 2005 04:08 PM

LOL! I've considered hinting at a redesign for some time but have been hesitant so as not to offend! ;) Hey if you want a nice site that is 100% Web Standard, accessible, and Mobile drop me a line! I'd love to contribute!

Posted by: Wil at April 7, 2005 07:18 PM

hope this link works. 8)

do the colors match?

see the WW everywhere... well i thought it was neat.

Posted by: B at April 7, 2005 07:35 PM

oh well the link didn't work right (no img allowed?). sorry - check it here...

wilweatonbanner1.jpg

peace

Posted by: B at April 7, 2005 07:41 PM

Hey Wil,
I'm not that techno-savy so bear with me here! No comment about your specific blog entry but I just purchased your books and read them with great interest. Wow. This may be a very strange thing to say (and I hope you understand what I mean), but it's weird to see you as a real, average person. Somehow, people that one sees on TV become 'larger-than-life'. I guess thats kind of like the first time you see your teacher in the grocery store or washing his car -- it's odd to think that they have lives outside of the classroom. Actors are real human beings! Who would have thought it :-)
I admit I'm a ST TNG fan (well-a closet fan :-)).
I loved your 'behind the scenes' stories. Opened up a whole new world. Thank you for your honesty. With those books (and this blog) you are really making yourself vulnerable to virtually anyone. That takes courage. A rare quality in these days of superficiality. Way to go!
Take care.

Posted by: afle22 at April 7, 2005 07:52 PM

Hi. I've been reading you for a while, but it's my first time to comment.
Your blog looks fine as it is, although I agree there is a little clutter.
If you're having problems with the comments - you could try adding haloscan instead.
Stay well
xxx

Posted by: Maz at April 8, 2005 12:05 AM

Good day Wil. I think what makes a good blog site is the content and not so much the design. You certainly have great content going on here and that is what's important. Clean and simplistic designs have always been a good move in designing blogs.

And regarding Wordpress 1.5 -- as some of the other commenters have already expressed, it's pretty much easy to install and seeing as you've been running MT, I'm sure it's going to be a walk in the park for you. The customization? Well, could take a bit of tweaking around, but if you enjoy tweaking around with the codes, then Wordpress is definitely much flexible in that sense.

Keep up the great work and good luck on what you decide on! :D

Posted by: Pia Miranda at April 8, 2005 07:18 AM

Before getting to involved, I strongly suggest reading Don't Make Me Think by Steven Krug.
The best book on usability and design I've read.

Posted by: Jacob_THG at April 8, 2005 07:46 AM

Geez, wading through all the sucking up here is worse than a lollipop convention.

I'll call it like it is.

Wil, the site redesign is long overdue. All the cool kids are pointing and laughing at the design.

Stick with MovableType, it's the most powerful and best supported app out there. The 3.x plug-in system is good.

Ask Jason Kottke for suggestions on the site. He's brilliant with design and knows his CSS.

And while I'm offering unsolicited advice, switch to Flickr for your moblog.

And lastly, update the FAQ.

Posted by: Cruftbox at April 8, 2005 08:43 AM

Hey Cruftbox,

First off, I don't think there's any sucking up going on at Wil's House Of Pancakes. I think there's just a lot of people who honestly like the blog the way it is (like me).

Second, Gee Whiz, The Cool Kids? Hey Wil, do you really want to sit at the Cool Kids table?

Third, Kottke's sight is too tightly packed. Also the headlines and subtext are too similar. I find his site to be too hard on the eyes. I like Wil's blog because it is so easy to read.

Wil, don't change a thing about the user interface. Please.

Posted by: Stu mark at April 8, 2005 10:48 AM

The changes coming are good ones, I promise. And Cruft is right about updating the FAQ. It's about three years out of date.

Some plans:

* Unclutter the whole damn thing, so it loads faster. This includes removing most of the graphic link buttons, limiting the number of text links on the index page, and severely limiting (if not completely removing) the BlogAds.

* Rebuild the entire site, either in Movable Type, or in WordPress. Right now, I'm playing with a development version of WordPress, and I'm very excited about what it can do. It may not be for me, but I'm enjoying the test drive.

* Get a CSS that works.

* Once the site is rebuilt, I'll be able to update the "static" pages more frequently and easily. Right now, I have to hand-code everything in the non-blog pages, and it's a pain in the ass. When I can use MT or WP to manage those pages, they will become far more relevant. (I'll leave the old pages in a archived directory, as a few readers have requested. They're a nice historical thingy, if nothing else.)

* I'm not going to mess with things too much. Most of the serious changes will occur at the markup level, and regular readers won't notice any real change in the content. Hopefully, it'll just be faster load times and more frequently updated content.

* Finally, I'm not making any announcements must yet, but . . . it rhymes with "podcast."

Posted by: Wil at April 8, 2005 11:12 AM

As an ex-MovableType user who recently switched to WordPress (and, trust me, my computer skills are extremely fewer than yours, surely), I suggest WordPress (no, they aren't paying me).

Honestly, your site is fine as it. Though I rarely read it (for some reason, many of my friends link to you). Take no offense; I just don't find myself with tons of spare time.

Hope you made Hollywood in time. Two minutes isn't much.

Posted by: Precocity13 at April 8, 2005 01:40 PM

Hey, Wil,
I just found out that my webhost (dreamhost) has a setup where they do the install of WP, and it just *works*. (Thinking baout moving my blog from livejournal to a subdomain of my site...) I know you've probably sunk a bunch of time into it now, but maybe check and see if logjamming has the same? G'luck!

Posted by: naiah christine earhart at April 8, 2005 01:41 PM

Hey, Wil,
I just found out that my webhost (dreamhost) has a setup where they do the install of WP, and it just *works*. (Thinking about moving my blog from livejournal to a subdomain of my site...) I know you've probably sunk a bunch of time into it now, but maybe check and see if logjamming has the same? G'luck!

Posted by: naiah christine earhart at April 8, 2005 01:41 PM

Hi, Wil. This is my first comment on your site although I have been reading pretty regularly for the last four months or so after not reading it for the last couple of years. I have a thing about the asthetic look of a site, and I will admit, other than not believing you really wrote this site, the non-attractive design kept me away.

Luckily, I downloaded one of your speeches you have linked above and listened to the whole thing, which then got me to buy and read Just a Geek (I felt a kinship when you posted about listening to Never Let Me Down Again by Depeche Mode on the set of Star Trek), which got me reading this site and posting about how much I admire you on my own blog.

I was a total technophobe and now I am a powerbook toting, wordpress using, css learning geek all because I started blogging.

The first time you install WP is the hardest, but once you do it is an absolute blast to use. It is the easiest to use when creating designs and I have had a total blast using it. I highly recommend the redesign, it would be cool if you had this thing looking a little less like /. and more like Stopdesign.com. But that is just my $.02 and thanks for letting me see ever so briefly into your world.

Posted by: goodsnake at April 8, 2005 02:06 PM

What I meant to say was. I love your site the way it is. I hope you don't change it too much.

Posted by: Ubern00b at April 8, 2005 02:24 PM

Okay, so, no.

I'm like the hamsters that just had babies in my kid's habitrail, only they had them in the wheel, you know, and they're popping out of the wheel and sliding down the green slide, and I'm all like--you CAN NOT keep your babies in a wheel--so I take them out with a tea strainer, place them carefully on the shavings, and they carry them back up into the wheel again!

That is to say, I'm really used to this place.

You change this site and I'm not going to be able to find my way around the Internets anymore.

Posted by: Jeneane Sessum at April 8, 2005 10:18 PM

This is my first time here. Followed a link. . . Salon? Oh cool, the Star Trek guy, I thought.

115 comments. Damn. No wonder you're having trouble. How does one sift through that many comments anyway?

I'll add to them and comment on your planned blog overhaul. I just did one, used Wordpress (if I can get it up, anybody can) and was impressed with the usage and overall look (I copped a free theme). My only difficulty is that I can get few of their plugins to work.

Posted by: Monica at April 8, 2005 11:40 PM

I'm afraid this is rather out of point...

Coming from a different country, I was wondering what a geek is, and what are the so-called 'ramifications' of being called a geek in the US? Is it a derogatory term?

Also, is there a difference between a 'nerd' and a 'geek' in the US context?

Where I come from, people who over-indulge in computer games are considered 'lackadaisical', 'slack' or at best 'playful'. If one wants to be considered a nerd/geek (in my cultural context), one must stay at home and study hard.

Sorry... another question...

I had the impression that one of the defining characteristics that epitomise 'geekiness' is the eagerness to abandon stereotypes and to be one's eccentric self. Is that true, or must a geek also fit into a certain stereotype eg like computers, like star trek etc?

Can a geek like sports or would that result in the his expulsion from the mold?

If that is so, isn't it a bit Orwellian because one of the reasons the 'geek' subculture was developed was so that people who were a bit different from the mainstream could be in good company?

Anyway, awfully sorry for the awful rambling. Just rather fascinated by this... 'geek' culture thing.

Posted by: person12345 at April 9, 2005 05:23 AM

Wil,
I was just at the "hear" you read site and that pic... OMG! They made you like a drunk Johnny Depp. Now the album art is fine, but my god. BTW when are you comming to Texas again? Love to hear you in person.

Posted by: Angel of the Morning at April 9, 2005 07:14 AM

Hi Wil!

I don't expect you to remember me but I'm the guy from the Sci-Fi Convention in Pasadena last month who bought two books ("Just A Geek") from you.

My friend, Linda, got her book and she was thrilled to know that it was signed by yours truly. Btw, I told you during our 'small' talk while you were signing the books that it was Linda who introduced me to WWdN.

Anyway, I just start to read "Just A Geek", I think, three days ago and I CAN'T put it down. I feel like you were talking to me personally and I'm your best buddy, lol! But seriously, you ARE a very good writer and I'm happy for you.

It's so exciting (and very cool!) to show your book to my friends and co-workers and bragging that you signed it!

Anyway, this is quite long now. I just want you to know that even though you really don't know me and I was not a fan from the very beginning, I AM NOW A FAN. I'm excited for you future endeavors and hoping the best for you!

Take care!

Ting

P.S. As I was reading part of your book about "The Rules of Attraction," I was telling myself, "Wil should not be upset about not getting this movie because the movie sucked big time!" lol! But then again, I know that if you happened to be in that movie, that it'll be a BETTE movie and I'm not patronizing you since I saw some of your works before. I'm a movie addict (I have personally seen and reviewed in a private group fansite more than 140 movies for the entire year) and if I have the chance to be a bigtime producer like Brian Grazer or Jerry Bruckheimer, I would love to produce a movie with you in it! I'm dreaming big here. But hey! The say, "Dream big! It's free!"

Posted by: Ting at April 9, 2005 07:17 PM

will,

k, this is my first post
any way people are just not useing teh right browser to view WWdN, try Dillo, its faster at rendering your site than it is Google's!

anyway peace out

Posted by: Ariaofsyn at April 9, 2005 07:30 PM

Wil,

If you don't want a zillion extras, maybe you should use a lightweight blog solution. I wrote my own blogging software in PHP, which integrates with the CMS I wrote. All of my blog code is in a few script files.

You should check the value of the session max life in your PHP configuration. Maybe that is why are you getting logged off. I had the same problem on my site.

http://us2.php.net/manual/en/ref.session.php

Also, I met you at Mysterious Galaxy, where you signed your name in my PalmOS paint program, SproutPaint. SproutPaint is available on my website.

Here's a screenshot with your digital signature:
http://www.sproutworks.com/images/wilwheaton.png

Posted by: SproutWorks at April 9, 2005 07:32 PM

Hey, I say if you're going to redesign then go retro. Let's take a trip back to 1995. Have a black background with star pattern and no less than 6 different fonts on the page in neon colours. Don't forget lots of animated .GIFs. You can't go wrong with some of the ol' standards such as things rotating 360 degrees, things eternally flaming, unicorns prancing in glitter, and an opening envelope for your e-mail.

Don't forget to put everything in frames, oh and I can compose a background .MIDI for you too.

You'll be the envy of everyone on Compuserve.

Posted by: Ghastly at April 9, 2005 10:44 PM

I don't know if you are going to read this, but I highly recommend using Blosxom (http://www.blosxom.com). It is incredibly easy to use and set up. Managing a Blosxom site is the same as managing the directory of files on your computer. Directories become categories and individual files become posts. It supports CSS if you want really fancy looking templates or can have really vanilla features.

Plus different people can look at it in different ways if you publish different "Flavour" templates. All really simple and really easy to use AND there are tons of plugins that pretty much work after only having to drop them into the right directory.

Check out the Weblog of Blosxom's creator Rael Dornfest (http://www.raelity.org) to get an idea what you can do with it. This also explains some of the novel approaches that Blosxom's simple structure allows for: http://www.blosxom.com/documentation/users/view.html

Plus, you can get the basics running in 15 to 20 minutes, from there you can customize incrementally. Create new flavours with an unpublished name, but new features, and adapt them until perfect. Then you can make them public for everyone else to see without ever interupting the flow of the initial site you have up and running.

Good Luck on the redesign.

Posted by: plasticmonkeyz at April 11, 2005 09:49 AM