So I'm thinking of starting a blog on effects pedals...

[Mudfuzz]

i'd be into it if it had a unique perspective.

and good design.

please.. nothing other then black text on a white background.

i really like these 2 mens fashion blogs:

http://www.selectism.com/

http://www.inventorymagazine.com/updates/

they're well designed and the tone is that of a smarter older uncle. no judgement, just a nod into the direction for those that want nice things.

the voices tend to give these points in well edited text:

check out this well made item
here's is the history of it's design
here is where it fits with in current trends
here is what it would work well with
here is what it costs
here is where to get it

a lot of the fx blogs i've seen just regurgitate info and don't make me excited for what's out there when there is SOOOOO much cool stuff being made by so many people. it's amazing that they make something so cool sound so boring. plus it hurts to look at their sites. once again good design is a must.

I agree with you on all but the black on white thing... to me [and a lot of people] it is easier to read white on back[ ] and it looks cooler!

[mathias]

Wes,
Do you have a particular blog engine* picked out, or are you looking for suggestions? (*Wordpress, Blogspot, Tumblr, Posterous, etc.)

[Wes Mantooth]

I'm planning on using wordpress and hosting with godaddy as they have a pretty good deal for about $4 a month and only an additional $2 for the first year of the domain name.

If anyone more experienced would like to throw in their two cence, id happily take any more advice!

[mathias]

That works.

I would suggest setting up a group Posterous because the hosting would be free (and then you'd just have to pay for the domain name), but I'm kind of biased towards Posterous. It has a lot of nice features yet remains really simple. Wordpress has scaling issues, in the sense that you have to do enable special caching to keep the perceived "speed" of loading pages fast as your site gets bigger. Plus Wordpress blogs, for whatever reason, seem to cram their sidebars with a bunch of widgets, which they don't realize all have to do some kind of SQL(database) call or get info from the API of another site. But I digress.

Posterous is pretty sweet. Set up a free personal one first and then if you like it, you can set up a group one as the pedal blog.

[Wes Mantooth]

That works.

I would suggest setting up a group Posterous because the hosting would be free (and then you'd just have to pay for the domain name), but I'm kind of biased towards Posterous. It has a lot of nice features yet remains really simple. Wordpress has scaling issues, in the sense that you have to do enable special caching to keep the perceived "speed" of loading pages fast as your site gets bigger. Plus Wordpress blogs, for whatever reason, seem to cram their sidebars with a bunch of widgets, which they don't realize all have to do some kind of SQL(database) call or get info from the API of another site. But I digress.

Posterous is pretty sweet. Set up a free personal one first and then if you like it, you can set up a group one as the pedal blog.

Sweet I'm checking it out right now! Thank you

[lawrence scaduto]

I agree with you on all but the black on white thing... to me [and a lot of people] it is easier to read white on back[ ] and it looks cooler!

i'm gonna have to sharpen a blade here.

its been scientifically proven that white on black is the easiest to read. especially when we're talking about stuff displayed on a monitor. print is different.

and as far as it being cooler.. what's cool is usually decided by age and socioeconomic backgrounds. to each his own, basically.

i'd like to point out that http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/ has such awesome content. how often do i read it? no more than 30 seconds at a time. why? because every other website after it looks like a purple ghost of their one sided design.

if the goal of yousoundgoodtoday.com is to chronicle a scene it should rely on it's content and keep it's design out of the way.

black on white can look good and still be hip/cool/groovy/ace/tops.

[jrmy]

Personally, I won't read websites that are white text on black background (though I will struggle through for Mudfuzz... but more often than not I'm just checking out the video demo), for the exact reason that Lawrence gives. In fact, if I try to read white on black (on a monitor) for too long, it really starts to hurt.

[Mudfuzz]

Really? huh... well I'll have to switch to pink and orange one of these days.. [The cooler thing was a joke... ] But it's funny, I have this site set to green because B on W bugs me Of course I usually have my monitor set really bright. Interesting though... I'll have to give it some thought...

edit mkII

though I will struggle through for Mudfuzz... but more often than not I'm just checking out the video demo

Hey I will be the first to admit that the text is there to add to the video much more then the other way round

edit mkIII [I don't see the need to make another post to hog the thread...]
But! and this is why I do this and think a blog on FX and such is a good idea for news and reviews vs it being all forum based.
Sometimes it is unhelpful for direct discussion mixed into the topic where it can be muddled, people can/will use your thread as a soapbox for their own issues ect. I never liked how whenever I did a review on [another forum that has something to do with basses ] and it would be taken over by the few people that had a opinion on everything... Also I notice this whenever someone posts news on something new [on most forums]. Now that doesn't mean I don't like the discourse and find it entertaining and informative [at times] but some times a little space between the two is a good thing.

[lawrence scaduto]

Personally, I won't read websites that are white text on black background (though I will struggle through for Mudfuzz... but more often than not I'm just checking out the video demo), for the exact reason that Lawrence gives. In fact, if I try to read white on black (on a monitor) for too long, it really starts to hurt.

ya see?

this is why i love this guy.

he knows his shim sham.

the man has got TASTE!

por exemplo: not only does he post about my work on other forums.. he tells a good joke too.

(i think my girl found you charming in your delivery for the contest. i had to hide my half mast )

Jesus Rode My Yeti FTW

[Wes Mantooth]

I've noticed the one problem with a posterous blog is no support for Google Adsense. I know ads suck but they will allow me to earn some money while the blog grows so I can do some really cool giveaways.

I see that they are working on it on posterous but I'm wondering how long it will take as it seems to have been over a year in the making as far as I can tell.

[mathias]

You can edit the templates on Posterous, and we can add Google Adsense into the sidebar.

[Wes Mantooth]

Sweet, well I think I'll register the blog as StompBlog.com unless anyone else thinks they have a better idea?

[mathias]

Or you could check out Blogger (blogspot.com) which is owned by Google, so it definitely has Adsense support built in

Just trying to give you enough options

[jfrey]

Sweet, well I think I'll register the blog as StompBlog.com unless anyone else thinks they have a better idea?

StompyAndSmashy.com

You get two for the price of one. It lets you know that its about pedals while simultaneously referencing Futurama! (Stompy and Smashy are what Bender calls his feet - er, foot cups)

[Wes Mantooth]

Well I'm going the blogger route for starting this thing out, thanks mathias for all the advice, you definitely get a shoutout on the page so let me know on here or through pm what you'd like to promote. I'll do a few more preliminary posts and then post a link on here and in my sig!