Changes
Hey, look! New template!
I was just going to change the header, as I’ve been promising to do since A Sarah joined us IN MAY, but then I realized I was really sick of looking at the old template. And hey, speaking of A Sarah having been here SINCE MAY, I also finally added her to the About page. Since I’m on a roll, I think it’s a good time to announce a few other changes around here.
Basically, the reason I hadn’t gotten around to changing the header or making it obvious that A Sarah is now part of the SP bloggerfam is the same reason at least 50% of my posts over the summer started with, “Hey, sorry I haven’t been posting!” As you already know, I got seriously fucking busy. And unfortunately, so did all of the other bloggers. And it hasn’t really let up for any of us.
So here’s Change #1: We will no longer be apologizing for not posting more often.We’re sick of writing it, you’re sick of reading it, and it doesn’t make content magically appear. It just makes us feel guilty and you feel… sick of reading it. So our official posting schedule from now on will be: We post when we can, period. Which is pretty much what it’s always been, actually, it’s just that “when we can” has become much more infrequent — and now, instead of trying to convince ourselves or you guys that we’ll go back to daily posting at some point, we’re just going with the flow.
Change #2: I am probably going to become strictly a weekend blogger. This is a good news/bad news thing. The bad news (if you’re inclined to see it that way) is: fewer posts from me. The good news is, that’s because I’ve actually gone and achieved the goals I set when I started this thing. Thanks to this blog (and the amazing support of Shapelings), I’m now in a position to get paid for writing elsewhere. Since the beginning of September, I’ve been doing 2 days a week at Broadsheet, 3 days a week at Jezebel, and various other freelance work. Which means, wonder of wonders, I have been functioning as a full-time writer. For money! (Not much of it, but still!) The Jezebel gig isn’t permanent at this point, but next month, I start a college speaking tour, and I’m trying to get book #2 together, so I have no idea when or if things are going to slow down. And frankly, the whole getting-paid thing means I’d rather they didn’t.
So realistically, I’m only going to have time to blog here on weekends. And some weekends, I won’t even have time to do that. It sucks, because I miss you all, and I hate not being able to hang out here every day. But I also really like getting paid to write — and sometimes writing about subjects other than fat, even! So that’s all I can tell you. If you want to keep track of where else I’m writing, I’ve started a new Twitter account, katepubs, where I will make note of any new publications — I’ve added that to the right sidebar here under “Kate, elsewhere.”
Change #3: When I redid the site, I hid the blogroll. My logic was, 1) it’s unwieldy, and I never update it anyway; 2) the fat blogs are already covered by the fatosphere feed; 3) does anybody really pay attention to blogrolls anymore? If anyone has strong feelings about seeing the blogroll return, I’ll certainly listen, but at this point, I feel like blogrolls are kind of more clutter than they’re worth; I don’t think they serve the same community-building purpose they used to.
Change #4: You can now access this site via shapelyprose.net. At the moment, it just redirects to kateharding.net, but eventually, I’d like to switch over completely. So, you know, get ready for that.
That’s it for now. You can consider this an open thread. And thank you, as always, for reading!
Update: Are you ready for this? I also finally finished the FAQ! Or, well, finally got one up — it’ll probably change over time. For those wondering what happened to “Don’t You Realize Fat Is Unhealthy?” it’s now the first link in the first answer.
Pretty!
And congratulations! It’s been really fucking cool to watch you start getting the recognition you deserve.
Thanks, occhiblu!
Congrats!
And I’d just like to note that my little monster icon looks a lot like a Hostess cupcake in this larger size.
heh… anyone see a parallel between change #1 and giving up dieting? No more apologizing, no more guilt, no more hope that this is some transient state that will go back to ‘normal’ soon… just doing great things and feeling great about it and letting the posting schedule do what it will.
maybe it’s just me…
Ooh, I like the bigger monsters!
Wow!!!! Love the new template!! And congrats on all of your accomplishments and yeah, seconding what occhiblu said.
Cassi, that is an awesome parallel!
AHHH…CHANGE!!! *runs and hides*
No seriously, though, as long as you guys continue being awesome, you can make the blog hang upside down and tapdance for all I fucking care. I’d still read it. :)
What’s book #2 about? You know, as much as you have/can tell us without being sued at this point? :)
My thought on the blogroll is that what if you put up a links/blogroll tab? That way if anyone wants to access it they can but it’s not cluttering up the page.
Thrilled for you, and I also like the new template. :)
Love the new tagline!!
Love the new header, and the new look!
And congrats on being a paid writer! If that means you have to have a few less posts around here, that’s fine with me. :) And no need to apologize about lack of posts; I don’t expect you guys to be chained to you desks 24/7, churning out posts (and eating baby flavored donuts). You’ve got lives outside of this blog.
Hmm…I don’t really like change, so the new template will take some getting used to. I guess it just looks a little…generic…to me now.
BUT, congrats on being a successful and busy writer!
I’ll admit that I miss the blogroll a little bit. Purely selfish reasons, though: being new to the movement, I was working my way through them. That being said, if it makes the new layout clunky, go ahead!
(But maybe having a linky page would help us new self-accepting fatties?)
I don’t expect you guys to be chained to you desks 24/7, churning out posts (and eating baby flavored donuts). You’ve got lives outside of this blog.
To be fair, this does describe my life outside the blog. Only replace “posts” with “dissertation chapters.”
I’m so happy your dreams are coming true Kate! Since the bloggers here write for free, I’ve never expected daily posts. In fact, the slow down in posting has been good for me personally because that makes it easier to keep up on all the stuff I read.
I appreciate the katepubs Twitter because keeping up with you is a lot of work. =P
Although I appreciate the way the fatosphere feed replaces some of the community function of a blogroll, I still like to be able to find an actual blogroll. Yours wasn’t, isn’t, exactly the same as what goes into the fatosphere feed, right? There’s a lot of value for me in being able to see the list of blogs and click on one I vaguely remember. It’s easy to miss a blogger who posts infrequently and doesn’t show up in the 10 most recent posts from the fatosphere. (Or even the 100 most recent posts.) Maybe you could have a “Shapely Blogroll” button on the front page, so those of us who want to read the blogroll can find it but it doesn’t add so much clutter to the front page?
Pretty disconcerted by the new layout but I have issues with change, I’ll get used to it :P Like the bigger icons by the comments. Assume those are baby-flavoured donuts up in the header?
I think I’m just BLINDED BY THE WHITE. There was more colour before, heh.
One small gripe about the new layout, which is otherwise fan-tabbb-ulous (said in an Eddie Izzard voice): is there any way y’all could make it such that posts continue to show up in their entirety on the main page? Right now they’re all “click to read more.”
Love! It!
Hey, kate, if it helps, I actually do think I’ll have time for more blogging soon. I’m starting to get in the swing of things here.
(For those of you who don’t know, I moved in July and went from a dissertating-mostly-from-home grad student to a full-time faculty member with an office and everything. My husband is now the stay-at-home parent, my older son started kindergarten, and my younger son has now quit one nursery school and scared off a nanny because he screams whenever he’s away from both of us. So, anyway, we’ve been figuring out what this new life is like and I’ve been trying to get into a new rhythm. I’m getting the hang of things now, though. Then again, I’ve said that before. Hmmm.)
Well, congrats on all the wonderful reasons for the change! YAY YOU.
The new header is great, but I have to admit I will miss the little cartoony headshots. Not that I had a crush on one of them or anything. Because crushing on a cartoon avatar would be SILLY. *slinks off in shame*
To be fair, this does describe my life outside the blog. Only replace “posts” with “dissertation chapters.”
Ditto, minus the replacement. Turns out that merely being chained to your desk writing is not actually sufficient impetus for doing a lot of writing here.
Hey, what happened to A Sarah’s picture?
I like the new layout; and I had to look twice to see that the photo on the new header is a doughnut factory. LOL!
These changes are all positive changes, and I totally like the new header a lot. The only thing is I kinda do miss the cartoon-y faces, you all look so happy in them!
Oooh, pretty!
Woot! on you getting paid. I hope it goes on and on.
Any chance of adding a link to the ning thing?
I’m another who has issues with change, so while I’m not loving the new format, I have absolutely no doubt that I’ll get used to it, so in time it will be the non-issue it’s supposed to be.
But yes, please, please, can we have entire posts on the front page again? I HATE “read more” – I hate teasers in about every form of media.
And as horrible as this sounds, I don’t actually mind when you don’t post all that often because it gives me time to read all the comments. It’s not that I don’t enjoy your posts (well, most of ‘em, you can’t please anyone all the time, nor should anyone try!), it’s a time thing. But if you want to post more often, well, that’s just more stuff to read, think about, and enjoy!
I fully support not apologizing for infrequent postings. Congratulations on all the gigs you have going, Kate.
I do like the new layout but like others have pointed out, it’s hard to get used to change. My brain is freaking out about the posts and comments being on the left. :-) I’ll get used to it, though.
The new header is hilarious.
Kate, I’m here less often than you (which is fine; it’s your blog), but I am SO EXCITED to hear about all the successes you’re having in your life! I would rather read one post a month stating that you were watching your dreams bloom and come to fruition than read posts from you daily stating that you wished things were happening. Congratulations from the bottom of my fat heart!
I like the new, crisp look. This template is probably more accessible to folks using disability-access software, and it’s certainly easier on aging eyes.
A couple of people have asked for posts in full on the front page – I’d like to cast my vote for keeping the teasers. I like being able to scroll the headlines quickly.
Also, congratulations for being paid for writing!
The new layout is great, but the blogroll is going to be missed. I think a lot of people only ever found those blogs by clicking on them from your page – I know I did.
Huge congrats on getting paid for writing! Also I love the new layout. And I love the picture of the donut factory almost as much as the bouncy castle back in the day.
I do miss the blogroll though. I think it’s good for newbies to have to hand.
i’m a little confused now, bc the link i used to click on ‘notes from the fatosphere’ now seems to link to only one person’s blog, as opposed to the many different ones it did before…where do i find all the postings?
congrats, kate!
Hey, what happened to A Sarah’s picture?
If you mean in the header, we made a group decision to leave the pics off the header entirely this time. One nice thing about this layout is that the bylines are a lot bigger, so hopefully, there will be less confusion about who wrote which post (which was the original rationale for putting all our faces right up at the top).
Other stuff…
Ning link: Good idea! Will do. Duh.
Blogroll: Like the idea of a separate blogroll page, though it might take me a while to transfer all the links over.
Post teasers: I cut the last few posts because I thought it made the front page look better, but if there’s a strong preference for full posts on the front page, it’s no problem to change back. Anybody else want to weigh in?
Other complaints about new layout: Are unlikely to be resolved, as we’re limited to standard wordpress.com templates (because we’re hosted by wordpress.com and want to keep it that way), and tweaks are beyond my current capabilities/interest.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words!
Woah, a snazzy new look! It’s very clean, aesthetically. I like it. I’m going to second the people asking for expanded posts on the front page, and the people asking for a blogroll. I agree that blogrolls clutter up the sidebar, which is why I stash mine on a separate page, something you ladies could do as well.
i’m a little confused now, bc the link i used to click on ‘notes from the fatosphere’ now seems to link to only one person’s blog,
Maybe you clicked too low? The words “notes from the fatosphere,” next to the RSS symbol, still take me to the feed page. Headlines below that will take you to recent posts from the feed.
OK, we’re back to full posts on front page.
@meloukhia,
I don’t think you can do a page for the blogroll on wordpress.com – it requires a custom page template, and wordpress.com doesn’t allow bloggers to create those.
Hey, what happened to A Sarah’s picture?
If you mean in the header, we made a group decision to leave the pics off the header entirely this time
Actually, I meant next to her comment, she’s got a weird pink christmas tree monster going on there.
I’m very happy for all your success, Kate. It’s always cool to see people I like doing well.
Argh, I failed at closing my italic tags! Sorry about that >_<
Actually, I meant next to her comment, she’s got a weird pink christmas tree monster going on there.
Oh! I believe that’s because she hasn’t officially set her cartoon as her WordPress gravatar.
Oh! I believe that’s because she hasn’t officially set her cartoon as her WordPress gravatar.
I just could have sworn it was there before, which would imply it was previously set, so I was bemused.
I think I quite like the comments like this!
I’ll get used to it. The only thing that throws me is that the comments aren’t centered on the page now – it makes me feel like I’m listing to the left. But I’m also the kind of person who lines up all the pencils on her desk. ;)
Whoa. Either my avatar has changed, or I just never noticed that IT HAD TUSKS before it was this big. Eyesight ftw.
Either that or she forgot to log in ;) (Not that I’ve never done such a thing. Nope. ;)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
I do not deal well with change. *clings*
I’ll be over here adjusting.
(Congratulations Kate! And yes to full posts on the front page from me.)
So let me get this straight, Kate. You’ll post when you’re god damn well good and ready to post and I’ll take what you give me and LIKE IT!? You’re damn right I will! It’s a good thing your such a damn fine writer. I wouldn’t accept this shit from just anybody, I tell you. If convincing other people to pay you money to write stuff is the best way to get regular writing out of you, THEN I AGREE TO YOUR TERMS, MADAM! You clever bitch.
Congrats on being a full-time paid writer. I like your changes. Good work!
One vote to bring back the blogroll — I’ve discovered a lot of fabulous folks that way and the FatOSphere feed tends to roll by quite quickly.
Plus recently, after a little cat-puke incident, my laptop keyboard wasn’t working — and you were in my favorites — so I could easily navigate to all the rad blogs I wanted to by starting at Shapely Prose. :) That was a nice thing!
Eep! New layout! *hides*
I may have to join the “does not love change” corner for a bit as I acclimate. Though with all the times Facebook changes the damn home page you’d think I would’ve toughened up by now.
Thanks for putting the full posts back on the home page. Some days I don’t have time/energy to read all the comments so being able to read all the posts without navigating away is helpful.
Those of you missing the blogroll, some time ago I made a folder in bookmarks of blogs I wanted to remember. Any time I want to see what’s up across the fatosphere I just go through the folder and see what’s up. Might be a useful alternative for the moment.
PS – I never realized how appropriate my gravatar is to my personality until now. If s/he was giving someone the finger, it’d be perfect. ;)
Noooo! I loved the old layout!
But I’ll continue reading…
:)
Kate, I mostly lurk here, but I love your writing, and eagerly read whatever you write here or on other sites. It’s so heartening to see a thoughtful, talented writer like yourself able to make a living at it! Congratulations!
OMG THE FAQ
A thousand baby donuts to you, Kate.
Ooooh, I likes the FAQ. I hadn’t found some of those posts yet!
I disagree with point #3 – I am new to this area of activism and I have been checking out different blogs on that list a lot recently. I love to have the recommendation from a blog I’m really enjoying when I go try something new.
Also loving the FAQ!
And this is Meems – I finally decided to get a wordpress account so I can have my own gravitar and y’all can see (a fair representation of) my gorgeousness. Sadly, Meems was already taken.
Hah. “Can’t hear you, there’s a donut in my ear” just became my answer for every time someone thinks they need to educate me.
Me too! I have a bit of a thing with lining things up and tesselating things… even my oven chips (fries) have to be straight on the baking tray (OR THEY WILL NOT COOK EVENLY AND/OR THE WORLD WILL EXPLODE!!!!11!!…. ahem).
I was a bit ‘eeeek change!?!’, until I realised I can read the text on the screen without my computer glasses (which hurt my nose) now! Yay! And I love the bigger monsters! Also — registering a vote for ‘please bring back the blogroll if poss’.
Also, last but certainly not least — yay and congratulations Kate! :-) *subscribes to twitter feed thingy* (… *attempts to remember how to use twitter*)
Ok, now before I thought my monster had his willy out before chastising myself that it was obviously his nose. Now I’ve seen him at this size, I’m actually thinking it could really be his willy!?!
I like it-it’s definitely easier for me to read. And I like the bigger monsters, too.
The new layout and comments are much more readable, so thank you for that! Congratulations on your busy-ness, as a fellow freelancer I love seeing people hit that “full time load” when they aim for it!
Regarding point #1 – I saw a little banner on someone’s blog a while ago. It said “blogging without obligation”, and not apologising for gaps in posting was one of the first rules of the ideology. Since then I’ve not apologised once for my lack of posting, not only do I feel much better for it my blog has benefited from enhanced “flow”! So there’s my “no refund/ no exchanges” guarantee that you guys are on a good thing with that issue right there :D
I… um…
[teeny weeny voice]
don’t know how to make my icon into my WordPress gravatar.
[/teeny weeny voice]
I’ll miss having more frequent updates to read, buuuut since I just recently discovered your blog I’ll make up for it by catching up on the old posts! Really I just wanted to comment and say thanks for writing at all, we need more blogs like yours!!
Love the new format, too, it’s pretty :D
A Sarah, if you go into “my account” there’s a place where it lets you change your gravatar.
Regarding point #1 – I saw a little banner on someone’s blog a while ago. It said “blogging without obligation”, and not apologising for gaps in posting was one of the first rules of the ideology.
I was thinking of that, too, but couldn’t remember where I saw it! I think The Fat Nutritionist had it on her old blog, maybe?
A Sarah, go into “Settings,” then “Users,” then click on yourself, and there should be a place to upload your gravatar on the right.
(nm, and now I have figured out how to be “Meems” again. I think. Woot!)
A Sarah,
When you log in to wordpress.com, you should see a menu bar at the top of the page. Hover over “My Account” and a drop-down menu will appear, click on the “Edit Profile” option and on that page you should be able to upload your icon.
oops, sorry to be the third person to give you instructions! Kate’s method will work just as well as the one given by msmeems and myself.
Zenoodle, it looks kind of like a duck bill to me. (who the frig MADE all those monster things, anyway?)
The FAQ is GLORIOUS.
Love the new look! But – as a newbie to the whole FA thing – I liked having the blogroll there to sort through and peruse. I can understand why you’ve removed it, but perhaps is there room to have it as a separate tab at the top with FAQ and all?
Am loving the bigger ‘people icons’ (not the right word, I know)!
Shiyiya, I wondered about that too… I would love it if an artist once got the job of inventing a bazillion cute monsters, although I suspect there is some kind of randomised combination type thing going on with internet magic. Trying to see the duck bill, but can’t (my wotsit switch thingy is obviously not working… I have a flasher monster!)
FAQQQQQQQQQQQ! It is love.
Any chance you will come to Toronto on a speaking tour??
Aw, having comments links at the top of posts instead of the bottom drives me nuts. It just seems so counterintuitive to me. I can adapt, though, and I like the new layout other than that. (And, okay, mostly I’m posting to see what my monster looks like now that he’s all big.)
You’re a talented writer and leader. Founding this blog and from there, writing a book and making media appearances must have been really scary. You really put yourself out there and accepted the risks. It’s incredibly encouraging that it’s paying off for you, professionally. You’ve widened the size acceptance base without alienating too many people, and that’s quite a feat. As you move further into the mainstream, we move further into the mainstream. I hope you go far!
Elsajeni, holy crap your monster is insane looking, and it must be a randomised generator because it has the same arm tentacle things as Caitlin’s.
having comments links at the top of posts instead of the bottom drives me nuts.
This is the only thing that bugs me too. I thought I was just crazy.
That said – YAY for the new look and YAY for being paid to write, and also YAY for donut factories!! What would we do without them?
Is there any way to format the Fatosphere links so they stand out a bit more? I find they get lost in with the rest of the sidebar stuff, and don’t seem very… attractive in this format. When there are no new posts, I often use the main page just to check the Fatosphere feed (and also refer others to this site partly for the high visibility of those links), so that’s a bit of a bummer.
Oh, I know I’ve commented a couple times already and I’m not sure this is the appropriate place for this but I hope I will be forgiven. I just wanted to reinforce what you’re doing here for what it’s worth. Today, I was at the mall (blech) but I had promised my children so there we were and we were walking around. There was a vendor set up with her jewelry or whatever and as we were walking past her, she looked me up and down, it was so obvious I was horrified, and then got this really disgusted look on her face. This is something that even a year ago would’ve triggered some really negative thoughts and possibly starvation but today it just rolled right off of me and that is because of this place. Seriously, Kate, I’m thrilled you are getting paid to do what you love but thank you from the bottom of my fat heart for keeping this place going. Not to exclude the other three. :) It really is a lifesaver.
Aw, having comments links at the top of posts instead of the bottom drives me nuts.
Me too, actually, but it’s one of those things I can’t tweak. :( Ditto how the Fatosphere links appear.
Ah, and I thought the FAQ was just a myth!
and it must be a randomised generator because it has the same arm tentacle things as Caitlin’s.
OH WHAT I AM NOT A SNOWFLAKE
booo
I don’t have anything new to add to the discussion — site looks nice, yay donut factory, yay Kate’s burgeoning career, yay Kate speaking at Marquette the day after my birthday — but I need to see what my monster looks like.
I really really miss the gravatars at the top. I loved all y’all’s smiling faces in one place. I hope you will reconsider. It really meant something to me. Strange how I miss it.
I’m so happy you are doing well professionally, Kate. Thank you for all you have done for me here and elsewhere, and I’m glad you are getting some recognition and compensation for it!
zenoodle – it looks kind of like a beak to me.
OMG THE FAQ IS REAL!!!
DRST
Love the FAQ.
Miss the old layout.
Know that ultimately my opinion is not at all important.
Thrilled that Kate is getting Paid for being awesome elsewhere.
Hoping that FJ, SM and A Sarah will someday be doing the same!
I LOVE your posts on Jezebel and your book was awesome, so even though I’m the tiniest bit bummed not to see you here as frequently, I’m so, so glad you’re getting more recognition and that I can still read your work elsewhere.
And this college speaking tour you mentioned– any chance you’re hitting Maryland?
And this college speaking tour you mentioned– any chance you’re hitting Maryland?
There’s a CHANCE I’m hitting practically everywhere, but I’ve posted what’s confirmed so far. I’ve talked to several other schools that may or may not pan out…
Neato new blog layout, and congrats to Kate for becoming a self-supporting writer!
[formerly 'raine'---thought I'd be consistent]
Whoa…comment links on top, bigazzed avatars/icons. FAQs. Again, whoa. Change…eep. I’ll adjust. Wait a second: where are the entries/comments RSS feeds? I miss those already! :| [the shock is even more glaring via the crackberry, folks.]
Congrats on your paid gigs, Kate. I’m still catching up.
Posting to see my monster. It’s always looked a bit Cthulu-ish, and I’d like a closer look.
I like the blog’s new look.
Well, the hair’s actually pretty accurate, especially in the back, but I personally don’t have four pink tentacle pe- legs! Those are legs, right? Without feet. Not tentacle penii.
I like! But then, I am Mr. RSS, so I don’t really have a good opinion on what the front page looks like. I just love the comments being larger and more prominent on the page.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211954/Bride-crash-diet-death–eating-just-530-calories-day-11-weeks.html
I posted this on Twitter but I don’t really have any words.
The site looks good.
Infrequent posting is better than killing yourself trying to please an non-paying audience. I’m loving the FAQ. I didn’t notice that the posts weren’t complete on the main page because I follow the links from my Google page.
I’m a big fan of clean & simple layouts because they respond better to tinkering on my end, especially if I have to blow the font up huge to read them. The comment box font being this big, definitely love. No more typing with my face smooshed against the screen in order to see.
Hey, we login now too, nice! No more having to look up my url and copy & paste into the form.
Oh shoot, just delete that second comment, that was actually a SNAFU with involving Gravatar.
The comment box font being this big, definitely love. No more typing with my face smooshed against the screen in order to see.
Yeah, that’s a huge plus for me, too. Bigger type all over is one reason I prefer this template.
Hello to all four fabulous bloggers!
Long time lurker, first time commenter. Just wanted to say I really love your blog, and I quite like the new layout. One request/suggestion: I generally try to read all the comments when a post particularly resonates with me, and I would LOVE it if they were numbered (or dated/timed, as before), so that I could take note of where I left off in order to finish reading them at a later date.
Keep up the great work! And P.S., Kate, I am a fellow former U of T student (long since graduated). I’d love it if your book tour came to Toronto . . . hint, hint!
Yay new template. Much cleaner and nicer, and soooo much better having reasonably-sized text. I want to chain up all those CSS developers who think think “font size = 10px” is a great thing. Hello, I’ll set my own browser font size, thank you.
I’m glad the full-length posts are back on the front page, and woohoo the FAQ! I’m not that wedded to the blogroll either, but I do think the suggestion that another tab be made for that is a good one.
Oops, sorry — I do realize the comments ARE dated — I meant to say that the time would be really helpful too, as there are usually dozens of comments with the same date, and knowing the time would make it much easier to find where I left off reading.
Thank you again for so much good reading! One of these days, thanks in large part to your blog and other FA blogs, I might actually get to the point in my own size acceptance journey where I can fully accept my body the way it is (if I live that long, LOL).
I like the larger size of the font! I’m usually one of the ones going “Change?!?!” and hiding in the corner but I’m liking it. And the bigger monsters are nothing but awesome. :)
This is so weird. I have a sudden and overwhelming craving for donuts (although I’ll pass on the baby-flavored kind, I’m a vegetarian;)). Huh.
Anyway, love the new look!
Aw, I like the old layout better. :) But mucho congrats on being paid to write, that’s awesome!
<– my monster hugs you.
Love the new layout – especially the donuts! And the FAQ is awesome.
Also, more congrats on being paid for writing.
You know, the not posting thing so much is just giving us newbies time to scroll back and read all the older shiznet.
<3
I really can't express how much this site and a few others that promote body acceptance have helped me lately. Thank you guys.
new apology-free blogging philosophy, layout, faq and header are all great! of course i’d keep reading even if you decided to cover the page with scrolling texts, blinkies, and midi files. ;D
of course i’d keep reading even if you decided to cover the page with scrolling texts, blinkies, and midi files. ;D
THAT IS THE NICEST THING ANYONE’S EVER SAID TO US! *sniffle*
I like the new design, and I’m thrilled that you are getting all the recognition you deserve for your talents. When I see your byline on Jezebel or Salon, I kind of swell with pride. Thanks for kicking ass—all of you.
I love how you’ve linked to Dan Savage in the Praise section! It had me giggling like a schoolgirl. :-)
I just want to thank all of the contributors for the posts they write. In whatever timeline works for them. As a writer, I find it difficult to focus on too many projects at once and so sometimes my blog suffers, as it is right now. So, c’est la vie. Love everything, including the changes.
I’m with everyone who said less posts gives me time to read all the comments without being days behind. Thanks Kate and everyone else for all the work you do. And Kate, congrats on actually making money when you stand up for all of us… we need your voice out there in the midst of all the insanity!
i love the new look. so much cleaner! agree that our eyes are now trained to skim right over blogrolls, and sadly sometimes blogs go away or the URLs move so unless you’re monitoring the list regularly, which is not a good use of time for SELF-SUPPORTING WRITERS and DISSERTATION-GODDESSES and other humans, a blogroll is not useful anyway.
Yay money!
Really, I just want to see my monster big-size. I would also co-sign the idea of putting the blogroll on a separate page. I often click around the list when I’m bored, and have found some delightful stuff that way. But it’s certainly not a priority – I’d rather read Book #2, for instance ;)
It’s all fine with me, except for the “home of the mordantly obese” tagline. I don’t know why, but that makes me feel very…labeled. I’m just uncomfortable with it. And yes, I get the joke.
If it was there before, I never noticed it.
(btw, I’ve been lurking for about 18 months. First comment!)
katieQ, the tagline is new, and here’s where it came from.
I like the new look. I, too, would like a link to the blogroll.
But I’m mostly posting to see my beautiful monster in large clear detail!
Delurking to say: Love, love, love the new template. Much easier for me to read. (It is all about me, isn’t it?)
Okay, I’m mainly posting to see my monster magnified, but also wanted to say that I like the new look!
My monster is so cute! And so happy! Not sure I’d be so happy if I had green noodles for arms.
I’d suggest putting that mordantly obese link in the FAQ, to avoid the hundreds of “what does mordantly obese mean” questions you’re sure to get. BECUZ YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT I THINK AND TO DO WHAT I SAY ON YOUR OWN BLOG.
(Sorry, just realized how demanding my first comment was)
Hi Kate,
I’m Milflor S. Gonzales from the Philippines. I’m presently pursuing my PhD Communication and as part of the requirements for my Gender and Sexuality class, I will be reporting on your and Marianne’s Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere book on Friday, 25 September 2009.
I enjoyed reading your book and was enlightened by your very down-to-earth discussions. I’m very excited to share its contents with my classmates on Friday.
If it’s not asking too much, can you post a message (maybe together with Marianne) for our class which I can share with them. I know they’ll be thrilled.
Congratulations to you and Marianne and good luck in all your endeavors.
Milflor
The new layout is nice. Very clean looking. Good job.
I love the changes, especially the drop down menu organizing all posts by subject matter. Somehow it makes it easier for me to catch up on everything from the past 2+ years, instead of pulling up the archives by month and year.
(My apologies if it was always there and I never noticed it before)
Stacia, it was always there, but for some reason in the old layout, the title of the drop-down kept defaulting to “A” instead of categories. I changed it whenever I noticed it, but it would often revert for no apparent reason. So it wasn’t always obvious what it was. :)
I like the big avatars! I’m really only posting because I want to see what my monster really looks like. I plan on giving him a name now that I can see his face properly. Maybe a back story too…
Also the new template is nice, but I kind of miss the colorfulness of the old one.
Congrats and good luck on your making money! Hope you make a lot, and then invite us all to a big pool party at the home of 50 Cent :D
Yay!
Getting used to the change, will take me a bit. Another vote for getting the blog roll back in some kind of format, I’ll miss all the traffic I got from here :D Not too mention finding other cool blogs for me to read.
Kate & Co.
Maybe this could be an opportunity to audition guest bloggers, a la Jezebel.com? You know, for a week or so at a time?
Or maybe I mean guest commenters who are promoted for one week to bloggers.
Also: thumbs up on the changes. Esp. the raft of (baby-flavored?) donuts in the header.
I do wish the blogroll would come back–maybe in a tab? I have only been reading fat acceptance blogs for a few weeks and I used to use your blogroll to navigate to things I haven’t seen yet. There are always people new to the movement!
Maybe a “Suggestions For Further Reading” type of thing?
FAQ FTW BTW
(I love code and how that totally makes sense)
Hi! Also mainly posting to see my monster in all his glory. It seemed to be the dullest of all I saw so far. Hope that’s gonna be different in the bigger version, though it might be appropriate?…
The other thing is, that though I really like the new look overall, the main page doesn’t look too good, because, at least in Firefox, the text starts right at the left border, not one pixel of space left. Not pretty. Anything you could even do about it? I will live with it of course, and gladly, cause, obviously, the content is the reason I go here. And that seems to be getting better every week, from all four of you.
Mainly though, big congrats on your paid stuff, Kate! You deserve it, if anyone does!
Tahia, I use firefox 3.5.x and I don’t have that problem unless I make the window REALLY narrow. How big do you have your browser?
Maya, I love your avatar!!!
I like this new template and everything. And I’m glad you all don’t feel the need to apologize anymore — that’s what RSS readers are for, anyhow!
Lastly but not leastly, congratulations on your new writing (ad)ventures. You’ve definitely earned it the hard way.
I actually liked the blogroll, because it was an easy way of clicking through to the few other blogs I read around here. Putting them in bookmarks is clunky, and my RSS feed thing doesn’t work. Often I don’t check in time before the fatosphere feed has gone on to new ones, so I often miss updates that way.
Is there any possibility of making a page of them instead of cluttering up the front page (if that’s what the problem was before)?
p.s. like the layout! Big avatars are cool.
Tahia, it does that for me too. I think it’s probably related to the non-fluid layout — if I press the make-the-text-smaller key a couple of times, then a left margin appears (but I can’t read the page very easily then).
Another thing which I think is coming from the non-fluid layout is that the new template is too wide for my browser, so I am now reading “Shapely Pros” rather than “Shapely Prose” :)
I didn’t manage to read through all of the comments, because the white is SO BRIGHT, but I didn’t see this brought up in feedback.
I’m using the latest version of Firefox on a Mac, and I’m not having any viewing problems. I like the layout, and everything (aesthetically) is really pleasant. Having an all (or predominantly) white screen for as long as it takes to read the blog, comment, click around, and generally catch up is kind of a bummer. Mostly on my eyes, but for folks who are using CRT monitors, white screens use an average of 43% more electricity to keep lit.
Maybe WordPress will allow you to alter the background color to grey? I’m not familiar with their template system, but some blog hosts have the option to change basic things like colors and fonts.
Congratulations on everything that’s happening, and everything on the horizon. It’s all so exciting! (:
I like it! Big letters are my friends. And truly, I really just want to see my big monster.
Oh, thanks! Minimizing just by one bit solves the problem, and it’s still large enough to read without problems here. Could have thought of that myself… Sorry!
I know what you mean about the blogroll. I didn’t assemble the blogroll at Fat Fu, didn’t do anything to clean it up yet, and am thinking about starting another blog (about brain stuff) and not having a blogroll, because like you said, who the heck pays attention to them anymore? When I see a blogroll with like 500 blogs on it, my eyes just kind of glaze over. They made more sense in the early days of blogs, when there weren’t that many.
Anyway, I like the layout so far; I’ll have to see how IE 7 likes it on my work computer later today. (They are stubbornly sticking to that browser, not much I can do.) Sometimes your old layout crashed it, especially on long comment threads. Maybe it’s scared of monsters.
And congratulations on your lavishly deserved success!
The first time I saw the layout, I thought the page didn’t load right and I refreshed it. I’m such a dork. Now that I’ve adjusted, I’m okay with it. I definitely see the advantages for people who have vision problems where they need such a high-contrast. My favorite part is that the font and avatars are bigger.
I go away for a fortnight, and look what you do without me…. The new site looks great, and congratulations on being a paid writer! Wooot!
Kate, I really really miss the old subhead (overeducated, intellectual, latte-drinking american patriots, and all the parts I left out), because it was the BEST thing ever.
Anyone else having problems viewing the site in Firefox? Just upgraded to the newest FF, and the site looks wonky (I have to scroll to view the full page). Is it the new FF, or the new template? Any guesses?
Talulah, latest being 3.0.x or 3.5.x? I’m on 3.5.3 and not having any problems. Window and font size may be a factor.
Cindy, the problem with that idea is that auditioning guest bloggers takes work, too. :) That said, if you want to guest blog, send me a post!
Ooh, I just love what you’ve done with the place. I, too, am happy to find a couple of older posts in the FAQ that I had not stumbled onto yet.
I suppose I will have to work a little harder to read your work, Kate, but I am confident that it will be worth the effort. Congratulations on your success. I reckon it is time for me to buy the book. I do most of my leisure reading at the gym these days. That is just one way I have improved my life since I had the good fortune to encounter the concepts FA, by way of SP, and since I decided that — Hellz yeah — I’m gonna use these fat, little mitts to carpe that diem.
Thanks so much, to all of the SP bloggers, for your meaningful and important work here.
I love the new template so hard! It’s so clean and spiffy and I will sheepishly admit that I like being here more now. Word.
I love your site but this layout really hurts my eyes.
I know I’m late to this, but holy crap Elsajeni – your monster looks like an angry vagina!!! At least, that’s what my very first thought was when I saw it big…
I love seeing the bigger pics and comments – they are easier to read. But I do miss the blogroll and would support having it reinstated. Subscribing to another blog roll overwhelms me and I liked being able to leisurely discover awesome blogs.
Most of all, though, I am so excited for you! You must feel a deep sense of satisfaction. At least I would…
When I wrote “blog roll” I meant the Fatosphere feed…
I like the new design (it’s clean and pretty!), and I wholeheartedly approve of the “no more apologies” plan, especially combined with the “more writing gigs for Kate” plan. Congrats! :)
I wonder if you might put the RSS link for SP itself somewhere? I guessed at the URL and got a feed, which may or may not be the right one — it’s summaries only, which doesn’t seem right given that other people seem to be getting full text (and my reading-on-the-subway habits require full text!). Then again, maybe I’m being especially oblivious today and it really is RIGHT THERE.
Congrats on all the great new projects and paid work!
Two reactions to the changes:
The new template feels a little cold to me. I really liked all the color of the old one.
And I miss the old slogan – sthg like “unapologetic feminist, latte-drinking, fat acceptance…” (OK, I can’t remember it, I just liked it a lot better than ‘home of the mordantly obese’ – snarky, but not as inclusive or warm and funny.)