Cross-Up has leveled up!

Is it just me, or does this place look kind of…different all of a sudden?

Yes, it’s true.  The old layout has served me well, but the time has come for Cross-Up to enter its third and most powerful form yet (whatever that means). With a new look comes the chance for new opportunities, and of course a new chance for growth and development.  I’m more than a little excited to show off the new look (as I should be, considering how much of a pain in the ass it was to get everything looking even close to what I envisioned), and I’m hoping it’s the start of a truly magical adventure.

Although, one can’t help but wonder…just who is that pink-haired lass on the right side of the header?  Lloyd is on the left, of course, and you can guess who's in the middle, but I can’t quite seem to put a name to that face.  Could it be that there’s some hidden element to the blog?  Or perhaps a taste of what -- or who -- is to come?

/facetiousness

All right, then.  As the webmaster, let me be the first (and only one) to give a rundown of the changes to the blog.  Bear in mind that things could change over the next couple of days, though; a part of me wonders if anyone happened to watch the blog change every time they loaded a page.  So let me present to you, fair readers…

Cross-Up ver. 2013 Changelog

--New header.  I might change the background sometime in the near future, though, since I’m only about 80% satisfied with it.  Unless I get too lazy; the header took the most time to get ready by a long shot.

--New background image.  I was curious to see if I could add in my own background instead of a premade one via Blogger, and it looks like I managed to put something together.  Side note: don’t underestimate the power of PowerPoint.

--New tab layout.  If you’re the type to search for content via the tabs, you might have to break out of your habits.  The order’s been refigured a bit -- and if you’ll notice where everything is in relation to the header, you can probably guess why.

--New color schemes/fonts.  There’s a preponderance of greens and grays now, with one of the chief changes being the backgrounds of the posts.  Time will tell if it’s a good idea to put black text on a gray background, but we’ll have to see for now.  I’ll know something’s up if it starts to hurt my eyes.  (And indeed, the same applies to the text.)

--Community gadget tweaked.  There’s still a link to the Facebook fan page, but I only just learned that there’s a difference between “liking” a page and “following” it -- so in an effort to avoid displaying my utter failure to comprehend social media, I’ve added in buttons that SHOULD allow both.  So feel free to do so.  Likewise, there’s now a button to follow me on Twitter -- though the tradeoff is that the lists of tweets has been removed.  If there’s demand for it, I might bring it back; for the moment, though, I’m content with leaving it off.

--New Challengers gadget tweaked.  I’m following a crapload of blogs, but the gadget never really reflected that little fact.  No longer; from now on, there’ll be a hefty load of blogs for you to investigate and follow on your own, arranged via alphabetical order.  (Indeed, if you’ve followed this blog for long, you may recognize a name or two on the list.)  We can’t have a community if there aren’t enough proper addresses, right?

--New gadget: High-Level Posts.  Ever wanted to see some of the most popular posts without having to dig deeper into the site?  You’re in luck; from now on, the top four most popular posts will be listed and ready for access with one simple click.  It’ll be interesting to see what stays on the top the longest, and I might change the timeframe for the top honors (last month vs. all time, for example), but let it be known that the best stuff is right there and ready to roll.

--Increased number of posts displayed on main page.  It’s hard to say whether or not people are going that far, but if you scroll to the bottom of the page you’ll be able to see the ten most recent posts instead of eight.  That’s not quite a month’s worth of posts, but again, they’re being offered, and the hope is that it’ll help make things easier to find without much searching. 

--In the process of tweaking “under the hood” stuff.  I threw up that “Follow by Email” gadget a long time ago, but I never knew if people actually used it or not; I assumed not.  Imagine my surprise when I find out that they ARE, and that the numbers are notably higher than the World Warriors gadget further down the page.  (Hard to say how much overlap there is at a glance, though.) Of course, that means that I need to start paying attention to it, i.e. figuring out what the hell I’m supposed to do instead of…you know…NOT knowing all those options exist. 

And I think that’s all of it.  So yeah, here’s hoping that the new look might be beneficial somewhere down the line.  As for what’s next…well, it’s another post on Final Fantasy 13-2.  I know, I know, you’re tired of hearing about it and I’m tired of talking about it, but I wouldn’t have written it if I didn’t have something I REALLY needed to say.  More importantly, it may be one of the best things I’ve written in a good while -- so if you want to see me cut loose, be sure to check back tomorrow. 

If nothing else, I’d recommend at least skipping to the end of that post.  There’s a pretty good chance of some unexpected developments…

Did I remember to close my facetiousness HTML tag?  Well, whatever.  See you guys soon, I hope.