Familial Ramblings
Quick Review by Red Herring
Analysis:
My my, I have been feeling quite special as of late. I became a participate in the first ever cooperatively written Forum Promotion review, a participant in the first ever cooperatively written review by the entire Review Team, and now I get to review a blog owned by everyone's favorite Head Administrator, LunarScorpio. My narcissism is growing by the day, let me tell you.
So then. What is this blog that our most glorious leader hosts? "Familial Ramblings", or so its named. It's a blog catering to the subject of family, relationships and "random ramblings" as the blog itself so elegantly puts it. I've never actually read from a blog with this kind of subject material, so consider my interest very much piqued. What will it offer me, I wonder? An informative insight into the nature of familial livelihood? Or is this a blog suffering from a midlife crisis? Enough of my own "random ramblings", it's time to find out.
Strengths:
- Design Merits
Let's get started, shall we? We'll kick this review off on a positive note by saying that my first impressions certainly do not go wanting. My eyes were presented with a vista most pleasing indeed, in the form of a simple but gorgeous little landscape; its horizon emphasized with lighting and sparkles alike, accompanied by the imagery of a proud tree with heart-shaped leaves and a happy family walking off into the distance. I seldom see such an uplifting sight for a header, so do believe me when I say that an impact has very much been made straight off the bat. The logo itself is a bit simple, but stylized in a way that suits a blog catering to personal family interests. It has no unique imagery to identify itself, but it doesn't need to. The header already does that, allowing the logo some leeway to be as leisurely as it currently is.
Color me delighted. Color me with every brilliant blue and green shade that this vista has to offer, because I am quite enchanted by this header. Even its navigation elements, "Home, "About", "Contact", "Advertise" seem perfectly in line with the header, which is quite impressive, considering how difficult it is to implement navigation elements into a header of such proportionate size. That being said, there is one element about the header that I disapprove of, but we'll get to that later. For now, I've dwelt long enough on what's above. Let's see what's going down below, shall we?
Subtle double entendre aside, there's not a whole lot going on below. The colorful excitement above quickly comes to an end, which saddens me slightly, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. My eyes have no issue digesting the sight below. For one, I greatly appreciate the fact that several articles actually attempt to use unique images rather than stock images that can be found via a quick Google search, not to mention each of these images are accompanied by a light shadow underneath that engineers them to feel a little less two dimensional. Article listing is mostly centered with a standard blog information sidebar to the right. My reception to this display is lukewarm, but warm nonetheless.
Do I have complaints? Oh, yes, I have complaints. And we'll get to those...later! In the weaknesses section, where it belongs! For now, let us bask in the warm glow of the green vista overlooking us while I discuss yet another positive element of Familial Ramblings.
- Quality Articles
Which happens to be...the articles themselves! Hallelujah! If ever there were an element of a blog you'd want listed as a positive, this would surely be at the top of the list. I'd even go so far as to say that, in the end, a blog's articles are the only aspects that matter...barring, of course, the notion there's an aspect so hideously offensive that it drives a user away as soon as they make first contact with it. But I digress.
The article content provided by Familiar Ramblings is the very first blog I've reviewed at Forum Promotion where I enjoy them for the author and her writing style alone, subject matter be damned! Reading these articles fills me with the satisfaction that loving care went into producing them. They're simply a pleasure to read; written in a way that isn't solely to be informative, but in a way where the readers can genuinely enjoy reading and musing over them. Familial Ramblings shows one how to write an article properly.
I found myself lulled into a sense of nostalgia in my reading of "Ice Cream Magic", which took me back to the days of my childhood and gave me a fierce craving for some Moose Tracks ice cream, my favorite flavor. I found myself in admiration of "Breaking the Blogging Mold", whose display of rebellion against the statistics game fostered a sense of inspiration within me. And I found myself fondly regarding my own mother whilst reading "Your Mother's Smile: Priceless", which touched me as an individual who was raised as an only child by his very own mother. Priceless indeed.
In addition to a superior form of writing, the articles themselves reach out to touch and interact with their audience; not just in its writing, but with the little things like "Let's Ramble", which asks its readers a few questions for them to muse over and consider. The level of interaction it seeks to encourage from its readers is simply beautiful, and a trait I almost never encounter in any blog...not even ones with a large readership behind them. Even the primary author of Familial Ramblings herself is seen frequently interacting with her readers via comments.
Familial Ramblings, you may not have the statistics of a popular blog, but you have the heart of a true blog like no other. You supply your readership with articles that aren't just blank slates of information, but with writing that one can truly enjoy, appreciate and find themselves wanting only more, myself included.
Weaknesses:
- Design Hiccups
That being said, I am sure our most illustrious administrator did not come here simply to hear infinite praise, hm? Or perhaps she did, considering I am to be fired should I write a bad review. Dear oh dear, the pressure is on. Even a heart that beats true is not without its flaws. As a critic, it is my solemn duty to scrutinize and point out these flaws so that the owner might apply a the proper remedy or two. Not to worry. Dr. Herring is in the building, and s/he has a diagnosis for you.
And I diagnose this blog with...the hiccups! Specifically, "Design Hiccups." They're nothing major, but they are a slight bit annoying, no? I ended my praise and critique of design rather abruptly above with a little note: "Do I have complaints? Oh, yes, I have complaints." It's about time I elaborate fully on what exactly those complaints are. The diagnosis is hiccups and my cure is a punch to the throat. Unorthodox, but it works.
Continuing from where we left off in "Design Merits", I mentioned that I was not displeased with the blog's index proper. And that's true. It's not so much that I was displeased, so much as I was disappointed. It's not an appalling sight, but compared to the beautiful green vista above, it's one that feels rather...lacking. Cluttered. The once green landscape has been sapped away by a great white abyss of disorganization. Don't get me wrong, white is not a bad choice of color, and it's the safe route to take, but the index feels rather chaotic in its current state.
Starting with the top, I had praised the topmost navigation elements within the header, and I stand by my assessment in that regard. When it comes to category navigation, however...well...the image is somewhat tarnished. It's not the rounded-button design that offends, rather, it simply doesn't blend very well with its brown text. It's rather off-putting, and is probably the only portion of the header that I disapprove of.
Now then, in regards to the index, the main problem I have with it is that it feels rather poor in terms of structure, although there are a few design hiccups mixed in with it. Let's take the post separators for instance, aka, the lines accompanied by a giant shadow in between every article on the index. Separators are important, but in this case, I feel they're just a tad bit too poignant with the shadowing being much too pronounced. Furthermore, in regards to the article images themselves, I highly appreciate the fact that many of them are unique and not simply stock photos pulled from a quick Google search. Sadly, this fact is marred somewhat by the actual quality of the images, with the majority of them being poorly optimized to fit the thumbnail resolution; many of them looking squished or otherwise low quality.
The index structure itself is also one that I find myself wincing towards, mostly thanks to the sidebar information. It just feels so cluttered and disorganized. The search bar and social networking buttons throw things out of alignment and the "Friends & Affiliates" section just doesn't feel as though it belongs where it is. I have devised a little outline on how I feel the sidebar should be structured. Here we are.
About Me
Popular Posts
Top Commentluvvers
Blogroll
(Social Networking Buttons)
You may notice I have removed a few items. Namely, "Friends & Affiliates" as well as the search bar, as I feel these could be better placed elsewhere. The search bar could fit quite snugly into the header and "Friends & Affiliates" could settle down easier in the footer, I feel. This will require a bit of redesign, but the end effect would definitely be worth the effort.
...Speaking of the footer, I'd say we have sufficiently discovered the root of the problem, pardon my lame pun. If I am to be perfectly honest here, that is one abominable footer that Familial Ramblings is in possession of. Eek. Two rows of buttons serve to expand an ugly brown column far beyond what is reasonable, and the buttons themselves are massive. If they were cookies, you could Africa with those buttons. And finally, the green portion of the footer is complete with the same off-putting brown text found in the category navigation. All-in-all, it's not a pretty sight. If I were to compare Familial Ramblings to a sandwich, it would be divine expensive bread on the top, a mix-mash of experimental ingredients in the middle and moldy store-bought bread way past its expiration date at the bottom.
That being said, it's still not a bad sandwich. But it's one that I feel dissatisfied with tasting. It's not particularly offensive or even detracting, just a bit of an unfortunate let-down. However, even if things are not changed to remedy the situation with design flaws, I would still find myself content, because the article quality is more than enough to gloss over it and then some. Speaking of which...
- Lack of Informative Articles
I will admit, I feel somewhat guilty at using this as a "weakness", because it's not really much of a weakness...just something that could be improved upon. However, I was struggling to find an addition Familial Ramblings weakness that wasn't design-related, so in the end, this is what we're stuck with. That's not to say it isn't worth mentioning, because I would certainly like to see some improvement here.
Simply put, Familial Ramblings offers up beautifully written articles that are quite entertaining and wonderful to read. Spelling and grammar are most definitely no concern of this blog, and the writing style is simply enthralling. However, what it lacks, it lacks in information. If a reader is looking for advice or tips to improve their familial and social relationships, then sadly, they won't find much of it at Familial Ramblings.
Such content isn't inexistent, mind you. There are shades of it to be found within this blog. Take "Father Son Bonding: Why Jiu Jitsu Is the Ideal Option", for example, an article dedicated to explaining the merits of a father-son activity in martial arts. It's a great suggestion, as the article itself explains. Another good example would be the follow-up "Raising an Emotionally Healthy Girl"; an article that I found a bit limited in information, but still quite valid nonetheless. In fact, several of its past articles are geared towards such information.
More recent articles have been slipping away from this, however, receiving a more personal touch than one catered to information or advice. There's certainly nothing wrong with this, but I feel things could be much better on this front.
This was a short section, at least compared to the last three, but again, it wasn't really much of a weakness to begin with; more of a personal note. I would very much enjoy seeing many more of these informative articles, and hope to see Familial Ramblings overflowing with them in the future.
Final Remarks:
My overall outlook on Familial Ramblings has been left on a very positive one. The design had its flaws, but it was more than made up for by what really counts: article quality. I did not end up reading everything, but Familial Rambling's superior style of writing drew me into reading more than what was required for my review. It was entertaining and enthralling. Inspiring, even. So much so that I decided to start up my very own blog.
Would I find myself to be a frequent visitor in the future? Probably not. When it all boils down to it, the subject matter is quite far from my own interests, but I'm just one fish in an ocean. If the genre appeals to the reader, then I am almost certain that this blog will draw some eyes to it, and it already has.
Best regards, Familial Ramblings. Whatever road you walk, whatever path you travel, I wish you the very best of luck.
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