In addition to the new blog layout (which I hope you're all getting used to!) I had to make some other changes to Nouveau Cheap. I never want to make huge changes without giving you some warning though, and explain why I'm making these changes. So here we go:
1) If you read my blog posts via my Daily Newsletter or via an RSS reader, you're going to notice that starting today, you're only going to get a summary of my blog posts (in other words, you'll only see the first paragraph of my blog posts). To read the full post, you must visit my site. After over two years of posting all my content in my newsletters and RSS feed, I HAD to make this change and I apologize in advance.
The reason for making this change is because of the various splogs that are using my content without my permission (if you don't know what a splog is, you can see the definition here). I spend A LOT of time trying to get my content removed from splogs and I've been informed that most of them get content through newsletters or RSS feeds (it's much easier and more convenient to cut and paste chunks of text from a newsletter or RSS feed). If you're not a blogger, it's hard to explain how much bloggers detest splogs (they're not blogs, but they pretend to be, and if you've ever done a google search and landed on a "blog" that had a bunch of random text strung together that didn't make any sense, welcome to the world of splogs!). There are a bunch of other terrible things about splogs, but anyway, I just can't continue to make it easier for splog owners, so that's why I had to make this change.
2) My blog posts on my website now feature a "read the full post" link if they're long posts with lots of pictures. Again, I'm not doing this to annoy you (though I realize it will probably annoy some of you and I'm sorry for that) but my page was taking far too long to load without using a summary feature. So I hope that even though you now might have to click an extra link when you visit my blog, in the end it will be EASIER on everyone. (If enough readers end up hating this feature, I'll certainly consider removing the "read more" link and going back to the old way though, so your feedback is extremely important to me).
Thanks so much for reading this, and I hope no one is too upset or inconvenienced by these necessary changes to the way you read Nouveau Cheap. As always, I welcome your feedback.
G.xo
I think your changes are completely valid and helpful. I won't mind clicking "Read More" :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry that sploggers are stealing your excellent content! Do what you gotta do. I actually really like the new layout!
ReplyDeleteI love the new layout, and I have to say that the new setup loads about a million times faster for me! It's definitely been streamlined. I don't mind clicking on "read more" breaks, ever. I'm sure everyone can understand that you need to prevent content stealing from splogs! :)
ReplyDeleteI welcome the new changes! I don't subscribe, just check during my daily blog rounds. The link to read more for pic-heavy posts will really help to cut down on scrolling for new content.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all that you do!
OHHH. I had zero idea what a splog was. But now that you've enlightened me, I have to say I *hate* those. When I'm on the hunt for a review for something, those are the devil's curse on google.
ReplyDeleteI understand why you chose to do it - speaking as a fellow blogger, content thievery sucks, I know - but honestly? If I can't read the posts in my RSS reader, I won't follow the blog. I have no interest in having to click through on every. single. post. that crosses my reader. So, goodbye, Nouveau Cheap. It was fun while it lasted. :-/
ReplyDeleteSO sorry about the splogs! I totally understand though. As far as the Read More button, I can pick and choose what I see as opposed to everything being shown before.
ReplyDeleteNeutraKris: Thank you so much!! xo
ReplyDeletebeautifulmonday: That means so much coming from such a longtime reader like you. Thanks!!
Nicole: Yay yay yay! Thanks so much, honey, for that.
Erin: Thank you so much, sweetie. And thank YOU for stopping by and making my blog a part of your reading. :)
Nora: LOL at "devil's curse"!! You got THAT right. ;)
Jadelyn: I'm really sorry to hear that, but I understand. My hope (and I realize that right now it's just a hope) is that, over time, people who were used to reading my content via RSS will view my RSS feed as more of a "listing" of my blog posts, and that they could then decide which posts they'd like to read and which they might want to skip. All I can say to you is that, if you were already reading "every single post" as you said, then stopping by my blog once a day might not be too much of an inconvenience? But if it is, I'm sorry to see you go, and I completely respect your decision. :)
thenailaholic: Yay!!! I was SO hoping that some of you might view it like that (being able to pick and choose what you want to read) so THANK YOU for saying it. :D
I actually prefer the new layout! I think it is fine, and I totally understand why you did it.
ReplyDeleteI think that having the read more feature will be great if you are trying to find a post from last week. Scrolling is much faster!
ReplyDeletelove the new layout!
ReplyDeletelove the new layout!
ReplyDeletei both understand and respect your decision to make the changes to your blog.
ReplyDeletepersonally, as a blog-reader, i am not a fan of the "read more" technique. it just feels cumbersome to me.
i will continue to read your blog, and i will click through to the posts that sound interesting to me. what i will miss, though, is that sometimes posts which hadn't previously sounded interesting to me will catch my attention with their images when i scroll through -- something that won't be able to happen with the "read more" technique.
but as i said before, i respect your reasons for making these changes.
It's true that you can't please everyone (as evidenced above), but I find the changes you've made to be extremely positive ones!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the new layout and the fact that it will take me less scrolling to make sure that I haven't missed a post from you.
And as a fellow blogger, I appreciate how honest you are about the problems we face from splogs. I have also had my content compromised, and would never have thought that they were stealing it from my RSS feed.
I might be taking your approach and limiting how much content appears in my feed as well. :)
Thanks for your continued hard work and dedication, G. Nouveau Cheap is one of my favorite blogs! ♥
Wow this is the first Ive heard of splogs yikes! I understand the changes and have no problem clicking through. Yours is one of a short list of blogs that I visit pretty much daily via the email newsletter, the content is worth it.
ReplyDelete~Audrey
I don't mind the 2 changes you did because, well, I get your posts in Google Reader as links anyway, so I have to click to read the post anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do mind is the new layout. I'm not sure I like the two vertical bars of links next to each other, and the poll is smushed (and now has a horizontal scroll bar). It's not a big deal, but it doesn't look nice to me.
Bleh, I REALLY hate the 'read more' function. I understand why, but the entire reason I use Google Reader is so I don't have to open multiple tabs with each individual blog post I wish to read. I won't unsubscribe because I really enjoy your blog, but it's definitely a slight inconvenience to me. It seems kind of silly to say that though:P Boo at splogs ruining everything!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do really enjoy the new layout!
I hate the "read more" links. Probably because I am lazy. I understand why you had to make these changes and support your choices for your blog, but it's a bit of a PITA. I like reading everything in my google reader.
ReplyDeleteSploggers suck! Read more is annoying and I usually unfollow if a blog switches over to it. I understand the position you're in though, so I will continue to follow.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying your new layout. It's coming along nicely.
ReplyDeleteI, for one, dislike the "read more" option. I prefer each post being fully visible, even if it means less posts per page. It ensures that I'm not missing out on any content or pictures at first glance. Just thought I'd share my two cents. :)
Oooooh, so that is what splogs are. I started to see my posts featured in other blogs like it belonged to the person who created the blog. I didn't understand at first, just reported them to blogger and they took the splog down. But someone is always creating another blog with my (and other beauty bloggers) post.
ReplyDeleteYou do what you have to do girl, I don't think many of us mind a few more clicks to go around your wonderful blog.
I want to thank you all so very much for the both the positive and negative feedback. Please know that I'm listening to you carefully and taking everything you have to say into consideration. I really appreciate you taking the time to share you feelings with me, and I have already implemented some of the things you've suggested (Diane--I changed the location of the poll because of your feedback--thank you!).
ReplyDeleteAs for the "read more" feature on my actual blog (not in RSS), I will try a different approach and see how that works: I will only use this function when there are LOTS of pics or text in a blog post. Hopefully that will cut down on load time while still making those of you who like to see *everything* at first glance happy as well.
Thanks again for taking the time to tell me how you feel. I really appreciate it.
G. xo
Hi G. I really like your blog updates! Except don't really like the "read the full post" button. Sometimes I just skim posts, in order to see exactly what they will be about- and this makes that harder to do. I also miss the "comment love" gadget on the sidebar.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, this is your blog and your final decision.These are just my opinions:)
Anyway, good job on your blog:)
aly: I would NEVER delete the Comment Love widget! It's still there, sweetie! It's on the right-hand sidebar now, and I renamed it "Top Commenters" because I thought it made it more clear. Thanks, hun!
ReplyDeleteHi! I discovered your blog recently and appreciate all the hard work you put into this site. Some of my food blogging friends have also encountered the same situation as well with people stealing content. I think it's a terrible problem and each blogger should have the right to deal with it in their own way, even if it means losing a few readers. It seems to me that it's the lesser of two evils when compared to having content stolen! That being said, since I subscribe to a lot of blogs, I don't always have time to click over to the actual site to continue reading. It's esp hard to do so when I'm at the office or reading on my smart phone. So instead of unsubscribing from partial feeds, I've started using http://fulltextrssfeed.com/ to get the full feed in my reader. Hopefully this is a win-win situation for everyone involved! It's worked well for me!
ReplyDeleteHi there! I've read for about 6 months but I think only commented once before. I read via Google Reader and sadly probably won't click through often, only if something REALLY catches my eye. As someone else mentioned, I just read way too many blogs to click through to any of them. I wanted to find out what was going on which is why I clicked through today. (oddly though, if I'm already visiting a blog, clicking Read More never bothers me at all). Thanks for all you do!
ReplyDeleteG-
ReplyDeleteOk! I just found it! Sorry, I don't know why I did not see it before! Any way, I am glad you are keeping it because it seems like a great way for readers to be more involved.
I am getting used to the new layout and the new changes- and I'm liking them alot more than I did at first.
=)