Pretty much me today.
It's been a long time coming, but I'm absolutely delighted to let you know that the blog redesign is officially complete! (Well, aside from a few minor tweaks that are still pending, but it's 99% complete and that's good enough for me.) I think everything is pretty self-explanatory in terms of the new layout, but there are a few things I do want to mention...
First, can we hold hands, light a candle, pour out a 40 or whatever other tribute feels right in honor of the piggy? RIP to my piggy bank logo! I loved that logo, but it was time to go (although I did keep a little tribute on my new About Me page, in case you ever want to see him again. He'll always be with us there!).
Second, I listened to your feedback and I included just about everything you wanted to see up on the top navigation bar (if you're on mobile, that's the "Menu"). I'm not 100% happy with the way the navigation bar looks on desktop right now, but I'm working on making it cleaner so, if it's bugging you too, just know that it will be fixed eventually. ANYWAY, I updated My Holy Grail Products page (yay!), I gave the You Tell Me page a face-lift, and I did a few other tweaks here and there, but I'll leave those for you to discover.
Speaking of mobile, I hope you all are liking the new mobile version so far. I know there are some issues with some of the ads, and I apologize for any pop-ups or screen freezes you're experiencing right now. Please know that I'm working to correct those as quickly as possible, but in the meantime, please try refreshing the page if you experience any issues (hopefully that fixes things for now!).
Now that the redesign is 99% finished, I honestly cannot WAIT to get back to regular blogging. I have a lot of catch-up to do when it comes to new product sightings and reviews, and I also can't wait to do the weekly drugstore makeup sale posts again (I feel like I've been lost these past few weeks, not knowing what the heck is going on at the drugstores!).
Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you for your patience, understanding, and support during these last few months. I could have the most amazing site on the internet and it wouldn't mean a thing without someone there to read it. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your encouragement and patience!
Love,
G. xo
PS: If you have any comments about the new design, please know I am well aware of the current ad issues and I'm working as hard as I can to fix them as quickly as possible. So no need to comment about that, but all other raves/rants about the new design are welcome!
Looks so great, G! I love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Kellyn! I'm so happy you like it! xo
DeleteLooks great G! Can we search in the mobile version? I cannot find it? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIf you keep scrolling past the comments a search bar shows up!
DeleteI added the search bar to mobile earlier today, but it took a while for it to show up. It should be right under the first ad, near the bottom of the page now. Let me know if you see it? Thanks!
DeleteI see it now! That's great. I love the new site - I think it looks great - and you clearly worked so hard. Thanks for all you do for your readers.
DeleteYay! Thanks so much for all your hard work, G! I am especially a fan of the mobile version's search bar *angels sing* and the updated Holy Grail page. You work so hard to help us out and we love you for it!
ReplyDeleteThis is nice and clean and looks so fresh and uncluttered. I will miss the piggy though. I get nostalgic but here's a toast to progress and change! I don't use the mobile page as I much prefer my desktop computer to do mobile anything. I think that is more a sign of my age though and my generation more than anything else. Great job on the new layout!
ReplyDeleteThe piggy bank logo should be bigger! lol
ReplyDeleteOther than that, it's looking great!
Looks great! Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteIt looks fantastic! Great job. It is clean and smooth on my cell phone- no hiccups or ad troubles. I love your blog and am glad you're back to making the all-important content!
ReplyDeleteCongrats!!!! Nice work. So much work for us. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love it!!!! So so sleek!!! Piggy will be missed!!!! Brava Gianna! Brava!!!👏👏👏👏
ReplyDeleteBeen a follower of yours for some time. The change is refreshing. Great job G!
ReplyDeletelooks great!
ReplyDeleteLove the new look! Thanks for all your hard work G!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! Count me among those that miss the Piggy Bank logo. It was a nice, personal touch that I associated with your theme.
ReplyDeleteSo glad mobile is back!!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great! I really love the design! :) Plus I read your blog on mobile 99% of the time so it's great to have a beautiful mobile version.
ReplyDeleteYas lady! Well done!
ReplyDeleteThat meme made me laugh out loud! Congrats!!!! You are so great to put so much effort into this for us. It is honestly and truly so appreciated! This place is like Cheers....LOL!
ReplyDeleteNice! It looks so pretty!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! It looks great.
ReplyDeleteI like it a lot! Looks a lot cleaner and much easier to navigate! Thanks for your hard work!
ReplyDeleteLooks really wonderful and clean! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I am currently in the middle of a rebrand and I am sure it feels great once everything is up and live!
ReplyDeleteYay!!! I love the new look!!! And I'm so happy the mobile version is back!!! Thank you so much G! Can't tell you how much I love this site!
ReplyDeleteIt looks FIERCE. love it. Great job!
ReplyDeleteIt looks so great!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great - I feel like everything is more cleaner and clearer now, and easy to find. Thank you for all your hard work!
ReplyDeleteEnjoying it!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous new design! It's much cleaner and easier to find exactly what we're looking for. Stacie xo
ReplyDeleteIt looks great, it's easily navigated, you did a fantastic job as usual!! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI do have a question and this isn't about the redesign, it's more a general question and not specifically regarding you but most blogs, why is it that I receive the email for new blog posts a day after they are posted/published? As I said, this isn't just your blog that it happens this way but many and I have my settings as to receive new posts immediately. A lot of the time it doesn't really matter, but you will so graciously let us know about one day sale events, etc and it's the next day before the email lands in my mail box. I was just curious why the delay, if you know. I've been meaning to ask that and just haven't until now. Love your blog and have been loving it and look forward to each new post. Hope you have a great week end.
I'd be happy to explain! My daily email goes out once a day, and I have the choice as to a general window of time when it will be automatically sent to subscribers (6pm-9pm, 9pm-11pm, etc). I could choose to have it go out at 7am-9am if I'd like, but I choose to have it go out later at night because then it ensures that it catches EVERYTHING that I posted that day (unless I post something really late at night, which happens occasionally).
DeleteFor example, if I had it go out at around 8am every day, that would mean that everything I posted on the blog AFTER 8am wouldn't be seen by subscribers until the NEXT day's email at 8am. That could make any "hot deals" over 24 hrs old by the time you see them, versus only a few hours old the way it's set up now.
If I only posted on the blog up to say, 5pm every day, and I knew that I was never going to post something after 5pm ever, I would have the email go out at 5pm. But since I often post at 7, 8, 9, 10pm, that's why I have it set to go out between 9-11 Pacific (I'm in San Diego).
I've had other readers ask the same question you asked, and I know that if you rely solely on my daily email for knowing about any hot deals, it can be very frustrating if you're reading the email after the deal has ended. The only thing I can suggest is that you might want to follow me on either Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. On those three social media channels, I post in real time every single time I post something new on the blog. Alternatively, if it's possible, you may want to just pop in here on the blog on your lunchbreak or before dinnertime, just to give a quick scan and see if anything timely has been posted.
I hope that makes sense, and thanks so much!
My tip would be to subscribe to the RSS feed. I have those come to my work email so I never miss anything. :)
DeleteI always read your posts from my phone, so I am thrilled with your redesign! It is so much easier to navigate, well done, G.! Will miss the piggy bank, lol! Glad I can still see him on your page!
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteIt looks fabulous G!
ReplyDeleteAww, Miss Piggy will be missed, lol. But I too am a mobile reader and love the new design! Congrats and keep up the great work!! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your hard work, it really looks great. I'm especially grateful of the fact that you kept the "search by category" option. :)))
ReplyDeleteGood job. I really like the mobile layout. Glad its back.
ReplyDeleteI understand why you changed, the new format does look professional and classy, lots of clean lines-- but it looks A LOT like Sephora to me and has this expensive feel. I come to this webpage for drugstore sales and cheap, affordable stuff. So from my Walmart-shopper point of view, the new design makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteHi Tasha! Thanks so much for the feedback, and I'm incredibly sorry to hear that the new design makes you feel uncomfortable. That was never my intent!
DeleteI think that if you give it some time to get used to, and continue to read my posts, you'll see that my writing style has not (and will never!) change. Hopefully the content and my personality will start to take a front seat after the shock of the new design wears off, and the feelings you have now will melt away. I know that whenever a site I read regularly is redesigned, it takes me a while to get back that "familiar" or homey feeling I had before. It may seem cold or "expensive" as you said, right now, but I'm hoping that once you're used to it, you won't get that vibe because you will be more focused on my words and content (after the newness wears off). Please give it a couple weeks, and feel free to email me if you still have that feeling after a little while, ok? Thanks so much!
Very nice!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it a great feeling of relief to have that monkey off your back?!!! You did a great job! The collective information you bring us is an amazingly generous service - your blog is so very unique. Because of the amount of varied products/reviews you bring to the table, I think it is a good idea to keep the home page of the blog as uncluttered of extraneous matter as possible. The re-design 'tightens up' the blog, showcasing your growth, and makes it much more accessible. And the mobile aspect - well, that's what we do - shop for products seen here - and it is great to be able to pull up the reviews/photos on the go! I hope you were able to celebrate, in some way, this milestone in your blog's journey. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteAwesome for mobile but I will miss the Piggy. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteIt looks amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteIt looks so nice and sleek grats on the awesome redesign! I even checked if this was still on blogspot bc it looked too nice lol.
ReplyDeleteG - thank you for your hard work. I love your blog and it is my go-to for best deals and reviews on makeup. Love the site makeover!
ReplyDeleteThis look is so fresh and clean. I absolutely love your blog.
ReplyDelete