Two weeks back, I asked you for your honest opinions on truncated posts in a sidebar poll. The results were as mixed as I expected them to be, but I still got some great feedback.
For those who might not know, truncated posts are the abbreviated posts on a home page of a blog. Usually there will be several older posts on the main page that only show the first few sentences of text. The reader must then click on a link to be taken to the full story. Dollar Store Crafts is an example of a site that uses truncated posting. For a great article describing how to truncate (along a few facts in favor of truncating), click over to Crafterminds.
The three poll answer choices were:
A)I love being able to see multiple posts at a glance,
B) I don't love having to click "Read More," but it doesn't make me leave the website, and
C) I hate them. Those blogs get deleted from my RSS feed pronto.
As you can see from the bar graph, most responders fell into the fence-sitting category, neither for nor against truncating. Likewise, the pro-truncators only slightly outnumbered the anti-truncators. Yes, I made those words up.
You also gave me some great feedback in the comments section:
Sarah Takens said...I prefer the 'you may also like' thumbnails rather than the shortening of blogs. My two cents! : )
Clarissa said...If you're posting really frequently, I say truncating is great. But based on your posting schedule and the sizes of your posts, I wouldn't worry about it.
Wendy said... I've voted in the poll, but I wanted to tell you that I HATE truncated posts and usually just leave a blog if I find them. My internet connection is slow and it just takes too much time.
Heather - Dollarstorecrafts.com said... I disagree w/Wendy because I think that truncated posts actually help with page loading times.
I actually love truncation because I like a clean look & feel to a website & I like being able to scan over the last several posts quickly to see what I want to read.
If you do truncate, you should always leave a photo in the front page section, though! And write a good lead paragraph (but you already do that).
Taking all your input into consideration, and after doing some more research, I have been working on a new blog design that will incorporate truncated blog posts. I really hope that those of you who voted for option C in the poll don’t delete me from your blog roll, but I will understand if you do.
The new design (if I finish editing the HTML code without frying all my brain synapses) will have a much cleaner look, will be easier to navigate, and will simplify finding specific posts.
I am still working on the design, so if you have any suggestions for great content that I should include or if there are any elements of the current blog you don’t think need to be carried over to the new design, please leave me a comment!
