Guest Post: 5 Tips to Improve Reader Usability

Happy Friday everyone! My name is Angel and you can find me at Static-Romance. I’m a freelance graphic designer and web developer from Florida. I’ve been blogging for over five years now at various places. I’m so grateful Sarah has opened an opportunity for me to guest post here at OSN.

Lately, I’ve been connecting with many personal bloggers who blog about everything from babies to handbags. Having a blog is a wonderful experience for the blogger and the reader. As an avid blog reader, I enjoy visiting a site that is optimized to make reader usability easy. However, there are some things we, as bloggers, don’t realize make our sites easier for readers. Here’s five tips to improve reader usability.

1. RSS Please

I cannot express how important it is for a blog to have a visible/active RSS feed. I know some of you are wondering, “What is RSS?” RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

Your users use feed reader or news aggregator software allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various sites and display them for you to read and use. — Whatisrss.com

If you have no idea how to set up your RSS feed with your CMS, I would suggest getting a Feedburner account. Feedburner is the easiest way to track your RSS feed readers, optimize your RSS feed, and share your RSS feed. One of the biggest turn offs is not being able to find a site’s RSS feed. I will usually never visit the site again if I can’t find an RSS feed unless they have outstanding content. Bookmarks are so 2004! More people use RSS feed readers than you think.

2. Battle of Categories and Tags

I cannot stress how important it is to organize your organize your categories and tags. As a reader, when we visit your blog and we find a specific topic interesting, we’d love to find more entries about this topic. If you have 200 tags, you make it hard for us to search through what we’re looking for. Be sure to not overdose on categories and tags. Always use correct spelling and grammar when naming your tags/categories. It’s easier for you to organize and it’s easier for the reader to find them.

3. I Can’t Read Your Text

Have you ever visited a blog and thought, “I love your turquoise text. I really do, but I’m sure you don’t expect me to read your blog entries.”? Despite the fact that I’m terribly far-sighted, as a graphic designer, I cringe when visiting blogs with terrible text readability. Text that is too small, with tiny letter-spacing, and tiny amounts of line-spacing turn your readers off!

Remember that it’s always nice to have a great blog design, but be sure your text colors aren’t clashing. It’s nearly impossible for anyone to read light-colored text on a light background without straining their eyes. Always be sure to use dark text on a light background, and light text on a dark-background. Try to steer away from harsh colors such as #ffff00 yellow and #ff0000 red when it comes to text.

4. Do You Need A Compass To Navigate Your Site?

What’s the best way for your readers to discover everything on your site? Using the navigation! Most blogs offer a menu of the pages they offer on their site. How is a reader meant to read more about you when they can’t find the page? It’s important to have a well-styled menu. Use grammatically correct terms. It’s tempting to name your links after your blog’s “theme” however it may be confusing for your readers. Be sure your navigation is easy to find. It’s best to have it at the top or in a sidebar. It may be a hassle for the reader to find your pages if they’re all listed in the footer. Navigation is key! Don’t let your readers get lost.

5. Don’t Forget Us!

It happens to the best of us. We all get into some situation where we just get tired of blogging. Blog burn-out gets to all of us at one point or another. I’m terribly guilty of this, seeing that I didn’t update my site for over three months at one point. However, you at least owe it to your readers to tell them you just are tired of blogging. There’s nothing worse than following a really great blog and the blogger disappears. Then he/she reappears years later saying how much they missed us, only they didn’t give us a proper goodbye.

When all else fails, turn to guest blogging. If you can’t blog, find a friend who will blog for you or put your site on hiatus. It’s easier for the readers to know that you’re leaving the blogosphere than to have them constantly checking your site daily, wondering when you’re returning.

I hope you enjoyed the post! I hope to return to guest post here at OSN sometime in the future. Have a wonderful weekend!

Guest Post: Vegan Tortilla Pizza

Hello, everyone! My name is Lisa Marie from Lisa’s Thoughts. I’m a married mom to one, and have been eating Vegan for going on a year and a half now!

When I first found out that the lovely Sarah was going to start allowing guests to post here at OSN, I jumped at the opportunity to post a delicious recipe. I’m hoping to be able to share more with you in the future. Now onto the good stuff!

There are times when I just don’t feel like cooking. I know, that’s hard to believe coming from me, right? Ordering out is rarely an option though.

• I hate spending $25 — $50 on one meal when I can spend even less at the market and make enough to feed my entire family.
• Being a vegan I don’t have many options. I don’t want to overkill the very few that I do have.
• I almost always get sick after eating somewhere other than my own kitchen.

So even on those lazy days I still find myself cooking. However, I have learned lots of tricks along the way. I try to make it quick, make it as healthy as I can and without spending a ton of money. One of my favorites is Vegan Tortilla Pizzas. For only $15 I make enough pizzas for a family of 6. Not bad, huh?

The good thing about these pizzas is that they’re light yet filling at the same time. The flour tortillas make an excellent “crust” because it gets so crispy. I don’t know about you, but I love a thin, crispy crust. Also, you can be as creative as you want to be and don’t have to worry about fussing over the dough. There’s no rolling, stretching, pulling, punching, etc. Pull a flour tortilla out of the package, place it on a baking sheet, load it up with your favorite pizza toppings and pop it in the oven. It’s that simple. Here is a favorite in my household.

What you will need

• 1 package of fat free flour tortillas
• 1 package of Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage (pssst… it’s also fat free)
• 1 container of Whole Foods brand freshly made pizza sauce
• 1 package of Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Flavor Cheese
• nutritional yeast flakes
• crushed red pepper
• oregano

Directions

• 1) Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• 2) Cook sausage according to instructions on the package.
• 3) Place flour tortillas on baking sheet. Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of pizza sauce onto the tortillas and spread out evenly. Sprinkle some of the nutritional yeast flakes over the sauce (I usually just pour a little into my hand and lightly sprinkle some on top). Next top with crumbled sausage. Last top off the pizzas with slices of cheese.
• 4) Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are browned and turning upward (similar to the photo at the beginning of this post).
• 5) Sprinkle some of the crushed red pepper and oregano on top of the pizzas. Using a pizza cutter, cut the pizzas into 4 triangles. Enjoy!

Of course you can use your own pizza sauce if you’re feeling up to making it. Since this is considered to be one of my lazy dishes I opt for a pre-made sauce. And like I said, you can be as creative as you want to be. Load those bad boys up with some veggies! Roasted garlic, spinach and cheese is my personal favorite. I also like broccoli and cheese. If you have children have them help you out in the kitchen. Let them create their very own pizza. It’s a fun way to get them to eat their veggies. Not to mention less work for you. Have fun!

Sore sarah… Author: Mary

hi everybody! thank you so, much for all the great comments and well wishes! i have sarah on the phone now. she’s sore from her surgery. and her throat hurts because, they had to put a tube down her throat for the surgery. i read to her all the comments she got and she’s so, grateful to everyone. she was able to have ice cream! first food in 84 hours! she says she feels like shit and that she’s sore and that it hurts to swallow. but, other then that she seems to be ok. poor thing has to whisper though because, it also hurts to talk. but, i had her on the phone to read all of your comments to her and find out what else she needs. that’s about it for now. but, i’ll be back with more updates later.

Lapriscopic… Author: Mary

i just spoke to ali. sarah just came out of surgery. she did have her gallbladder removed through the lapriscopic surgery. they didn’t have to open her up!  ali sounded so, relieved to know that sarah was ok. i’m so, glad this is almost over for her! go sarah!

Newest update… Author: Mary

i talked to sarah’s sister ali a little while ago and our sarah is having surgery right now. ali is nervous as you can imagine. sarah got to see her sweet son for a little while before she went in for surgery. she also, wanted me to tell you guys that she hasn’t eaten any food since wednesday night at about 5pm. and that they’ve now taken 19 viles of her blood. poor sarah keeps seeing commercials for food on tv. ali is going to call me when she hears how the surgery went or as soon as sarah comes out of surgery. the doctors are going to try to take her gallbladder out through lapriscopic surgery. but, they’re going in with the camera first to see if her gallbladder is inflamed. if her gallbladder is inflamed then they have to actually open her up and take it out that way. if they do it that way she’s going to have to be in the hospital for 5 days. so, everyone let’s all hope everything goes well. we love you sarah! i’ll update again when i talk to ali again.

Surgery… Author: Mary

sarah is going to have surgery to remove her gallbladder this morning. they’re going to do it laproscopic. it should only take an hour and a half. my daughter and i went to see sarah in the hospital last night. and when we got there her sister ali was there. we tortured sarah with funny stories until she was laughing so, hard she couldn’t breathe. that was pretty funny. i think the funniest part was when she called for the nures to come in and give her a shot of morphine. she laid there looking all serious as if she was anticipating the next hit eyes all half closed and everything. and then like 30 seconds later was all giggling. ali asked her “the morphine kicking in there sarah?” to which sarah just smiled and giggled more. we all just pointed and laughed. which made her giggle even more. i’m telling you it was funny. she’s in really good spirits. she also, is being very courageous. she’s scared but, is asking all the questions and talking to all the doctors and nurses. and she’s looking forward to going home. i’m going to take my daughter back to the hospital to see her again today. so, i’ll have more updates for later. but, now i have to go drink my hot tea and try to wake up. so, more updates later.

more news… Author: Mary

i just got off the phone with sarah and it looks like they’re talking about surgery. she also, says they’ve taken 17 viles of her blood. she’s feeling a bit like a pin cushion at this point. i did get her to giggle a time or two so, she’s still her perky self as much as she can be. but, she does miss her son so, much. and even though the morphine injections are beginning to sting a bit she does carress and love it because, i think morphine is becoming one of her best friends. it’s been helping with the pain. she’s still not allowed to eat. and one of the nurses just told her she can’t drink water anymore. when she gets out of the hospital i think she needs a big steak dinner and baked potato! give her back the much needed tasty goodness of some of her favorite foods! if anyone wants to send her a lovely glittery e-card i’m sure she’d love to see it when she gets home. i’ll be back again with more updates as i get them.

News on Sarah… Author: Mary

this is mary again with another update about sarah. i’m on the phone with her at the moment. i’ve read every comment she’s recieved to her and she’s very grateful to everyone for leaving such kind words. she’s got a migraine today from not being able to eat. she said she’s not been able to sleep very well either. the scan she had yesterday afternoon showed another stone in her gallbladder blocking an opening to let it pass. so, they’re discussing options on how to get rid of it. she will be talking to a specialist today. sarah has asked me to let you guys know that if you want her phone number in the hospital to e-mail me directly. my e-mail address is MareKat24@aol.com and i’ll respond to any e-mails as soon as possible. thanks again for all the comments. i’ll post more when i know more.

Sarah update… Author: Mary

here’s the latest. the doctors did a scan of her gallbladder they found a gallstone but, no swelling of the gallbladder itself. she’s still on morphine. they’ve also, started giving her an antibiotic. this afternoon they ran a test on her where they had to inject her with radioactive dye and have her lay flat on her back under a camera for 3 hours. she’s hungry but, is only allowed ice chips. and just recently was allowed water. she’s still waiting for test results. there still isn’t an official diagnosis. her sister is still with her. and she’s grateful for that because, she’s a bit scared as you can imagine. other then that she seems to be in a pretty decent mood all things considered. i did read to her all of the comments that were left for her. so, if anyone else would like to leave a message for her i’ll pass it on when i speak to her later this evening. thanks for all of your words of kindness. they are most appreciated.

Hospital… Author: Mary

hi everyone this is mary. i’m on the phone with sarah at this moment. yesterday she became very sick and her twin sister took her to the emergency room. sarah has been admitted into the hospital. the problem is her gallbladder. i will be posting more information as i get it. if you want to contact me my e-mail address is MareKat24@aol.com. she’s in pain now and on morphine. her biggest worries are that of her son. her sister and her sisters boyfriend are there with her now. i need to go for now but, e-mail me if you need to. thanks guys.

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