Hmmm, my input would be...from the perspective of someone familiar with RSS feeds and the like...is that, while a contact page is good, a page for subscribing to an RSS feed AND a contact page AND a connect page (what is that for? Links? Twitter? Facebook? links are usually found on a sidebar, and twitter/fb/RSS are usually buttons) seems to be a bit over overkill.

I can see a separate links page if you have a shitton of them, separated into categories, say.

Excellent point, Erin.

I had intended the connect page to be social media links, for which there are already buttons, as you point out. Plus, the subscription box for my newsletter list.

The contact page would be phone and email.

I can move it all to one page.

Which would be better 'contact' or 'connect'?

Contact. It will make your readers have to think less.

check.

Next question in re: web functions.

Is it necessary, desirable or functional to have tags and categories visible on a blog?

It seems so cluttering and I have to confess that I have never used a tag or category to look deeper into an archive.

Then again, I am completely unclear about SEO success and assume that I'm doing it all wrong.

Is it necessary, desirable or functional to have tags and categories visible on a blog?

I don't think it's necessary at the beginning, because you don't have enough content to search. Useful categories may become obvious to you after a few months.

Search engine optimization is largely voodoo, particularly since whenever the people who do it find some trick that works, Google writes an algorithm against it. The best way get more search results is to write copy that includes the words you think people might look for and to get others to link to it.

Thanks, Ginger.

My goal for the new website is to have it be as clean as possible, letting the copy be the hero.

So, I think I'll tell the developer to leave the t&cs off altogether. He won't like it but, eh. What can I say.

I think I might just ask him to load the template and give me access. It'll be easier for me to tweak and ask questions later.

amych, I just went back up and reread your comments about my blog post and I'm ashamed that I thought I posted a thank you for your thoughtful response, but never actually did.

I'm embarrassed. I come in here for just that sort of thing and then made it seem like I was ignoring you.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.

::hanging head::

I've been talking about needing to get motivated.

Well, this TEDTalk, in just 2:33 minutes, has given me a real boost.

Matt Cutt talks about trying something new for 30 days.

One of my classic coping mechanisms has always been, "I can do anything for 20 minutes." This mantra got me through many a 70 mile bike ride and, to be frank, some pretty ugly things in my life.

This last month, I kept a daily food blog and have lost 10+ lbs.

Now, I'm keeping a time log to up my lamentably weak efficiency.

Does anyone have a good template for such a thing? I've googled my fingers to the knuckle and have found a pdf, but it is only for a work day. I want a full day and would rather not waste the time of creating a new one!

Google docs has a great 'personal efficiency dashboard' with lots of cool features, but one of the reasons I am doing this is to get farther away from my computer!

bonny, do you just want something that looks like this? [link] Or do you want dates and stuff on there, too?