I think it’s time to do move this site to its own domain. I talked about this before when I held the domain name contest, but it has finally got to the point where having Whitespace on the sub-domain really bothers me. Also the name simply implies that this is still solely a design site, which even the casual reader can see it drifted from being strictly about design a long time ago.

As the tagline says the content is geared more towards design, business and web++ (2.0 won’t last forever) so I need a domain that suggests that and if you could offer suggestions I would be more than willing to listen. With redirects traffic won’t decrease so that isn’t a concern, but this is as close to starting from scratch as I can get so I am a bit anxious and excited.

So if you could put your thinking caps on and help me out a bit I would greatly appreciate it.

Originally posted on May 15, 2006 @ 11:31 am

Design for the needs of your website. That’s the thought that continued to run through my mind last week as I became more and more frustrated with the Information Design of this site. I loved the previous design, which was a collaboration between myself and Rundle, but unfortunately I wanted to take this site into a new territory.

Over the years I have found that I have painted myself into a corner with regards to how I handle content. I wasn’t “allowed” to post multiple times a day because I was so focused on having a great discussion with a single entry and multiple posts would hinder that. However, I also came across so many different sites and articles that I wanted to share my thoughts on, but obviously couldn’t for the reasons just mentioned.

Then it hit me. This is actually my site.

As stupid as that sounds I am sure I am not the only who has prevented themselves from doing something with their sites because we wanted to please the masses. What I had to find was a middle-ground that kept the old Whitespace intact, but ushered in the Whitespace that I wanted and I think I have accomplished that with the new two column design.

From an IA standpoint I am really pleased with what I have now because it merges the best of both worlds. I can maintain writing (improved) articles, while also exploring topics that only need a couple of words. Aesthetically I wouldn’t be surprised if Rundle comes in to offer to polish it up a bit (and of course I will let him), but you know my love for simplicity, so I like what I have now.

The only other major difference is how the individual pages are one column as opposed to the two column design of the homepage. This keeps the focus on the content, even though it’s probably not the best option if I wish to encourage readers to explore the site. That goal can occur with a well-designed footer I believe so that will be the next step.

There are a couple of little things that need to be finished such as the pages in the navigation need to be written, the comment form needs styling and I will more than likely implement sIFR for the headings because there are some wicked fonts out there I want to try out.

I feel I have a lot more freedom now with regards to how I handle this site and that should lead to a much improved site. Now the teeny tiny “bullshit” entries that some of you hate will go under notes where you can ignore them if you like. Amazing what a couple more options can do to things.

Originally posted on March 27, 2006 @ 12:01 am

Here were the entries now place your vote in the comments. Only vote once please and only vote for one. I tried to break away from the whole whitespace theme and let it be known a domain was already selected for the “new” site before this contest was even held.

Winner announced Monday.

1. fffnbsp.com
2. chocolateceo.com
3. whitespace-vacuum-epitaxy-center.com
4. validatedvoid.com
5. improvedthoughts.com
6. milkspace.com
7. smallbreak.com
8. theanticeo.com
9. colorfreezone.com
10. myownwebsitewithboozeandhookers.com

Originally posted on February 3, 2006 @ 9:51 pm

Last week I asked the question of whether or not I should move Whitespace and I received a lot of great responses. The comments started to turn into domain name suggestion type of contest so I figured why not make a full-fledged contest out of it. I’m still uncertain if I am moving this site to another domain, but if I do so I need to do it with a cool domain name so I am opening it up to the world.

The one gotcha is that the domain has to be available at the time of your comment. If someone snaps it up between your comment and whenever, then that’s fine, but it makes no sense to start spouting out domains that are already taken.

I’ll run this contest till tomorrow night and then post the top 10 domains on Friday so everyone can vote. For a prize I will include you in the text ad rotation on Whitespace till the end of the year (as long as it’s a decent type of ad).

And full feeds should be back in place.

Originally posted on February 1, 2006 @ 1:34 pm

Honestly, I think you need to spin off Whitespace to its own domain. Besides the home navigation issue, it’s also confusing to see a directory of the network also being listed as a member of said network.

Mark

As I told Mark in the comments of that entry, I have thought about this more times than not, but never come to a solid conclusion so I thought I would open it up to the audience to help me finally come to a decision. The problem with Whitespace being on the 9rules domain is that the site is a separate entity from 9rules. It’s not the company’s blog because we already have one of those so in that sense I can understand the confusion that it can cause people.

The problems though are that the site is well linked to (301 .htaccess redirects, I know) and is generally well-known throughout the community and beyond. I can’t attain whitespace.com so I would have to think of another name.

However, this also allows for new opportunities. New branding. New design. Anyways, what do you think would be best for this site? I know Keith experienced this a while ago and tried to change domains and quickly changed back so hopefully he has some input into the matter.

Originally posted on January 26, 2006 @ 2:32 pm