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Facelift

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(Photo credit: JoopDorresteijn)

“Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine.”

~Robert C. Gallagher

It should come as no surprise to any of you that change is not something that I particularly enjoy. Benjamin Franklin said that the only certainties were death and taxes. Obviously B. Frank didn’t live long enough to have visited my blog over the last several years. If he had, it would have been a pretty good bet that he would have added a third item to that list of certainties: death, taxes, and the Stainless Steel Droppings blog theme never changing. For a forty-something who blogs regularly–*cough*—and loves playing the latest console games (as just a few examples of my hipness), I have steadfastly refused to change the look of my site or to embrace the social media that has enhanced, and in some cases replaced, blogging.

Ladies and gentlemen, the times they are a-changin’.

But more than just an introduction to an updated website, this post is about the person who is responsible for the changes. My good friend, and many times mentor, James Dibben.

I met James through mutual family connections not long after moving to the Kansas City area back in 1998. We quickly bonded over a love of Star Wars and computer gaming and have been fast friends ever since. Over the last 13 years I have watched James develop a successful blue collar business and then watched as the economic effects on the construction industry finally took its toll on that business. During that time I have also watched James grow and develop his one true passion: helping others. While James was learning all he could about the cabinet installation world and how to run a progressive business, through both study and the school of hard knocks, he was also devoting time to learning the nuts and bolts of web tools and social media and how they can be used together to enhance every aspect of life, including blue collar businesses.

I have written before about how it is you, the readers, who have motivated me to keep up with blogging over these past 6+ years and the truth of that has not changed. But the foundation upon which that truth is built is that if it were not for James Dibben, I would have given up on blogging years ago. Except on rare (brief) occasions, I am not a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, at least when it comes to trying to figure out how something works. James is that kind of guy. Not long after I started blogging, James started studying about blogs and CSS and servers, etc. and a great deal of that initial interest and study was just to help a friend have the best blog he possibly could. There are many things that can, and do, go wrong with websites and hosting. This was particularly true during my early days of blogging. I had frequent server issues, my blog was hacked, things did not work the way I wanted them to or look the way I wanted them to look. James jumped right in to help. Over the years he has hosted my site, made sure I kept up with blog updates and that my domain name stayed in my hands, and even now when we are both hosting our sites through Go Daddy, James is the one who goes back behind the curtain to make sure things are working smoothly. I have had MANY “I’m sick of this, I’m going to pack it all in!” moments over the years due to technical issues that I had no desire to spend the time learning how to fix. James Dibben has always been there to rescue me from foolish, anger-driven decisions. When it comes right down to it, were there no James Dibben, there would be no Stainless Steel Droppings…whoa there, put down your pitchforks and torches, I was/am responsible for the content after all, you can’t blame him for that. 🙂

As James was building and trying to grow his cabinet installation business, he came to realize that the business world was about to undergo some cataclysmic changes and he surrounded himself with mentors and took a proactive approach to embracing the changes. Over the past few years he has been using that insight to help other blue collar business men and women through his Blue Collar Coaching program. While at its heart it is geared to the small business owner, there is much that James does that has a global benefit, particularly in the area of computers, websites and social media. One of the many things I enjoy about my friend is that when he is passionate about something, he is passionate. And in his passion he strives for a high standard of quality and professionalism. He has been doing a weekly business podcast for quite awhile now and it thrills me to see how that is building such a strong following. I believe that is the result of two things: James’ desire to help others is noticeably genuine and his work is professional.

Recently James began expanding on his knowledge of website design, particularly in the area of blogs. And thankfully I am a recipient of what he has learned thus far. Over the past week James has convinced this die-hard change-avoider to sign up for a Twitter account, begin using Facebook more for its intended purpose, and to begin uploading some of my photos to Flickr, all in anticipation of rolling out the new and improved Stainless Steel Droppings. I’m really pleased with the new look of things and am even more pleased that from what I…we…have already learned in doing this, tweaks and improvements should come along as needed. I am no longer at the mercy of a theme someone else has created and locked into place. I can make changes on my own as needed, and of course I’ll always have my web-guru for backup!

If this sounds like a rah-rah commercial for James Dibben, it is just that. I’ve seen his passion, I know his heart, and I want to continue to watch him grow and succeed in these ventures. If you would like more information I strongly encourage you to visit James at Blue Collar Coaching. His free content, including regular blog posts and the weekly podcast, are well worth your time.

As I close this testimonial, let me introduce you to the new look, and rest assured I am well aware that what is “new” for me is in some part what so many of the rest of you embraced a long time ago. I’m an old dog when it comes to this, what can I say?

–The header image is my fault, as is the slightly creepy picture of yours truly. Don’t lay the blame for those at James’ feet. 🙂

–I now have Twitter and Facebook functionality on the website.

–I have a Flickr box with some placeholder images of mine in it. In future I will use that account to upload photos as I pursue my own growing passion for photography.

–You can now sign up for email notification of comments on a specific post and/or can subscribe to receive an email any time I post new content (I have been so far behind the times!).

–My Blog Links have been moved to a clearly marked tab just underneath the header image.

–I now have dark text on a white background. Hopefully easier on the eyes.

–I have a Featured Articles box.

–And there is so much more.

Although you can expect more of the same type of content you are used to here on the blog, my recent post The Lost Art of Snarking Out was my first attempt at doing something a little different–emulating experienced essay writers whom I admire. I hope to do more of that kind of post in the future as I try to grow into a better writer. I do not have any plans to be the next Anne Fadiman or David Sedaris. But I can choose to make an effort to grow and improve at what I do here rather than being content to never move forward.

I’m excited about the cleaner look of this site and I hope you all enjoy it. I couldn’t let go of everything so there are some things, including color schemes, that hearken back to the old site. But it is nice. I like it! And I want it to be the very best it can be, as does James. So if you have any feedback for either of us, don’t hesitate to share it. We both want to learn from this experience.

Thanks for all the hard work, James. I really do appreciate it. And thank you all for 6+ years of reading and of engaging in conversation. I am so grateful for all of you.

90 thoughts on “Facelift”

  1. This looks great, Carl! And I don’t think your picture is creepy at all. 🙂 I’m not one for change either but it’s always a little fun when it actually happens.

    1. Thanks! It is hard to tell from the bad lighting my wife and I were working with, but I am supposed to be quasi-menacingly offering a handful of droppings of the stainless steel variety. And there is a One Ring thrown in their for good…er, bad…measure.

  2. Love the new look!!! Very clean and inviting and still retains the flavor of you. Pretty awesome that six years in you want to make these changes!

    1. It was time. I think I changed to the last theme about 3 or 4 years ago mostly because the theme I had cobbled together myself prior to that would no longer work with WordPress updates. The last theme was locked in so I couldn’t even change the header image. Now with this custom theme I’ll have to freedom to change that every so often or do other little things and will be able to keep up with any WordPress updates or plugins that may interest me without having to redesign an entire theme to do so. I’m very happy.

  3. ohhhh thank you thank you!!! (not that I didn’t like your blog background but I AM old and my EYES are old..so I would always highlight your entire post to read it easier! I do love black but white writing is a strain!..

    I have one little problem but it is most likely me.. the twitter/ shares/ plus sign etc stay and cover the writing as I scroll…like I said.. it’s probably me!

    Anyway.. love the new look..and I do know what you mean about change! I don’t like change either so know what I do? I make others instead lol and then keep them as back ups to the one i have.. I think I have more backups than anyone! hahahaha.. all because when aol had journals they had a tendency of journals disappearing and they couldn’t get them back!

    anyway.. this is nice! I hope you enjoy the new look and the new way of doing things. at least you are young enough to learn them!

    1. Thanks for letting me know about the Twitter stuff. I assume you are talking about the stuff on the side. I imagine it has to do with the resolution that your PC is set at. I’ll talk to James about it and see what we can do. Anyone else having that problem?

      You are definitely the queen of blog backups, I would totally agree. 🙂

      And you were one of the people I was thinking about when I decided to go to a white background for the post area. I’m sure it will help my eyes too.

    2. Desily, I’m looking into your issue.

      I’m curious if you can tell me the resolution you have your screen set at and what browser you are using?

  4. Congrats on the template change! I haven’t had a chance to answer the questions for this week. I did read the stories, though… Need more hours in my day!

    1. No problem, as you know I’ve been the one behind most of the time. Do you want to go ahead and read the last two stories and send me questions on those and just do a combined post?

  5. First of all, I love to hear about amazing, close-knit friendships like yours and James, so thank you for sharing 😀
    Your new site…Fantastic!!! Sooo user friendly and appealing to the eye as well. Love the slider and look forward to reading the ever so slightly changed you…lol

    1. Thank you Kelly, I’m glad you like it. And yes, those kinds of friendships are such a blessing. I think it is especially important for men to have close male friends. I know in the times in my life where I’ve had close friends move away (or when I was the one moving), that not having that face-to-face time with close male friends really affected me in ways that I didn’t realize it would. I’ve been fortunate to have a retain a handful of great male friends in my lifetime and I feel honored to be a part of their lives.

  6. I love this new look. I will admit, I am tad envious though because this is almost exactly how I would like my blog to look, and on WordPress. I really need to get moving on that but I am overwhelmed by the process.

    I like the graphic with your blog name; how did you come up with the graphic?

    The features article box is very cool, and lighter background with black text is much easier on the eyes. The best part, for me, is now I can subscribe to the comments. 🙂 Yay!

    Again, love the new look.

    1. Thanks! 🙂

      I understand your concerns about transferring over to WordPress. I think you will like it though. I’m less than brave when it comes to that sort of thing, which is why I again probably wouldn’t be doing this without James’ tech support.

      The blog header is actually just a picture I took with some scattered items on a wooden bench. I then went into the free image editing site, FotoFlexer, and chose the Comic filter. It was just a random, silly, 10 second thing and I immediately liked it. I then ended up using Picnik to add the text and just messed around with a font until I was happy. I planned to spend hours working on this and spent minutes. That rarely happens, but I was pleased it did.

      And yes, probably my favorite feature is the comments subscription part!

  7. Hi Carl! Love the new look and I wish you all the luck in the world. You and James make a great team.

  8. It always feels good to have readers enjoying the web sites I’ve built. Thank you all for your kind comments.

    Carl, I certainly didn’t expect such a nice write up, although I’ll take the love!

    I really enjoy working with this theme. It can do so much!

    1. You can find it alphabetically in my Blog Links tab in the O section. I should just go ahead and add it back in on the side until after the challenge is over. I’ll get on that.

  10. The new site looks great! Love the new functionality, and the clean, crisp look manages to retain the old flavor and atmosphere. Still–have to admit I’m going to miss that old rusted hulk up top. Was a gorgeous photograph!

    1. Oh you aren’t alone, I loved that photo too. The problem was it was proprietary to the site itself and I couldn’t even copy it. If I could I probably would have figured out a way to bring that along with me over here.

  11. First of all, James, thank you! Because I honestly don’t want to think about life without Carl and Stainless Steel Droppings in it.

    And to both of you–WOW!!! This truly looks amazing!!! So very classy and streamlined. I love the new look!!! (Though I honestly had no problems with the old look.) Of course, half the stuff you mentioned I don’t really understand anyway, as I am so very technologically challenged.

    And I am ridiculously thrilled that you joined twitter!!!

    1. Awww, stop it! I won’t be able to get into the doors at work this morning!

      Thanks for following me on Twitter! It should be fun, if I can just learn how to do it correctly. Glad you like the new site, James did a really nice job with it.

      1. Whoa! I did not realize you are now on twitter. My eyes must have glossed over that button. This shall be interesting with you on twitter. 😀
        I actually like twitter, it has its uses, but at times, I feel more like a lurker spying on people’s convos. Still, once you find your niche and stride with twitter it is then fun.

    2. Thank you Debi!

      This is my decade-ly reminder to Carl how much he needs me. It’s usually good for 5 years.

  12. Nice facelift! Hey – I put that same Gallagher quote on my facebook last week – did you know that or is it our great minds thinking alike?!?

    1. That is hilarious, I had no idea. I just did a google search on “change quotes” and found that. Great minds indeed…or we both have the same goofiness!

  13. ok second question.. how do i stop getting emails each time someone comments here???? I had a bunch of emails all of the new comments to this blog just now and I never had that before!! so how do I stop that????

    1. I believe if you open up the comment box you’ll see at the bottom (manage your subscriptions). Click on that and it will send you an email at how to access that and unsubscribe. In the future, before you “submit” you might need to uncheck the subscribe to comments box if you don’t want all these emails. 🙂

        1. Desily (and others) every email you get from the blog has an option at the bottom to ‘manage subscriptions’ go to that link and make the changes you desire.

          I can change the plugin so it doesn’t check the box automatically.

          I’m not sure which way it should be for this blog.

          1. People should probably have the option to check the ‘subscribe to comments’ box rather than it defaulting, don’t you think?

              1. I know, and I see both sides of it, believe me. I would hope most people would subscribe to comments because I like to have ongoing conversations and it takes the busywork out of trying to remember where and when one commented.

                1. I think it totally depends on the comment traffic of the blog.

                  Someone who gets as many comments as you do may want to consider more of an ‘opt in’ style where a blog that only gets a hand full of comments per post should consider ‘auto’ to help drive traffic back.

                  1. I agree. I think it is perfect too for sites that do more regular posts that really demand, for lack of a better word, a give and take because the content is more specific that way, whereas what I do here is much more generalized.

  14. Carl — The blog looks wonderful — very clean and modern. I’ve just subscribed to James’s blog. Thank you for introducing it! He sounds like a guy who’s doing good things, a guy a lot like you. xo

    2. Thank you Lily! And thanks for subscribing to James’ site. I enjoy getting his posts in my email. I need to work more time into listening to his podcasts, its been awhile.

  15. THE GOOD:
    Black (okay, dark grey) print on white background. My eyes thank you! A facelift is always nice. The new header image is a good one, well done. I will say, thought that for me, I loved the old one, it’s what caught my eye and brought me here in the first place. Oh, did I mention dark text on light background?

    THE BAD: Follow-up comment subscribe (below the leave a reply box) is by default checked. You already have that at the top of the right column. Maybe most people want it, and in two places, one a default, but many will not. You might want to rethink that. Yes I saw James comment that it’s possible to change it, but it’s still there as of my leaving the comment. I think the Right column is really, really busy. Have to leave the home page (and thus the posts) to see the blogroll. Obviously you like your Flickr, but maybe a separate page instead of in column? For me, just another thing to get past… Careful with that Gravatar thing, not everyone will be able to figure out how to undo it once it’s done. It took me a while, in dashboard, over on my WordPress blog. Actually I don’t even like that it is pushing for gravitar use. Dump it.

    THE UGLY: the slider under your header image showing the last current and previous post. Get it outta here. It may look cool to you now, but it’s a major distraction. A short list is much easier to see and use.

    1. Thanks for the feedback Richard. I knew you’d like the darker text on the lighter background. You and Deslily were two who had specifically talked about that with me in the past. I’m sure my eyes will be appreciating it to. Gotta give up the darkness sometime. Ha!

      The comment subscribe thing is no longer on default (unless of course one has already subscribed to the post). It will be a check box that you have to check in if you want to see the follow up comments. The thing in the upper right box is to subscribe to getting new post emails, not new comment ones. I like having that there but actually prefer having both the subscribe to comments and subscribe to all new post at the end of the comments section. Most people, myself included, ignore sidebars and it is nice having all that in one handy location.

      Not sure what you are talking about with gravitar. It is set to give a default image and gravitar has been around forever. Its nice for those who want to personalize their comments and it is something easy to ignore for those who don’t. Plus it mimics what automatically happens in Twitter and Facebook.

      Sorry you don’t like the Flickr thing, but one of the things I plan on doing in the future is doing more photography and creative projects and including that in the blog content so I want some imagery that draws some attention to that and Flickr will do that, at least in my own personal experience as I frequently visit people’s flickr pages when I see it on their sites. It will be better once I get some different pics in there. Better for me anyway. Ha!

      Same with the Featured Articles box. It won’t automatically have the last two posts…in fact it doesn’t now. I choose what goes in there and I wanted to feature the newest and that Lost Art post. I have a specific reason for wanting it and so for now it will be staying. If I get bored with it or don’t see it doing what I want it to do then I’ll probably get rid of it, but you are stuck with it for now!

      A bit confused about the ‘busyness’ of the sidebar since it has much less than it ever had before and the only addition is a picture of my ugly mug and the Flickr. I do agree with you in general that sidebars are waaaay to busy, which is why I put the blog links somewhere else. Over time as people subscribe to blogs and feeds I think it is the rare individual that clicks through people’s blog links anyway. This way I still have them and will use them and people can access them if they so choose.

      Also, confused about the pop up. I’m not getting any pop up when I leave a comment. James?

      1. Yeah, I had that popup thing on by total accident.

        It was a popup box that encouraged people to get a gravatar.

        It’s off now – oops!

        There will still be text that fills into place after someone puts in their information and a gravatar is not found.

        You can sign out of admin (or try a different browser) and test the functionality.

  17. On a separate topic, I put up a lot of books yesterday, but had a nasty surprise. There will be post tomorrow, after today’s New Arrivals post has had it’s brief run. There are some slightly blurry (camera problems) pictures to go with, so please visit tomorrow.

    1. I read your comment about your shelving issues…sorry to hear that, especially after the money spent and the excitement over finally getting it done. Looking forward to the post tomorrow.

  19. My apologies to anyone being inundated with comment emails today. We had the ‘subscribe to comments’ button defaulted to being checked. That has been changed and in future posts (or any old ones you comment on) you will have to check the box yourself if you want to see follow up comments/replies. If you want to unsubscribe from the comments for this particular post, the email you just got when I submitted this contains a link for you to ‘manage your subscriptions’ and you can unsubscribe that way OR you can do the same thing at the bottom of the comments box in the post.

  20. Thanks Richard for pointing out the pop-up box thing. Obviously from my comment back to you I had no idea what you were talking about, lol! This is great, exactly the kind of feedback I hoped to get with the rollout so that we can fix issues, weigh decisions we made, etc.

    Thanks for fixing that James!

  21. Thanks for the explanations, adjustments, etc. We bloggers all like things just so for our blogs, that’s how I have mine too. The stuff won’t keep me away, I’ll just scroll past it. And it comes as no surprise to you that, since I don’t even have a cell phone or iPad, that I don’t tweet… or F-Book.

    2. I do have a cell phone, although I often wish I didn’t (mainly because of work and the constant work texts and emails). It has made my job easier and annoys me at the same time. I know, I’m ungrateful! 🙂 I’m not up with tech either. Don’t want to spend the money on smart phones and was truly dragged into Twitter and Facebook. My reluctance has been solely because of the time it takes up and I hate to make a connection with people and then not keep up with it and I’m afraid of being a bad Twitterer or Facebooker, if you know what I mean.

  22. Welcome to blogging 2.0! 😀 The new look is gorgeous Carl. I love it! The header especially looks nice. So very you! And I really like your theme. Very nicely done.

    1. Thank you so much Heather! Like others have said I miss the old car, but it is nice to know that I now have the option to change in header images whenever the mood strikes. I doubt it will happen often, but it still is nice to know I have the option.

  23. Carl, the place looks wonderful! I had to blink a few times before figuring I had actually hit the right link, but *insert appreciative whistle here*. And you’re on Twitter now? Tweeting about Doctor Who?! And Castle?! This facelift could not be better. 🙂

    1. POSSIBLE DR. WHO SPOILER!!!

      Thanks Chelle, sorry I’ve been such a stranger lately! And yes, I am indeed tweeting now, if a bit sporadically. Loving the second season of Dr. Who. Only one more episode left and then a new companion. I’m going to miss Rose.

  24. Love the new look Carl. Although I think I will be a bit “where am I” for a while 🙂
    Now to start stalking… err, following you on twitter

    1. Fence: Stalk away! And you are not alone, I keep having the same ‘where am i’ feeling when I pop over here.

    1. Rob: Yep, the ol’ ‘Standard Theme’ is looking pretty good, thanks!

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    1. Thank you so much Iliana. Most of the credit goes James’ way.

    1. Thank you, I’m happy to be stalked on Twitter. I just beg patience as I fumble around with it, trying to learn the etiquette.

    1. Thanks Dave! Actually some of what I asked James to do was inspired by the recent changes on the World’s Without End site. I actually sent him the link and mentioned several things the other day when we were designing, so thank you!!!

  31. oh, my, but this site looks fantastic, Carl!!

    i would like to throw in my thanks Mr. James Dibben, a rather humble thanks, but i am glad you’ve stuck with the blogging and have had such a good and knowledgeable friend to finesse many of the daunting changes.

    ~L (omphaloskepsis)

  32. I like the new look! Very classy 🙂 Now I am thinking about doing something like this too. 🙂

  33. Looks excellent, Carl & James. I love the LOTR and STAR WARS features in the header, and the colors are definitely easier on the eyes. I’ll have to play around here and see what all I can find.

    1. Thanks Logan. I just couldn’t pass up including two of my greatest loves in my first header image for the redesigned site.

  34. Very nice work for both of you! I also use Standard Theme and came over from the forums in Standard Theme to check out your site! Congrats…

    I will use some of your features in my site for sure that I must say I like. Like you, I’m just starting to write and have find a passion in doing so. My blog and followers are growing every day!

    Keep up the good work…

    Quick question: how you get to read so many books?

    Reading needs to be on my list of things to learn/change before I hit 40…

    1. Jorge: Thank you so much! As for reading, it is just one of those things that I make time for. We are all very busy (my reading took a real hit in May because there has been so many other things going on) but I think we all have our things we just like to do and will make time for. Reading is one of those for me. Even if I can only get in two or three pages a day I don’t go a day without reading some fiction or nonfiction book. It has been a passion since early childhood and I don’t see that changing.

      Best wishes with your site following growth and thanks so much for visiting.

    2. Jorge, thanks for coming by and checking out our work!

      Michael and his team do a great job over there. They have put together some great tutorials.

      Once I finished those tutorials on a few sites I learned enough to add that slider above AND make the necessary CSS changes to get it positioned correctly.

      It’s been a great project for sure!

  35. Yikes! This is going to take some getting used to! Movin along with the times is good, Carl. Congratulations! Your friend is quite talented, too.
    I am quite excited to hear about your branching out and focusing specifically on your own writing and photography. I will click the rss so I know when you do.
    Very cool 🙂
    (It would appear we both have been transitioning!)

    1. It is definitely different, isn’t it? I still pop over here and think, “is this my site?”. I’m loving it though, so much fun.

      I’m hoping to buy a new camera this summer. My current one is crapping out. Of course dropping it a time or two hasn’t helped. 😉 I want to get a camera I can play with and experiment with more than I can do with the one I have now. Can’t wait!

      I’m very happy for you and the transitions you are making and the success you are having.

  36. I’ve always loved your blog, Carl, being even a bit envious that you could stay consistent when I was changing things up every month or so. I kind of miss the car on top, :), but I love the lighter background for the text! It’s easier for these old eyes. It’s fun to see the photographs you’ve installed, from your own face to meeting Colleen Gleason. Happy New Blog, friend!

    1. Bellezza: My own face is of course the scary part of the blog…had to work in the R.I.P. theme somehow! 🙂 I like “consistent” as a description. It reads so much better than “lazy”! I actually love the look your blog took on when you put in the b/w images of the girl reading, etc. And I have to admit, it is easier on my eyes reading this way as well, thanks.

    1. Thanks Darren, I appreciate it, especially from someone whose blog is one I admire for its functions.

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