And there’s “more to come!”

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 09/26/08 at 08:04 AM ET

Are you coming over here George?

Congratulations Paul on building an Empire (Chief’s influence) for all hockey fans!

Posted by Osrt on 09/26/08 at 08:23 AM ET

...we added an eclectic group of hockey bloggers to KK.

You know I’m a huge supporter of KK, Paul, but I think your statement above presents one problem that I have with the new setup.

On the main pages, it’s difficult to tell at a glance which posts are from the bloggers and which are general interest stories posted by you or Alanah. I’d like to renew my suggestion that you add avatars/logos to the bloggers posts on the main pages. I think it would make the whole Empire easier to visualize. (And, yes, I do know the bloggers posts are all listed in the sidebar.)

Just a suggestion.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/26/08 at 10:06 AM ET

I agree…logos, avatars, and/or different colour schemes would help differentiate blogger posts.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 09/26/08 at 10:25 AM ET

It’s a tricky thing to do to create a unified look. Is it considered a blogger post or a general interest post when I post daily all the Ottawa Senators news links I can find? (you will notice that for the most part, they appear only in my posts, and only if I am slow or ignore something will it get posted by Paul or Alanah) There are plenty of variables to consider, and ways to subdivide posts, and really you might just end up with a very confusing and muddled layout.

It’s small, but you can still tell the author quickly by looking below the title. The categories that a story is filed in will also give you an indication of what the post is regarding.

Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 09/26/08 at 11:49 AM ET

Great site regardless… glad I found it.

Posted by Flash from Columbus on 09/26/08 at 11:54 AM ET

It’s a tricky thing to do to create a unified look.  Is it considered a blogger post or a general interest post when I post daily all the Ottawa Senators news links I can find?

It’s not “tricky” at all…at least not from an organizational standpoint. You’re a blogger, SENShobo, so anything you post that appears on the main page should carry your avatar/logo. It’s both a way of helping the visitor to easily identify the poster and a way of creating a “brand” for each blogger.

It’s small, but you can still tell the author quickly by looking below the title.

That’s asking the site’s visitor to do the “work” here. It’s always been my belief that it’s the Web developer’s (or Web owner’s) job to make site navigation as user-friendly as is humanly possible. IMHO, it’s the right thing to do on both a personal and a business level.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/26/08 at 01:01 PM ET

It could be as simple as changing the colour of each author’s byline to indicate that it’s a different person posting.  Simple is good, and yes, OTC, readers are lazy.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 09/26/08 at 02:55 PM ET

Simple is good, and yes, OTC, readers are lazy.

I’ve been developing Web sites for just short of 12 years now, George, and there’s no doubt about the absolute need to make things as straightforward as possible for users. It’s even more important these days when there are a gagillion choices out there…none as good as KK, of course.

I got an email from Alanah saying some type of change is coming. Since my experience is that Paul and his crew have always been committed to doing what will benefit the rest of us, I’m sure they’ll come up with a great solution. I look forward to it.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/26/08 at 06:15 PM ET

I know that Paul and the gang worked really hard to get things going, so things will only get better with time.  This re-launch business isn’t easy, but I do find that content wins out over a flashy layout over and over again.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 09/26/08 at 11:02 PM ET