Our Website Redesign: A Labor of Love

Written by Bessie . Feelin' excited

It's been months in the making, and we're so excited that we've redesigned our site! You can imagine the potential troubles... We have nearly 3 years of content, maps, 10,000+ photos, videos, etc that we're working with . Luckily, Kyle's a programming pro, so we avoided (knock on wood!) any major problems, and the transition has gone great! I dabble with design & site management, so the two of us together, we managed a nifty redesign.

Why Redesign?
The design we had for 3 years had gone out of style. It was boxy, too content dense, and a bit clumsy. So our priorities were:

open, simple design
showcase our photos - larger & more prominent
pull readers to our best content
some unique features

Out with the old; in with the new.

Our New Favorite Features?

Slideshow of Our Best Photos - On our homepage, we have an automated slideshow that randomizes our best photos from 20+ countries.
Explore our Best Adventures at 'Start Here' - To welcome readers new and old, it's a guide to our best adventures, funniest posts, and more.
Easy Browsing of 'Our Photos' - Enjoy our photos, organized by country and city. The Flickr Slideshow also has optional full screen to make you feel like you're really there.
Larger, more prominent maps from 'Our Path' - All through our travels we've carefully plotted our path with an image and links to posts about that location. Now it's even easier to interact with our maps.

Buddhas show new easy browsing; our large new maps and interactive points

Other Changes You Might Notice...

New Video view on 'Our Videos' - similar to Buddha photo above
Extra large photos in blogs - it's like you're really there!
Schnazzy, new header
Our new about us page and side panel biography
Countries listed in the side panel
Side panel link to WiseGifter
More social media links, including quick retweet and Facebook options
Gravatar interaction = make your photo appear next to comments
and I'm sure you've noticed... a whole new feel (fonts, colors, etc)

There's also more behind the scenes stuff Kyle wrestled with like better data management, website flow, and Flickr interaction. Our homepage slideshow was a big task. I'll buy him a big cookie tomorrow. :) We're starting to get a better handle on SEO, and our new design is a good step.

Please let us know if you have a favorite new feature. As is everything on this blog, it's a labor of love, and we're grateful to have you here sharing it with us!

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August 21, 2010 Audrey: Congratulations! The new feel and features look great. I know how much work goes into a redesign like this - hope you're stuffing yourself silly with mango and sticky rice and many Singha beers (perhaps not necessarily in that order).

August 21, 2010 Bessie: Many thanks, Audrey! We're really glad to have the bulk of it behind us, and we're going to try to spend most of the day away from computers. I really hope it involves mango sticky rice!!

August 21, 2010 megan: Have only just stumbled on your site, but it looks great! Your photos are great, and I'm so jealous of your new place in Chiang Mai - am so tempted to do something similar once I get to southeast asia.

August 21, 2010 Bessie: Thanks for coming by, Megan - so glad you found us!

We're really enjoying being based in Chiang Mai. It's cozy, surrounded by awesome things to do, and a great money-saver. Hope we cross paths sometime!

August 21, 2010 Earl: Excellent look! It's clean, friendly on the eyes and the larger photos on each post make a huge difference.

Keep on doing your happy dance and then put an extra large photo of it on the next post for us to see!

August 21, 2010 Bessie: Extra large photo of the happy dance - maybe slightly embarrassing, but no doubt entertaining. :)

Thanks for the compliments - they're definitely changes we felt long over-due to make!

August 21, 2010 Andy Hayes: It's looking gorgeous - nice work!

August 21, 2010 Bessie: Thanks so much, Andy! We're happy to have her all gussied up.

August 21, 2010 gotpassport: agreed with everyone above... great looking site- K & B! :-)

August 21, 2010 Bessie: Thanks, Aye! So excited we've launched - less projects up in the air = more Chiang Mai to explore! :)

August 21, 2010 Nick Laborde: Looks great, very clean. Like Earl said, the larger pictures are great.

August 21, 2010 Bessie: Thanks, Nick! Glad you like it, and we accomplished what we set out to do. Looking forward to the big pictures transporting people!

August 22, 2010 Ben: WOW, its really looking hot. Quite a fast site and totally focused on good content, that is reallllly hard to do. I would have to say that the one most impressive thing on the site, that even you guys wouldn't have believed a few years back is this: "935 days, traveled 70,043 miles and volunteered 1,094 hours"

August 23, 2010 Bessie: Thanks, Ben - really appreciate the nice compliments! Means a lot coming from you. :)

You're right, I definitely wouldn't have believed that we'd have stats like that if you'd asked me a few years ago. Glad we've been keeping track! :)

August 23, 2010 Wendy: Nice work. It looks great!

August 23, 2010 Jason: Nice job guys and good luck with the new design and continued travels.

August 27, 2010 Bessie: Thanks, Jason!

August 23, 2010 Linda: Love the new intro to your site....haven't tried all the features as yet but the eyecatching photo show is a treat!

August 27, 2010 Bessie: Thanks! We also find ourselves watching the pictures go by for minutes at a time. :) Especially since you've followed us from the beginning, I bet you "remember" lots of the places! :)

August 24, 2010 Anil: Much better, I especially like the open feel of the comments section (and lack of boxes there).

August 27, 2010 Bessie: Thanks, Anil! We're really glad to have made the update. Getting rid of the boxes was definitely one of our objectives. :)

August 24, 2010 Erica: This looks great guys! Definitely a very clean layout.

August 27, 2010 Bessie: Many thanks, Erica!

August 26, 2010 Rose P.: I love your new design! Congratulations and all the best!

August 27, 2010 Bessie: Thank you, Rose! We feel like it reflects us much better. Thanks for following our journey!

August 29, 2010 Shannon OD: Super huge congrats! The site looks truly fantastic and so navigable - I think the larger photos and space here for your stories will only help us share your journey :-) Love the photo slideshow on the front :-)