New Format - I know I said in my side bar that I was happy with the layout and did not have any plans to change it. However, I found myself with some extra time on my hands and finally took a look at the New Blogger tools. Everything is so much easier that I just had to give some of them a try. Fifteen minutes later and my blog is sporting the new look you now see. I was actually thinking of moving my blog to a Wordpress theme until I discovered these new tools/interface.
Along with the New Layout, Header and Background, I also cleaned up my Categories/Labels. You can now view all the post for a particular church just by clicking on its label. If you are looking for say post with stained glass windows just use the new Search Blog function located at the top left to search and find all the post based on the words you enter. I've tested it and it works pretty well.
Unlike my other re-tools where I just let the chips fall where they may as far as how well old post displayed in the new format -- I plan on going back and cleaning up all the old post so they display properly with the new format and to make sure that they contain the key words that can be detected by the Search Blog Function.
Another added feature is just that -- Featured Post - This has been added to the left margin and is a quick and easy way to get to post that I have selected to be Featured in the blog. Sort of like a sticky post.
Blog on a Diet. - In the process of the restructure I have decided to remove all post/material that is not Land of the Cross Tipped Churches related. These post currently have the tag/label of Remove. No time frame on this but it will happen soon. You will also notice that I have scrapped the Lets Talk About It forum. It just wasn't working the way I wanted/envisioned.
Saint Louis - North Star - I got to tour and take some pictures of this church earlier this month. This will be the July's featured church. I will also be using their Stations of the Cross for the next set of The Way of the Cross post once we finish up the St. John (Fryburg) series.
Weekly Scripture - I plan on continuing using this as a way to recycle some of my favorite pics from past post.
Pretty as a Post-Card - Look for a new Featured Series Titled Post-Cards. I am still looking for a Post-Card template that I like. I may have to make my own. Like the title suggest these post will have pictures of the churches that look like post-cards and may be from old or new images.
Blog on Auto Pilot - I take advantage of the Scheduled Post Feature of Blogger and usually have my blog set to auto post everyday for a month in advance. So while it looks like I am on here everyday, I am not and I do not mean to ignore your comments. I try to post them as soon as I can and respond if necessary.
Russ Martin (AKA Steeple Chaser)
