What’s On My Menu? Annie Needs You…

blogging, Contact me, humor, poetry 2 Minutes
images
Image courtesy of Pixhere.com

I’m not about to write of food
Or remembrance of repasts

My blog is clogging up right now
And I need your help real fast.

I used to have a sub-menu
That offered all my oeuvre

But a WP Engineer warned
Its growth was a SNAFUer.

S/he led me to the solution
That’s inspired this short chat

To see if what works for WP
Isn’t a bothersome gnat.

I’ve passed my one-hundredth post,
To me, that’s really cookin’

Computerwise, it’s not too bad
A widget* helps those lookin’

So to the right of the full texts
Linked titles are there to see.

I like to keep them all in view
And many seem to agree.

My stats tell me that lots of folks
Read posts going quite far back

But on your phone to reach that list,
You must scroll, scroll, scroll—alack!

Our Happy WP Engineers
Have told me what to do:

You must change your design, they say–
Or else we just can’t help you.

But I like the look I have now
I really hope to keep it.

So I turn to you, dear readers
It’s time you interceded.

Must I choose between my fond wish
You see all posts, come what may—

And my perhaps stronger hope this
Menu won’t drive you away?

images-15
Image courtesy of pixabay.com

______________________

Ok—enough with the rhyme. I know I should be archiving older posts, but if I do,  I’m not at all sure that as many people would read them. 

Often after five or six older posts have each received a single view, the next day I’m pleased to welcome a new subscriber. The ease of perusing those lists is clearly helpful in exploring my work.

And I realize that most of you are probably reading my most recent one or two posts as they appear, so this may not be an issue for you at all. I would still welcome your observations.

Is a tradeoff necessary? Please let me know your thoughts about my current setup and any possible ideas for helping me accomplish my dual goals. 

If scrolling through all those posts on your phone to get to the linked titles is a drag, please tell me. All suggestions are welcome, as long as you’re kind.

*Explanatory note for my email subscribers: “In WordPress, widgets are blocks of content that you can add to your site’s sidebars, footers, and other areas…” 

If you’re viewing this on your computer, the sidebar widget facilitates the index. But since on the side of the phone there’s no room for it, the linked list appears at the very bottom of those now many posts.

Annie

 

Published by annieasksyou

I've been a nonfiction writer for many years, exploring diverse topics that pique my curiosity, as noted in my first blog posting (Greetings!). I'm seeking dialogue with others committed to joining me in this exploration, sharing my conviction that different views can be exchanged in a respectful, civil discourse where we can learn from one another and be agreeable, even when we disagree. These postings depend for their enrichment on your participation: your ideas, insights, knowledge, opinions, and personal stories.

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37 thoughts on “What’s On My Menu? Annie Needs You…”

  3. Since your blog is self-hosted, you may have more options to choose from than WP-hosted blogs (which I have), but one suggestion might me to use the Category option (you may need to refine your categories a bit). There seems to also be an option to list your top posts (this would require some research on your part). Another potential option would be to use the “text” widget and direct people to another page on your blog that lists all your posts. That way it’s up to the visitor is they want to investigate further.

    None of these may be suitable … but I tried. 😋

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    1. Thanks very much, Nan. I’ll look into each one, and if the “text” widget works, that might meet my need.
      Since you were honest about your feelings re: the length of my blogs, I know I can depend upon you here. Do you see my existing setup, balanced against my comment that many readers do go back to read early posts, as an annoyance?

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      1. Since I read blogs on my computer and VERY rarely on my phone, it’s difficult for me to give you a qualified answer related to your existing setup, e.g., the scrolling efforts. However, even as a computer-reader, I doubt very much I would take the time to scroll the entire list.

        As for visitors reading earlier posts, I do get notifications of individuals that have “liked” some of my (much) earlier posts … and the titles aren’t listed on my blog. I tend to think they may come across them in their Reader via the category I used. Just a thought.

        Hope this helps.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks. I don’t think visitors scroll through entire list. I’m getting the sense it’s less of a problem than I thought but messier than I’d like, so I shall look into your suggestions. I am very appreciative.

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  5. Hey, if I want a back post, I can go to my computer. I rarely read anything longer than a few dozen words on my phone, anyway. Too hard, all that scrolling up down back forth. . . . Far more importantly, congratulations on your 100th post milestone. Wow. Rock on. And aren’t we, your devoted readers, lucky!

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  6. Hi. Possibly you should limit the number of titles that appear to the 15 or 20 most recent ones? I know that this kind of thing is complicated by the fact that your blog probably looks different depending on what device a reader is viewing the blog on.

    I suppose that looking at the layout of other blogs might give you ideas about whether you want to adjust yours.

    Good luck with all of this. Be well. Stay safe.

    Neil

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    1. Thanks, Neil. You’ve given me some thoughts to mull over.

      I do look at other blogs and recognize that I’m an anomaly.
      Maybe time will make the answer self-evident. The more posts I write, the less tenable my current approach will be.
      And you stay safe too. I see I have another fun visit with your musings awaiting me very soon.

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      Reply

  7. You’re the best, devoted reader! Actually, this is #102. I thank you heartily and appreciate knowing how you read my blog,
    And it sure felt good to take a break from politics.

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  8. I have more than 4,500 posts on this blog, so I can’t do what you do. But I have a search function that allows keyword search, so someone can enter a word or a few words, and it will bring up posts that match the keyword(s). I also have categories listed. One of the reasons I created my Friday Flashback prompt is to highlight older posts that other bloggers may never have seen or may have forgotten about.

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    1. Right, I appreciate that. I’ve just observed that time will probably make my dilemma untenable bc there will just be too many posts. I do think full titles are a draw when people are just browsing and aren’t sure what they’re looking for.
      Thx for your suggestions. And here I thought Friday Flashback showed your generosity to newer bloggers!😉

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  9. I’m confused Annie…..does your blog look different on a cell phone than on a computer? I don’t use the phone app, as my cell phone doesn’t have a data plan. I have a side menu widget on the computer setup (I forget what theme I chose but it’s 3 years old – Sela? and I now have 140 posts), which lists the titles of my past 100 posts if someone wants to browse the side menu, but I can alter the number of titles displayed and no one has ever said I have too many? Is your site self-hosted or wordpress hosted?

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    1. Self-hosted. I can alter the number of titles, but the correlate 1 to 1 with the posts, so my posts follow one another in their entirety.
      Yes; it’s different on the phone, which is where I often read posts. There, the titles are at the very bottom, below all the posts.

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  12. Hi Annie,
    I’m another reader with “a blissful
    lack of awareness” as you so aptly phrased it.
    But as an aside- have you ever considered a ranking of, say, the top 10 (5?)of your 102 postings. Maybe in terms of number of responses, your own gratification, or other factors you’d consider important.
    If not your other readers, I’d be interested in this list and a short statement why you picked each one.
    In this mostly stay-at- home time of the “Virus” I mean what else do you have to do?😉
    DtD

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    1. Hi, DtD—nice to hear from you! I shall give careful consideration to your ranking suggestion—though I fear it may be like asking me to choose among my children…if I had quintuplets or—heaven forfend —decuplets!
      As to what else I have to do, I spend so much delightful time in the blogosphere, researching and writing my own posts, answering thoughtful comments such as yours, and reading and commenting on some wonderful writing from other bloggers, that I barely get to my beloved NY Times crossword puzzle these days. Oh, and then I forgive myself regularly for not cleaning out my closets and tossing the unneeded papers cluttering my desk. It’s a full life.😉

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  13. I have no answer. I started a page that would have chronological links by year but cannot make the time to go back and create the links.

    I regularly read on a cell phone and will add one observation on your present design- as comments generate multiple levels of replies the text fields get impossibly narrow, like when your name, date and time take 14 lines of 3 or 4 characters each. But this makes me think of how I feel whenever I think of changing themes, so never mind.

    I cannot help on your main question as I read posts in the order they appear. Good luck!

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    1. Thanks, JP. I’ll have to check about those narrowing comments—I’ve seen them on a number of blogs in addition to mine, with varying motifs, so I thought they were a WP fixture, but perhaps not.
      I do like the idea of a separate page with chronological links. That may be what I need—assuming it’s workable with my design.

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  14. I will read them in a box
    I will read them with a fox
    I will read them in a house
    I will read them with a mouse
    I will read them here and there
    Say, I will read them anywhere!

    (credit to Dr. Seuss)

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  15. Hi Annie, I have a lot less posts than you on my blog, but I recently decided to use the category option to organize my pieces. I don’t know if I like it better or not because I’ve been unplugged lately, but it hasn’t changed the amount of traffic I was getting. (And, again, my traffic is a very, very small amount).
    The category option is kind of neat. I could imagine you would have a “mindfulness” category for instance, where someone like myself could delve into all of your writings on this topic without having to try to pick out which would apply.
    If you end up leaving it as is, I have to say that I don’t have any problem scrolling through your older posts on my phone!!!

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    1. Hi, Jeanine. Thanks for your comment; I think I do have to categorize—or something—but I’m pleased to know you don’t have any problem traversing my blog on your phone.
      My main worry now is trying to master block editor. I’ve had multiple techie glitches lately, and learning a whole new approach is sure to cut down on my blogging efforts.
      I miss you when you’re unplugged. I hope it hasn’t been for health reasons. No need to answer that; I’m just wishing you well.

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      1. OMG, Annie! Don’t even mention the “block” editor. Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Fortunately, unless WP takes over my current blog via remote control, I’m still using the old layout. Sometime back when they first introduced this “new and improved” tool, I tried it on one of my lesser blogs … and weeped for days. 😭

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      2. I hear ya! I watched the Block Editor video today with eyes glazed over. I was told by one HE that we could continue to use the existing editor “with support”; another said Classic Block is a good transitional tool (!) To be cont.-

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