Welcome to the new site!!! It’s funny, after months slaving away over it, the last few days have felt like we were wandering around in a big empty house… so now, it’s a full house! Yay!!!! I know it looks different (and hopefully wonderful), but I wanted to take a moment at the outset to remind you it’s still the same APW. The content is still the same. The advertising policy is still the same (no crazy WIC nonsense here). I’m still the same. But now it’s prettier, and much better organized…. And now you can send people to the site, and they can figure out what the h*ll is going on here.
Let me show you around. Excited?? Ok, first, the header. Since my designer Liz and I are both pretty conceptual when it comes to design, we wanted to create something that visually represented the APW ethos. So, we played with the idea of tangible objects as a way to bring it back to basics – wood, chalk, rings, and lace. We used real wedding dress lace, and then Liz painted all over it – a way to take tradition and deconstruct it, re-invent it, make it ours. And then there are the wedding rings, which speak for themselves.
Places you should look:
- The drop down menus! Can you believe it? We have drop down menus!! Some of them are for really big topics (manifestos, say), but then when you look at the dilemma category, there are a million topics. I want you guys, as you are planning, to be able to think, “Hum, I’d like to read some APW posts on registries”… and bam, there you go.
- The wedding graduates!!! I’m so proud of this. The first time I looked at a completed wedding graduates page, I think I finally got it. Because there were a million weddings, like you’d see on, uh, Big Wedding Website. But instead of there being some text about the couples colors, or favors, or what they DIYed, the brides were having their say, about their very own experiences. And I love that so much. So go, play around. And refresh the page…. You’ll see something new at the top each time.
- The How-To page. It’s not that full yet, but it’s pretty. I’m excited to see where it will go, and thrilled that we have a place to organize resources.
- Comments. So, to get a little icon of yourself when you comment, you can sign up at Gravitar, which works on tons of web sites. I would love it if you did, since I know most of you by ‘face.’
- We now have community moderated comments! There is a little flag icon by each comment, and if you see someone being a jerk or violating our comment policy, YOU get to flag the comment. Yay! Democracy!
- Can you see the ads on the right side? (If you can’t, I’d love it if you’d support the site by white-listing us on your ad blocker. No ad will EVER flash at you here). Anyway. We have all the same advertisers, and exactly the same ad philosophy, but they are so much prettier now. It makes me so proud to see all these artists and business people that I’ve been partnered with for a year plus, over there, finally with a way to really let their stuff shine.
- Hit the reclaiming wife button… there is a little surprise for you. (I know, right?)
- The frazzled bride logo. Thanks to David’s obsessive focus on taking the bride with us, the original APW logo is still on the site…. You just have to find it, so go look!
Other than that, show yourselves around, I really hope you like it. And hats off to Super Runaway, who were tireless in getting the design just so (thanks Liz), and the website working exactly the way I wanted* (thanks Jeff).
Oh! And it only seems right to give you all a little present, so:
And now, I’m going to take a nap. Maybe for a week.
*There will, of course, be bugs. The biggest bug is that Internet Explorer 6 is not supported by anyone anymore, so the site will look a bit wonky there (Sorry! I know!). For other bugs that crop up, please let us know, and we’ll try to get them fixed as soon as we can.
i’m de-lurking for the first time to say congratulations :) this new site is just so awesome. at first my RSS reader missed it, but i’ve got it set now so i dont miss a post.
keep inspiring us!
April 5, 2010 1:40 pm
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I love the header! I love the re-organization. Reclaiming Wife! Marriage Equality! So perfect. I effing heart you!
April 5, 2010 1:42 pm
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Love! I finally got a chance to hop over, and once the page loaded I actually audibly gasped and said “Oh, look!” It’s so pretty! I love the lace and that you used your rings for the header! I haven’t gotten a chance to poke around too much (yet), but I already love the layout and the Reclaiming Wife button! Hooray! I’d buy you a celebratory margarita if you were in Texas or if I were in San Francisco.
April 5, 2010 2:06 pm
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I love the new site! It’s lovely and wonderful, and feels like home! Thank you so so very much for all your hard work!
April 5, 2010 2:07 pm
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I love it!! I’ve been dying to see it finished!
April 5, 2010 2:20 pm
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This makes me SO HAPPY!
April 5, 2010 2:23 pm
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Beautiful! I’ll be sure to create a profile with the new site!
April 5, 2010 2:53 pm
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I’ve never left a comment before, but I really appreciate the practical advice on weddings and life and the community of intelligent, real women here. Congrats, Meg, on this beautiful new page!
April 5, 2010 3:26 pm
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WOW! I feel like I need a thesarus to find better words for “lovely” and “organized” and “charming” and “welcoming” (for all). San Bernardino is proud of you, Meg! Um, maybe that’s not really saying too much. But now, entire continents are proud! :-)
It’s been two years since I was planning my own wonderfully practical wedding and I still love visiting your site every day. What I love even more is suggesting it to every engaged person I meet!!
You hit this one out of the park, my friend!
April 5, 2010 4:20 pm
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OMG, I CAN COMMENT.
It’s lovely, really. Despite the fact that my work is still on Explorer 6 (*shudder*) and so it looks completely crazed there.
So happy for you! Yay!
April 5, 2010 4:47 pm
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It is gorgeous and as my mama would say “you should be so proud.” Look at what you have created and given to all of us. Thank you Ms. Meg.
April 5, 2010 5:04 pm
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You’ve given us a wonderful gift. When the site loaded, I felt like it was a holiday celebration. You continue to do such wonderful things for this community. Keep it up! Much love.
April 5, 2010 5:15 pm
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But how do I subscribe?????
April 5, 2010 5:18 pm
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Your RSS feed in your reader shouldn’t be broken! If it is you can just throw the URL back in the “adding a blog” section, and it will pull up the feed. Do you want to subscribe by email? That I would have to figure out.
April 5, 2010 5:29 pm
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I’m having an issue with my RSS feed too (Its saying the file doesn’t exist). Can someone post a link to the RSS feed?
April 7, 2010 8:11 am
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Meg! I LOOOVE it! I literally gasped when I clicked over from my usual daily reads, forgetting for a moment that a new APW was coming. I admit, last week, I was feeling sentimental but you (& your peeps) did a fantastic job of making it feel the same yet different. And beau-ti-ful!!! Now off to explore…
April 5, 2010 5:35 pm
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Bellissima! Congratulations, Meg – the new design is jaw droppingly gorgeous, but the librarian in me loves how you have reorganized the content into this fabulous and practical resource. Hooray!
April 5, 2010 6:10 pm
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The new site looks amazing, Meg, and it’s so well organized. Not that I minded reading through all your old posts when I first discovered APW, but I’m sure new readers will appreciate it. Congrats on the relaunch!
April 5, 2010 7:42 pm
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I explored. And I love it even more than I thought I would. So organized, so easy. I can’t put into words what the old site meant to me, but this one is already starting to feel like home.
I may be the only one with this problem, but I did want to let you know that the wedding graduates aren’t changing when I refresh. I tried earlier today and I just tried again, in both Firefox and IE.
April 5, 2010 8:09 pm
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I seriously posted the comment, refreshed again, and the problem was fixed. Silly computers. Congrats again!
April 5, 2010 8:10 pm
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Sometimes they get stuck… not sure why yet.
April 5, 2010 8:27 pm
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LOVE IT!!! Go, Meg, go!
April 5, 2010 9:03 pm
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Meg!
It is gorgeous! I even made my fiance look at this wonderfulness. You and your fabulous Team Practical team have outdone yourselves. Go take that nap!
p.s.
I put my badge up and I absolutely love it.
April 5, 2010 9:12 pm
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Love the new site..hopefully I can be one of your wedding graduates one day..
On another note, how do I put up my badge??
April 5, 2010 9:59 pm
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Oh it’s incredible.
Congratulations. And thank you.
I’m just over a month out from my wedding and was descending into a meltdown. Then I thought: I need some Meg. I didn’t fully realise how many of those moments you and team practical had gotten me through until right then. Thank you.
April 6, 2010 2:04 am
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Oh wow, this is like a breath of fresh air. Looks really , really, really great.
April 6, 2010 6:52 am
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Meg, it’s beautiful! And fresh, and mature, and simply lovely!
Thank you for all of your work – we readers can now basque in a more aesthetically pleasing conversation :)
Cheers!
April 6, 2010 6:54 am
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Congratulations! Love the new site.
April 6, 2010 11:00 am
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Loving the threaded comments!
April 6, 2010 12:09 pm
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Looks good, Meg! :) I can’t wait to check out all the new features!
April 6, 2010 12:14 pm
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I LOVE it!! Congratulations. I am coming late to the party due to a busy work day and a little b-day celebrating. I love everything you instructed us to look at and I love the comments. The different colors, the ability to reply to different people specifically. I’m so excited! Well done! It’s like getting used to a new house, but soon it will be so home-y.
April 6, 2010 1:04 pm
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Oh! Meg…
It’s organised. And beautiful. And smart, but wonderfully warm. And somehow, even though I don’t *know* you, it feels like *you*. And it really feels like APW’s home.
In other words, it’s absolutely perfect.
A thousand congratulations on the newly (evermore!) fabulous APW!
April 6, 2010 2:27 pm
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it took me a wee bit to find the new site, only because the changes didn’t show up in my rss google reader feed.
so, sorry for being late to the party, but oh my goodness, i love it! LOVE it! So much.
You are so very, very fabulous, Meg. Thank you.
April 6, 2010 4:56 pm
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AHHHH!!! The internet gods frowned upon me and took away my internets until today so I missed the relaunch!!! BOOO!!!
The blog is now SO amazing, I love it! Lovely, yet practical and no-nonsense. (Like the content!) And the lace with the paint and the rings and the purple and the drop-down menus and the AHHH! I love it, I can’t stand it.
Brava. Absoutely fabulous.
April 7, 2010 8:01 am
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The new site looks wonderful. It suddenly dawned on me this morning that I hadn’t seen any new content from you this week so I hunted it down and updated my RSS feed. Love the new look and the ability to find things more readily!
April 7, 2010 10:50 am
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It’s here: apracticalwedding.com/feed
April 7, 2010 6:05 pm
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delurking and saying, ohmigoodness i love it!!!!!!!!! :D
April 7, 2010 12:49 pm
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Wahoo! Congratulations on a beautiful new site. Your blog was my go-to source of sanity while planning my wedding (Sept. ’09), and I’ve passed it on to many engaged friends since. May your new site be filled with many, many stories of engaged and wedded joy!
April 7, 2010 1:31 pm
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And married life. We’re kind of rocking the married life thing now (at least once I’m over the re-launch and back to writing).
April 7, 2010 6:04 pm
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The site looks wonderful!
April 12, 2010 8:06 am
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Congrats!! I’m an avid lurker…not engaged or even thinking about it…but I love your perspective on everything and you’ve helped ground me a few times! Anyway – congrats on the new site, I love everything about it. (and, its super pretty!) :o)
April 18, 2010 4:41 pm
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