To say nothing of the fact that one of our awesome Range SEOers John Greer just became a father for the second and third time earlier this week (twin boys, in addition to their newly crowned big sister), things are a bit busy around here!

Soooo…I’m again in the process of reshuffling tasks and writing duties, so things might, once again, get slow on Search Engine Snark - I know, how would you know – but I’m hoping to be back soon to at least pick back up on my beloved Search of the Day, to add more news and musings that don’t necessarily fit the other forums and, of course, to shamelessly self-promote activities in the other corners of my world.

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MORE big news!

This weekend is looking like more of the same beautiful, cloudless weather as far as the eye can see, so for all those who can partake, I highly recommend. It is so choice. Spend some time outside, learn how to grill filet mignon and, if you think of it, send some happy thoughts for me in preparation for speaking at SIPA 2009!

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Quick note for the weekend…

But there’s the prospect of this initial bump starting to clear out and leaving time for, you know, work, and hopfeully the chance to get back into blogging in a big way again. We’ll take this one step at a time and see where it goes – but ye faithful, you are not forgotten.

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The sleeping giant stirs…

I’ve recently been named Senior SEO Leader at Range Online Media, a position that puts me at the front of the department and with quite a bit more on my shoulders. The kick ass guysin the department make it awfully easy, though, to get through the additional sales work, administratitive pieces and new HR charges that comes along with the position.

As I get my feet under me more, there’ll be further content and smartass commentary on its way.

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Updates – 4/13/09

For those who didn’t, you missed Chris Sherman rapping and a cursing tirade by Chris Knoch. Don’t believe me? Probably a good idea. But if you’d care to verify that if I’m lying, or if you have any interest in learning something, there is on-demand version as well.

Also, see some additional hot recap action in Mediapost.

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SEO & Conversion Webinar

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Testing, testing…

Still, for those who are looking for a great base I can’t recommend Copyblogger enough. It’s a simple but strong design with SEO considerations largely taken care of. The code is clean, the CSS is easy to navigate, all in all a good theme as-is or for use as a base for customization.

The new Search Engine Snark is another Chris Pearson creation at its base, the 2-column Cutline theme. I originally chose its three-column cousin, but after some asking around and base comparisons (read: Asking my wife and colleagues which they liked best) found that people didn’t care much for the extra column, especially since I’d largely be using it for various links, two columns of which just drove readers nuts. That said, from there the customization began.

Confession: The Cutline coding and CSS is a lot more convoluted than Copyblogger’s. Granted, it’s set up a lot better for wider customization with its already floating central container and a natural spot for both header text and images. It has formatting already in place for images which automatically gives everything more breathing room.

The header tags, however, are all wrong throughout the theme and some of them are difficult to track down (still looking for the exact spot where the widget headlines are controlled – it’s not the inline H tag call, and the DIV isn’t referenced in the main CSS file. Anyone knows where this hopeless script kiddie can change this?). Annoying as hell. Given the chance, I might try again using Copyblogger as a base.

Nevertheless, by using code from both the 2 and 3 column versions and some trial and error (more tips on developing themes in a later post), I was able to give things a bit of a shift to make it mine:

• Wider content container
• Custom rotating header images
• Background coloring
• Various text format updates
• H tags in more ideal settings
• Shifting date / time information from side to under the headlines
• Image spacing
• Simpler sidebar menus
• Moving search bar from the sidebar to the nav at the top of the page
• Moving RSS from the nav bar to the sidebar, complete with additional text and email subscription
• Custom navigation

…and of course translating in plugins like the Yoast Breadcrumb, Post Ratings and Sociable, as well as standard functionality hacks like the More tag target URL and such.

The result is more unique look and feel from the original Cutline and WAY more unique than the slightly tweaked Copyblogger theme. Think this also helps draw the eye to the content in a way that the wider stretches of white space don’t accomplish in Cutline and Copyblogger while maintaining a clean layout in general. Not overly complicated or complex, but hopefully a good first effort on the design front.

What do you think? Make your mark in the poll below, and let me know your thoughts in the comments if you have any opinions worth sharing. I know, I know, not likely, but may as well ask.

[poll id="2"]

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New Search Engine Snark theme – you like?

In the meantime, I leave you with this:

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OOO – 2/26

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OOO 2/17-2/18

Anyone else running into this with upgrading, or did something just go wonky with my install?

Update: OK, screw this. Switching back to the Copyblogger and trying again another day. Piss it.

Update 2: Ha! Stupid strong tag ended up wrapped around a stupid more tag. WTH, seriously?

Don’t care. Kick the tires ‘n light the fires, boys, we’re back in business!

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Things are screwy