It’s here, it’s here! This past week was a whirlwind getting everything set up, switched over, re-directed, updated, and every other adjective you can think of associated with “renovating.” Without further adieu, I’m so excited to introduce you to the new studio site and blog. I hope you love it as much as I do!
There’s a lot to look at around here (especially compared to my old sites), so I thought the best way to show you around my new home would be to take you on a short tour and point out some of my favorite features. Let’s do it.
Here on the blog, you can navigate around using the menu at the top. I’ve included a dropdown with some of my favorite categories, so if you like to follow certain topics, you can easily access them there. Next to that, you can also check out my new Recipe Box, which features visual images of all my recipes! If you want to view all the recipes in list form, simply click on “View Full Recipe Index”, like this:
And then, there’s one of my absolute favorite pages on the new blog: Candy. This is a page that’s filled with the most delightful of treats. At the top is a mini-boutique that features cool finds from new-to-me shops and retailers. I loved the idea of promoting small businesses, artisans, and brands that aren’t necessarily super well known yet, so this will be a place where those unique finds live. The Candy page also features links to things I’m loving (kind of in the spirit of Week/End), my blog roll, and a travel guide for cities I’ve lived in or get asked about a lot. I seriously love this page, and hope you do too.
As far as posts go, you may notice that some posts have a section beneath them featuring items from the post. This will be your quick guide to links, shoppable items, and photographer credits — basically anything mentioned within the post that deserves a call out.
The post footer also features new post sharing buttons, and of course a comment link:
You can also view related posts; be sure to scroll over the image tiles to see the title of the post if you’re curious:
A couple other fun features: between each post, you’ll notice little “interstitials” — keep an eye out, as I’ll be updating these regularly with quotes and other fun surprises. And, at the bottom of the blog, I’ve included some quick links to Instagram, my latest tweet, and of course, Pinterest. These will cycle in and out, so hopefully each time you visit the site, there will be something new down there!
One of the the biggest parts of this redesign was combining the studio along with the blog. You can get to the Studio page by clicking on “Studio Home” up in the top nav bar, or by simply going to victoriamcginley.com. Once you get there, you’ll notice the nav bar changes a bit — it’s your way to navigate around all my business services and the projects I’ve been working on!
Historically, I haven’t talked much about my work on the blog; now, you can easily check out Services, my Portfolio, and lots more. Click around, explore a bit, and let me know what you think. You can also access many of my Studio features right on the main homepage:
And, there’s also a footer at the bottom of all the studio pages, for easy access to my social media channels:
So, what do you think? My goal in designing this site was to have something comprehensive, but still easy to follow along with. I opted to keep the layout here on the blog simple, but zhush up some of the other features that previously lived on vmac+cheese, which I suspect you might not have known about since they were so hidden (like all my recipes, and the blog roll). Though I’ve driven myself nuts testing virtually every aspect of the site, please feel free to let me know if you notice anything that’s not working, or if something is hard to read. I’d love to get your feedback!
Last few bits of housekeeping notes before we return to regularly scheduled blog programming: my announcement post from last week has been updated with the most current links to all my social media platforms. I’ll continue to update it as things change. Facebook is taking their sweet time with my page name change, so keep an eye out for that if you follow along there. Also, good news for Bloglovin subscribers: I’ve worked with them to change my old feed to the new one, so in theory, you shouldn’t have to do anything on your end. If you can’t see the feed and would like to re-subscribe, my Bloglovin profile is here. You can subscribe at victoriamcginley.com/feed, if you want to follow along via another RSS Service or Feedly.
As always, thanks to each and every one of you for your support, and especially all the kind words of encouragement! I know this is a big change, but it’s one I’m stoked about, and I hope you are too. Cheers, and enjoy!
Love the attention to detail and the thorough explanation! I’m relatively new to your blog and have been eyeing up some of your services/”cocktails.” Looking forward to reading along after all these changes!
Loving this layout, the blog looks great!
xo
PinkSole
It looks amazing. So clean a fresh. I love it!
congratulations victoria, the site looks absolutely AMAZING!
Molly {Dreams in HD}
http://www.dreamsinhd.blogspot.com
Loving it, girl! Fantastic!
LOVE IT! I like how everything is easy to find, simple, yet still creatively designed at the same time. Congratulations!
It looks amazing!!!!! So proud of you!! xx
Everything looks so fresh + clean! I’m off to explore everything right now :)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Everything is perfect and very you! Classic, Mature, and Playfully Feminine!
I love how you made it look like a space we already knew + loved… but also gave everyone something new, and spicy. Congrats!
It looks fantastic. Very clean. And I like this post with the overview!
The site looks amazing congratulations!!
Congratulations Victoria! I’m completely in love with the new site. It looks clean and fresh, it’s easy to navigate, and clearly gets your point across as to what services you offer and what you’re all about. You and Lisa did an amazing job! Truly one of the best blog/website re-designs that I’ve seen.
It looks absolutely amazing!!! I love how clean + simple it is…but so much attention to detail! Bravo Love!
Wow Victoria – this all looks amazing – congrats on the new site! Love it! xoxo
Love, love, love! I already sent you an email letting you know about one link that isn’t working, but I found another: In Candy, under Blog Roll, there is no link to Nicole Franzen.
Can’t wait to see more on this platform!
http://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
Thank you, Ella! I’ve updated Nicole’s blog and the stuff in the email you sent me — will also respond to your email soon! :)
It looks absolutely amazing and you’ve clearly put so much thought and time into. Congratulations on the new site!
I am so excited to see it up and running! I love the color combination! No detail was left unattended, and I can’t wait to see more.
WOW WOW WOW! It looks beyond amazing!!
Kayla
http://www.lovelucygirl.com
LOVE LOVE LOVE the new site!! You did an amazing job!!
Love this redesign!! It’s beautiful, functional and definitely your style! I also love that you’ve added those little extra bits under the post footer, good touch! The whole website feels so sleek and easy on the eyes. Lisa did a good job coding this up!
So excited for today and now that it is up … Oh wow it looks freakin’ awesome! Lovin’ it! You did a great job. Always loved how the old sites looked, but this is just such a fresh, streamlined and updated look. Perfect timing as fall is just around the corner and somehow there’s always that feeling to reinvent yourself this time of year and you did just that at just the right moment in just the most perfect way. It’s super easy to navigate and just so shiny and new! Congrats V – it’s outstanding!
your new site looks fantastic! I love the updated layout and all of the extra little special features you have built in. super functional and super stylish.
It’s a very clean and easy to navigate site. Love the quotes. Best wishes!
http://www.robincharmagne.com
The attention to detail is amazing! This is super beautiful! Really the perfect website. I am currently in the process of redesigning my service website. Thanks for the inspiration.
Congrats, Victoria!!! Your new site is beautiful. :)
Victoria, your new website is perfectly clean and organized, I love it! I love that you combined your studio with your personal blog too.
Yeah, the layout is beautiful and clean. Congrats lady! xo
Love love love!!!! Congrats, it’s absolutely beautiful!
Wow- this is new site has exceeded my expectations tenfold. It is so beautifully and thoughtfully designed- congratulations!
Congratulations, Victoria! This site is incredible!
Love the new design! And thanks so much for the tour! Thats so unique!
Xo
http://aprettythought.org/
Congrats, it looks great! I love some of the new features you added, like the recipe box and the candy page. All good stuff!
The new website looks amazing V! I love your Candy page – great idea xoxo
just found your site through instagram (duh) — love it!! your writing is so honest and cute, and has a lot of solid advice + fun! happy to start following along! kate
Thank you, Kate! What a lovely comment. Welcome, and happy to have you here!
You are so ridiculously talented. I LOVE the new site! I think it meets your goal exactly. Everything in one place, but still super easy (and fun!) to get around. It’s freaking gorgeous and I love how easy you made it to navigate. I agree that the Candy page just might be my favorite.
Congrats, lady! I’m in love with it!
P.S. One thing I just noticed is that the Instagram box in the footer doesn’t have an image.
Your redesign looks great!! I can’t imagine the hours you poured into making it perfect. I love that you wanted to make it as easy experience for your users. After spending some time looking around today, I can say you accomplished your objective!
By the way, I’ve seen this tee on Piperlime a few times lately and think of your love of champagne each time. :) http://piperlime.gap.com/browse/product.do?vid=1&pid=386213002
Congratulations on your launch!
This looks great, Victoria! Love the new look and I can’t wait to start exploring the site :)
Congratulations Victoria! What an amazing new site + accomplishment. I hope you celebrated with some champagne ;)
Yeay Victoria!! I love it! Congratulations. It is beautiful!
Congrats on the new look! Very professional and clean looking! One day I will have you design a new one for me! Lord knows I need it! XO, VL.
It’s beautiful! Congratulations Victoria!!