Ok friends, I have read all of your feedback loud and clear from last week’s post about truncation.
Most of you HATE {not just hate, but HATE} truncated posts, and I’m so glad I asked.
I WANT your feedback. Honestly, I had not heard one negative thing about it until I asked. I should have asked earlier!! It made me sad to hear that some of you had been “skipping my blog altogether.” I have more questions about this below too so hold onto your britches we’ll get there. But first, I just had to say THANK YOU for your feed back. It means a lot to me that you would take the time to tell me your thoughts. I was touched by the way you were all honest in your feedback.
SO, because of this feedback I have un-truncated the most recent post.
Bear with me while we switch things around and make the necessary changes to adjust the look of All Things Thrifty to look its best. It may take a few weeks to get all the kinks worked out since my kids are out of school for the summer. All of the sudden I feel like I’m swimming in cereal crumbs on my kitchen floor. Do you feel like this too? Summer comes around and I feel like I’m breathing with one lung trying to keep up with it all. Maybe it’s all the “I’m bored” complaints that put me in an insta-bad-mood. I ran to Wal-Mart today to pick up a prescription, and I could have made the “people of Wal-Mart” top 10 list if someone would have snapped a picture of me in my shorts, socks, and flip flops. I have no shame. The point I’m trying to make here is that I don’t make the best decisions at times. And, maybe truncation was one of those sock/flip flop decisions. 
Since we are talking about bad decisions, I should have never taken this selfie of myself. I know this is TOTALLY off topic, but I had to get LASIK twice in my left eye. #notgoodtimes. I had to wear these protective goggles for a few days. I’ll save doozy of a story for another time. Are you interested in stories like that one about my personal life? {That’s where the All Things Us category stems from}.
It’s hard to strike that balance between an organized clean blog and the look of complete chaos, so for now I have un-truncated the first post so that the most recent post will be seen in its entirety. What do you think about that? PALEEASE tell me how you feel, if there is something that bothers you about my site, send me a comment or an email. I need feedback in order to adjust. I promise I will read every. single. comment and email. I try hard to respond when you have questions too.
By the way, I know that a truncated feed is not something that I have ever done, and I just want you to know that I don’t plan to either. I don’t judge those blog owners who have done this though. I understand where they are coming from, and some of these bloggers are dear friends of mine who have gotten oooodles of their content stolen. So, be patient with truncated feeds. They are not trying to make your life harder, I promise.
On that note, if you are reading All Things Thrifty from some sort of Reader, please know that Google Reader is going away July 1st. So if you are using Google Reader, you will need to start using another program to read blogs from. I have heard Feedly is great, and I personally use bloglovin’. What do you use? Am I missing the coolest one on the market?
Also, those of you who are reading from a tablet of some sort, I’ve been wondering how you like the new layout of All Things Thrifty on those devices? I’m just pelting you with questions today, aren’t I? Sorry, I’m just interested in what you have to say.
Lastly, I’d like your opinion about one more thing. Lately I’m sure you have noticed that All Things Thrifty has expanded in several other areas outside of DIY projects {now called All Things DIY}. I am trying to beef up those other areas, and although DIY projects are my forte, I’ve asked some of my talented blogging peers to help me by guest posting. Tell me your thoughts about this. I do NOT want anyone to feel like All Things Thrifty is a place to “skip”. Do you like the All Things Us, All Things Girlie and All Things Delicious posts? Are they too often? How often would you like new content from All Things Thrifty?
xoxo,
Brooke
Thank you for un-truncating, I appreciate it so much. Good luck with the eyes and I have been using feedly, but need to bloglovin’ another try. I wish Google Reader would just stay around, silly Google. I like your “All things” sections.
Ok, at the risk of sounding like a dummy..what is truncating? Why is it bad and why do people hate it? Obviously it never bothered me because I don’t even know what it is. I hope it doesn’t annoy me when I find out. Maybe ignorance is bliss 🙂
Lora, truncating is when you only provide a little piece of a blog post, usually the first paragraph, and to read the rest/whole post, you have to click on the link to open it up. Some people don’t like it because it’s extra work, computers may be slow, or it just makes it more likely to NOT open up for more info, so posts never get read. Hope that helps!
Heavens to Betsy..I just figured out what truncating is. And I was right, now I am annoyed. Not annoyed at a truncated post, but seriously annoyed that people just won’t CLICK to read the rest of the post you have worked hard on to deliver for THEIR reading pleasure?!?!?!?
I am a new-ish reader, but I can certainly see that your posts ARE WORTHY of some extra clicks! Truncate away, hun. I’ll click on it 🙂
Weird. I was at Walmart the other day and I thought I saw someone who resembled you. but I was like, uhhhh it KIND OF looks like her buuuut…. Haha. Totally kidding. I Love every word you write. Recipe, DIY, things girly. I’d read something new everyday. I like your guest posts but I’m glad you don’t do them super often. I really love sawdust and embryos. I also love the inside your life posts. It makes you even more relatable. You’re amazing! Love ya! (Even if you do wear socks with flip flops)
I LOOOOOVE hearing personal stories about bloggers. So often it’s them sharing their lovely blog space promoting other businesses, blogs and DIY’s (which is great, heck it’s what keeps blogs alive) but people forget the person behind the blog, including the blogger themselves, so I always wish people wrote more about themselves. Lasik story!!
im not a fan of truncation- so this is a nice suprise!!!
ill follow on blog lovin, but i really just go down my fav bookmarks to hit my fav blogs throughout the day while at work.
and lastly- bring on the personal stories!!!! i love them!!
I love your All things DIY posts and your All Things Us posts. Honestly, I always skip the foodie and girly ones. Your my go-to DIY blog, and I like to read posts from YOU about YOUR projects, as well as stories about your life and cute family. Personal stories never get old! Plus, some of the bloggers you feature I already read, and they’re always just posting a repeat of what they’ve already posted on their blog…lame!? And truncating is not so bad. I actually really appreciate it and definitely love it more than hate it, because if I haven’t visited in a few days I can scroll through and see what posts I want to read (personal and DIY!) on one page without having to click a million times to see what I missed. But all in all, you are definitely one my favorite blogs to read! You go girl!
Love that you un-truncated! For those of us who read posts on our lunch breaks at work, it is a real time saver (work computers are notoriously slow to open web pages to read posts!).
I enjoy getting to the know the person behind the blog, so the personal posts are good from time to time!
First and most importantly, I love you site! I love to hear personal stories ’cause it make me feel like I’m not the only one out there with weird stuff going on. We all try to hold it together but it helps to know we are not alone. As for truncated post, there are some sites that don’t do it well and it is a turn-off. Yours however, I didn’t seem to mind. I guess maybe because you have a title and picture that actually makes me want to click and read. Truncated or not, I like your blog style. Now the stuff I don’t like….I really, really don’t like when bloggers host giveaways and you have to jump thru hoops to enter. Follow on FB, follow on twitter, follow on Instagram, follow on Pininterest, etc. It especially gets frustrating when it’s multiple blogs. I follow many of the blogs listed, but that is just plain annoying. I get it, it’s to create traffic but I really hate it. Did I mention that it’s annoying? And to be truthful, if I see a giveaway like that on the first blog I visit in a day, I skip visiting the other blogs. Guest posts are ok. I actually like them because I get to branch out to see other blogs. I just don’t like them ALL THE TIME. I come to visit a particular blogger, not someone else. Last thing that annoys me; don’t like it when bloggers post that they are working on (insert whatever) and then take FOREVER to post…sometime even never! Anyway, those are my pet peeves. Keep up the awesome blog!
I love that you UN-truncated! Thank you so much! I love personal stories from any blogger. It makes you more of a person – it keeps it real! lol I love everything about your blogs except one thing and it’s not huge. It may even be just my monitor, but I have to scroll left/right just a little bit to see the whole horizontal line with your tabs up top and the left side of your blogs cuts off the beginning of text just a bit. It’s not a super big deal, but just thought I would mention it.
Thank you for asking and keep up the good work, girl! LOVE the blog!
I’d love to do a guest post for you! 🙂 Since you’re in to THRIFTY and all that 🙂 I gotz stuff in my garage that I’ll be featuring soon, so yeah, I’ll provide some new content for ya! Just sayin’…..
My question about the truncated posts (as I am trying to improve my blog, too) is, why would it make a difference to have truncated posts on your main page? The only reason I ask is because most people that find your blog probably find deep content (e.g. a post on Pinterest) and click on that link that goes directly to the full post, correct? What percentage of people land on your main page? And, doesn’t having the truncated posts on your main page help to keep down your load times?
As for other content and other names, I think it’s a smart move so that you segment your readers by interest, while still interlinking the blogs and posts for people that just may be interested in your other posts (e.g. recipes on All Things Delicious).
Good luck! 🙂
Serena
Thrift Diving
Hi! New follower here! Love all your history of documenting your projects! I am excited to try the upholstry this summer…hopefully I can post my experiment and will document you as inspiration. -Aimee :o)
If they are not trunicated, how do you like it, tweet it, or pin it? I am having the same problem with mine which is why I continue to truncate. Good gosh!
Also I notice pageviews went down once I truncated.
OK so I am one of your followers that is soo totally not a blogger, but I love to come to your site and check out what’s happening in your life. You guys have more interesting and exciting lives that I love looking at other people blogs! Please don’t take that like I’m a psycho/stalking/obsessed/in-the-back-of-the-room-staring-at-you type way. BUT since you asked for my opinion… I am evil and usually check your site while I am at work and I have a broadband little thingie which only give me 2 g a month. I personally like it where I can click on a site and read the first few posts quickly without having to click on another button. It sometimes takes a while for sites to load up anyway, so having to click on it twice is kinda a pain. I don’t mind that the older posts get truncated but I would prefer the newer ones to be easier to look at while I sit at my desk and pretend to work.
Either way, I will continue to check out what’s going on in your life. I love when you post all sorts of things and love when you just be yourself! Thanks of asking me personally about what I like 😉
Thanks for un truncating!!! I really so skip the blogs that do it. And for blog reading I use Feedly. I love it.
Ahhh truncation…..Don’t miss ya a bit! : D
Just my opinion (I’ve read your comments and see a lot of people enjoy all the other posts!) but I usually only read your posts that have to do with DIY stuff (which is fabulous)
The truncated posts didnt bother me at all. I understand why you did it…you need to protect whats yours…no harm in that! Besides, what was one more click to get to the rest of the post?!!? I love everything on your site….I appreciate you sharing your life with us! You are one of my very favorite bloggers…period…truncated posts or not!
Thanks for asking all of us our opinion! Thats super sweet of you!
I dislike the truncating, but understand why bloggers do it. If I have the time, and the “snippet” intrigues me, then I will click to read the rest.
I love your post ….all of them!! The personal ones are some of favs! I wouldn’t change a thing!!
Thanks for listening to us!! I found you through Mandi, so I’m partial to the thrifty DIY posts. I’m not a huge fan of the recipes just because I stop by here hoping to get craftiness, DIY brilliance from you! Thanks for listening to your readers.
Big smiles and lots of virtual hugs to you, oh wise and wonderful blogger, who listened to the readers. THANK YOU.
Hello! I use my tablet and my phone to read your blog. I took a screenshot of your main page. I do not have my text enlarged and it goes outside your blue borders. This links to my drop box so you can see:http://db.tt/oJCG4Cqv
Really the only thing driving me crazy. Love full posts but that is just me. I am used to “read more”s or shortened posts being personal so I don’t instinctively click it. I know that sounds odd haha.
Thanks so much taking away truncation. I hated it with Google Reader, but find it doesn’t bother me quite as much with Feedly. That being said, I still will read more if it isn’t truncated.
And speaking of Feedly….LOVE IT!!!! It allows me to keep up with over 200 blogs way more efficiently and I can scan much faster for the posts that really interest me.
I love your blog because of YOU! 🙂 So if you are in a recipie mood, I am fine with lots of recipie posts! If you are in a ‘share our life’ mode, then I love all of the personal posts! Input from others is GREAT! But just remember that if someone says they HATE this or HATE that and they’ll never read your blog again…. then that is thier problem 🙂 Just be you because you are awesome 😀 Love you and I’ll be reading through any and all changes! 🙂
Thank you for taking away truncation. (i hate that word by the way) I like everything you post but I will admit I don’t usually read if its a guest post.
Thank you – I was skipping. There are a few other blogs that have begun truncating, and I just skip them, also. I don’t have a lot of time, so the few clicks, the better. (Sounds lazy, but I’d rather just be able to quickly scroll down through the post to see if it’s something I want to read.)
I’ve visited your site before but admit not often. I’m not really sure why, but I sure was missing out!! Your blog and content is fabulous! You mentioned that you use Bloglovin; however, I couldn’t find your button, so I could follow you. I’ve never understood the RSS, but I did click on it anyway to see if now I could figure it out now. Well, I tried but couldn’t figure it out again~I closed it since I have no idea how that works. I even did a search on Google…and read a few articles but still don’t understand. I know what RSS means and what it’s supposed to do, I don’t understand “which” I’m supposed to select.
The reason I don’t want to sign up for everyone’s newsletter is because I already get a lot email…..I can’t imagine getting emails from all the blogs I scan…blogs that do crafts, scrapbooking, Silhouette, teacher, and that’s why I use Feedly and Bloglovin.
How can I get your blog updates? Am I the only one who has asked you this?
Hi Donna,
I just put up a “follow me on Blog Lovin'” button on my sidebar. Hopefully this will help eliminate the confusion. I’m working on a feedly one as we speak.
I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned it, but I thought I’d give you my input on the format for tablets. I have been away from our PC for over a week and reading all my internet stuff on our IPad, and every time one of your posts came up in my feed (blogger)and I clicked through to your site I was so bummed because all the pictures are cropped and it was really hard to read the whole post. Plus, it wouldn’t show any option for commenting nor could I get any comments to show at all. So, my opinions about the tablet format…I really dislike it. It seems very disjointed and the picture situation is awful…I have to click on the picture to get it to show the whole picture and then I have to click to get back to the post!! I would prefer something more like your regular site where you scroll down rather than swiping sideways.
Just my 2c! I really like your site, especially the DIY stuff, and I have been reading for a few years now so I’m not going away. 🙂 Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the comment. I am working on making the tablet version more user friendly! Thanks for your input!