Reviews

Political blogs are quite popular these days, and when well written, are a fun read regardless of what side of the partisan fence you are sitting on.  The Thunder Dragon blog is no exception.  When first landing on the Thunder Dragon blog, you will quickly appreciate the newsy articles this blog has to offer.  The Thunder Dragon blog is a blog written by Chris Hawes, who is a recent university graduate and political activist and enjoys writing about his political views and ideas, and what you can expect of the blog, which is a blog that covers global politics, with a focus on the UK and the United States. See this for yourself through any of the most recent bloggeries which include: Cameron Direct to Watford, Lib Dems And A Hung Parliament, I don’t like driving in my car and A Tax On Chocolate.

The blog is well designed into a clean and organized template which upon first glance, makes navigation very simple, however navigation becomes a little cumbersome as you move through the blog.  Bloggeries are left marginalized and appear in black text on white background with a black border around the blog giving you a newspaper feel.  There is also a double wide right sided navigation system where you can find all of the blog meat.  In the navigation system you will find very little in the right sided bars, as the navigation moves with you as you scroll down the page.  Content contained here includes some blog widgets, a Recent Posts Menu, Comments Menu, and Blogroll, however the font is very tiny on these features and it may take you a few minutes to see them enough to use them.  The blog also offers a top navigation system under the header where you can travel to the home page, About, Blogroll, Comments Policy, Copyright, Email, and RSS information.  Most bloggeries are accompanied by relevant pictures to the content which makes for an enjoyable read and adds some definition and life to the overall appearance. I don’t understand why the sidebar slides with you as you scroll down. It looks to me like it’s stopping us from accessing some of the data such as “Recent Posts”

Overall this blog gets a 3/5 and needs a few tweaks to make it an exceptional blog, however, this blog does not have far to go in that respect.  Although it does have the basic features that make a blog easier to navigate, the sliding sidebar kinda confuses me and cheapens the appearance.   Placing these different features on the home page in a more static location would make much more sense.   Also, the blog features are too small to read and a different sized font would change this.  Further, some additional blog meat needs to be added such as the standard Categories Menu to make reading easier for the readers if they are looking for a specific topic.  The color scheme also makes it difficult to read the different features and focus on the content and black text on blue background in the navigation system is very hard on the eyes, and may make readers wander elsewhere.  However, the blog does have a lot of information and the content is quality enough to carry this blog.  Activity is great as well with new bloggeries many times a day, which is always great to see in a blog.  Overall again, just a few tweaks mainly to appearance and navigation to make this blog more user friendly and this blog is well on its way to successful growth. If you’re reading this and you change your layout be sure to contact us so Rob can add you to the directory; also with a simple change this blog could easily be a 4+/5.
-Chrissie

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For those moms that need a little bit of a break, or for some comedic relief from another mom in the same boat, you will want to check out The Soccer Mom Files.  The Soccer Mom Files blog is written by a ‘very attractive’ soccer mom with two ‘gifted kids’ and describes herself *tongue in cheek* as an incredible wife and an overall fantastic person.  The blog is a good dose of humor for other soccer moms who need a comedic break in their day or just by anyone who’s looking for a daily dose of humor! The humor in this blog is the blog’s greatest attribute, and anyone, soccer mom or no can appreciate it. Particularly in bloggeries where the blogger discusses her ‘penchant’ for rednecks and describes a CMT reality show known as ‘Redneck Weddings’.  See more of this humor in any of the most recent bloggeries which include: My Mind is Going… College Football is Back!, Nice Wine Rack!, That’s Just how I Roll, I’m as Patriotic as the Next Guy but…, and White Trash Martha Stewart!

The first thing you can not fail to notice about this blog is its unbelievable large header, which I have to say takes away from the navigation of the blog.  The header is cute however and will be your first impression of this blogger’s sense of humor.  The bloggeries are left marginalized with a right sided navigation bar that contains the blog essentials.  In the navigation bar you will find the Entrecard, About Page, Blog Awards, Blog Poll, and Blogroll titled ‘Listen to Mom and Read These Blogs’.  You’ll also find here some advertising and the blogspot Archive Menu which also provides recent posts in clickable links.  There are many images that can be found within the bloggeries, with each having an image of its own. This not only makes the bloggery more interesting but the images are often very funny! The design of the blog is quite well-done as well although it can’t seem to escape that basic “I am a Blogspot blog” feeling.

This blog gets a 3.5/5 with just a few suggestions.  The blog could use a categories menu, and while the blog seems to be more personal in nature, I still feel the blog would benefit from this added organizational feature.  The activity of the blog is well done, with updates coming in daily, and the content is well written and very funny. I think the self-absorbed nature is the overall theme of the blog so take it or leave it. I find that theme to be funny, as I am sure do other readers, but it gets a bit much.  The appearance of the blog is neat and clean, but I would suggest changing the size of the header as it is very distracting, and it gives the blog a long load time which, for new readers, might turn them away. That said once loaded it is a nice header.  Lastly, while this element does not effect the review score, I would suggest the blogger move this blog over to her own domain for the mere fact that her excellent content would then remain her own. The blog has the readership to support its own domain, and the blogger would definitely have more control over what goes into the blog theme and organization. Overall however, this is a fun and quirky blog to read and recommended to anyone who wants their daily dose of humor.

-Chrissie

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The Worst SEO Blog Ever may try to fool you into thinking it’s the worst ever with its simple theme and slightly off-the-wall content, but upon further glance, you may find that this is comical relief in a world filled with SEO madness. While the author does seem to be a bit rough around the edges, he really just appears to be a cynic who has spent too much time researching keywords. What end result this brings is a perspective that is refreshing and funny and may actually drop a helpful hint or two along the way. The content is largely adult, with many curse words being used so consider that your disclaimer into the blog content.  If you are brave to proceed, you may enjoy the most recent bloggeries: Saravut is Not a Scraper Spammer, just a Jerk; I’ve Seen the Enemy – He’s a Jackass; SEO Hack Gets Canned…; and Saravut is not a Scaper, Spammer – Just a Jerk!.

The blog is easy to navigate with the bloggeries being left-marginalized and a handy right sided navigation bar.  Bloggeries are in black text on white background with links highlighted in a dark grey.  In the right sided navigation bar you will find a Recent Viewers Widget, Subscription Information, Recent Posts Menu, and then links to many other SEO sites that may have a bit more of the actual information that you need. Moving down you can find a Top Bloggeries Menu, Archives Menu, a variety of blogrolls, and a pull down Categories Menu.  The Categories Menu is divided according to contributors, but you will also find interesting information such as SEO Forums, SEO, and SEO Conferences.  The blog is primarily textual, but you will find the odd You Tube Video or picture thrown into the odd bloggery.

This blog gets a 2/5 for review with some tweaks needed.  The content is well written, and is quite humorous if you are looking for a good laugh on a contemporary topic.  The appearance of the blog however needs some work, as the theme is fairly simple, and this simplicity is not compensated with interesting graphics.  Outside of the odd You Tube flick, the blog is primarily textual and this kind of appearance has the tendency to drive readers away in a visually driven Internet world.  Navigation is easy however, with all of the blog essentials easy to find and access, and the uniqueness of the blog is certainly a plus.  Activity also could use some work with ts most recent bloggeries appearing in 2008, and with more regular content, this blog could be that much more successful.   If this blog is merely a forum to complain and swear, it is serving its purpose, however if it is readers the blog is looking for, he is going to have to work a bit harder to sustain them. Sadly the blog scores close to it’s promise.

-Chrissie

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