Here’s the grand tour of the new Life is NOYOKE site
This past November, Life is NOYOKE got a new home. The redesign makes the site faster, cleaner and easier to use. I’m thrilled with the new site and am excited to show you around. Ready?
Redesign team
First of all, my hat goes off to the redesign team. Heather Sanders and Josh Eaton led the design and development, respectively.
Heather Sanders — Web Designer
Heather and I marathoned the design over about 10 days. She brilliantly translated my vision for a user-centered, clean design. And, as I would tell anyone looking for a referral:
“Heather is more than a web designer. A teacher at heart, Heather made the web design process into a learning experience. With high expectations of herself and me, it was remarkable how she maintained positivity and encouragement all the way to the end. No other web designer has ever instilled more confidence in myself and in the investment I was making in her. Â If you appreciate attention-to-detail, thoughtful design and a dedicated, experienced and passionate web designer, working with Heather is for you. Anyone given the opportunity to work with her should feel fortunate.”
Josh Eaton — WordPress Developer
Josh took Heather’s design specs and flawlessly converted them into the site you’re on now. Josh understood the need to follow the script exactly — what you see is precisely how we designed it. But, Josh also was able to make audibles when there were forks in the road.
“Josh understood and supported my vision for a simplistic design. Any functionality from the old site that wasn’t absolutely needed was discussed and often discarded. Plus, Josh really understood the business behind the site. Decisions were made with a terrific understanding of our priorities. Finally, as a member of an elite WordPress Development group, Josh leveraged WordPress best-practices to optimize the site’s speed and precision. It’s because of Josh that the new site works fast enough to make Google proud.”
Overall, I’m proud of the team for what we accomplished. We took a shack I built with scissors and glue, moved all the belongings and set it up in its own ocean-side penthouse.
Knowing my inability to sit still, we’ll probably be getting the band back together soon for another redesign.
The cool stuff
Recipe index
The same text-only recipe index is still here. All category links are jumplinks, made for easy browsing to all recipes.
Recipe index categories
Click any recipe category to see a visual display of the most recent recipe posts. These are updated as new content is published.
Also, notice the three special diet icons.
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Kosher
These will light up in green when applicable. Most recipes on the site are all three, GF, DF and K. You can also click the “Start to Finish” link to see recent posts filtered by that time requirement.
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are on all recipe and non-recipe posts. I love this. Now, navigating back to a higher level is easier than before. Plus, it’s nice to see where you are in relation to other content.
Vitamix
Life is NOYOKE has strategically pegged its brand with Vitamix. Our values are aligned and the partnership is strong. When Vitamix makes money, they share some with Life is NOYOKE. Plus, our nation gets a little bit healthier.
To to continue to build benefit for you, we’ve improved our support of Vitamix products.
Vitamix Promotion Code links
Located in many places throughout the site, getting to the Vitamix Promotion Code is easier.
Vitamix Promotion Code Page
Using a custom, easy-to-use template, the Vitamix Promotion Code page is made for you. The big green button is right there. There’s an explanation of how it works. And, of course, there’s my disclosure explaining our relationship.
Hopefully it clears up any confusion from before. If not, feel free to contact me with any questions.
Responsive design
A $35 theme was not cutting it anymore. Backed by the Genesis Framework, the site is responsive, working well on cell phones and tablets.
Cell phones
If you’re at the grocery store, getting an ingredient list has never been so easy. Bring up the site, search for what you need and you’re done.
Tablet
Throw your iPad on the kitchen counter and go to town.
And for both devices, bookmarking your favorite recipes is a great trick. You can even create a folder of bookmarks to save all your favorites.
Home page
The home page is now a good place to start. The hope is that it’s different every day. To keep it fresh, the home page is dynamic in several ways.
Home slider
A place for me to feature the best and most timely content. Find must-read product reviews, holidays recipes and limited time offers (like our Vitamix Giveaway).
Recent posts
These are self-explanatory. They change as new content is published.
What I’m eating lately
These are hand-picked recipe posts chosen by me. When I get on a PB&J smoothie kick, you’ll know.
Featured recipes
On the bottom-right you’ll find four posts selected from a pool of the best recipes.
The four displayed change every time you refresh the page. Find an image and click. You’re guaranteed a winner.
Pick a recipe for me
Bored at work? Click this menu button to be taken to a random recipe post. Great way to explore the site’s content.
Search
Finally a search function that works.
This is the easiest way to find what you’re looking for. Recipe? Blog post? Review? If you read it here, this new search function will find it. Best part? It will find it fast.
Recipe posts
Story
Like before, most recipe start with a story. Maybe it’s a history lesson. Maybe it’s a piece of my (or another contributor’s) history. Either way, it’s what makes these recipes unique. A recipe is just a recipe until there’s a story behind it.
Useful tips
Each recipe has picture and text providing useful tips about that recipe. The goal was to remove copious “chopping photos” and only include the value-add ones. If there’s a picture, there’s a useful tip it’s demonstrating.
Table of contents
Many recipes now feature a table of contents. The table of contents uses jumplinks, so getting the info you need has never been easier and faster. No more scrolling to infinity to reach the recipe at the bottom. Just click the “Recipe” link in the table of contents.
Conclusion
The new home of Life is NOYOKE is terrific. The team delivered a clean, functional site that is, most importantly, fast. I’m proud of how it turned out and look forward to future redesigns.
Redesigns like this are only possible because of feedback from you. Â As such…
CTA: Show your appreciation for the team by LIKING this post and then leave some feedback in the comments. Thanks!
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