Welcome to the New and Improved Civil War Memory

It is with great excitement that I unveil the new design for Civil War Memory. Thanks to Dino Latoga with E.Webscapes for his help with the design and format of the blog. He was very patient with me and I especially dig the banner he came up with, which captures many of the central themes on this site. I’ve also uploaded a Beta Version of WordPress 2.7. The final version is scheduled to be released any day now, but I wanted to check out the new interface and some of the new features. I am very excited about the threaded comments feature, which will allow you to respond directly to specific comments. Hopefully, this will allow for more extended discussions and make it easier for readers to follow various threads. Because this is a Beta version of 2.7 there may be a few glitches. Please let me know if there are any visual problems depending on your browser or any other problems you notice. We may make a few more changes over the next few days so your comments are very much appreciated.

Update: I decided to go with a single sidebar.  One of the glitches I am dealing with is the inability to move the various elements in the sidebar.  This has prevented me from including widgets such as Library Thing.  These changes are forthcoming.  Bob Pollock inquired into why Lee, rather than Grant, is stuck between Lincoln and Douglass.  He’s probably right about that, and to be honest I didn’t give it much thought other than that I wanted Lee prominently featured on the banner.

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22 comments… add one
  • Robert Moore Feb 4, 2009 @ 7:31

    Kevin, I’ve been meaning to ask, did you just grow tired of the new look? Also, as a member of the “technology obsessed” crowd, I’m liking the technical additions of late.

    • Kevin Levin Feb 4, 2009 @ 7:45

      I am going to respond to your question in a separate post at some point soon. I am very interested in blog design and ease of navigation. Stay tuned.

  • Robert Moore Jan 14, 2009 @ 6:08

    Kevin,

    Maybe I’ve been totally oblivious of it (or it was just made available), but I just realized that WordPress.com blogs have a box at the end of the comment box that gives the person making a comment the chance to know when a reply is made to their comment. Does WordPress.org offer anything like that? I ask because I’m still trying to figure out whether or not I want to shif to WordPress.org.

    • Kevin Levin Jan 14, 2009 @ 6:46

      I believe that there is a plug-in for that feature. I have no complaints thus far after having used Typepad for close to two years. Let me know if you have any other questions.

  • Harry Dec 12, 2008 @ 7:47

    Love the threaded comments. Wish I could get it on mine. Is that a WordPress upgrade or did you have your guy customize it?

    • Kevin Levin Dec 12, 2008 @ 7:58

      Harry, — It’s definitely a Wordpress.org update. You can try to upload Intense Debate, which is owned by Wordpress. It offers a number of features beyond the threaded comments that may enhance the comment discussions. I tried to upload it when I was with Typepad, but it didn’t quite work. You may want to give it a shot. It definitely improves the reader’s ability to respond to specific points.

      • Harry Dec 12, 2008 @ 12:54

        I checked the forum…threaded comments is coming to WordPress.com – it’s just not ready yet.

  • Woodrowfan Dec 11, 2008 @ 15:14

    Lee twice??

    • Kevin Levin Dec 11, 2008 @ 15:18

      What can I say, but that I like Lee. 🙂

      • Woodrowfan Dec 12, 2008 @ 13:10

        What, no love for Joe Johnston? How about Sherman or Longstreet? The SCV would LOVE those last two

        • Kevin Levin Dec 12, 2008 @ 13:19

          Well it can always be changed in the future in the likelihood of rebellion.

    • Brooks Simpson Dec 14, 2008 @ 17:34

      Kevin’s a Lee apologist. 🙂

  • Giuseppe Dec 11, 2008 @ 12:50

    Hi Kevin,my compliments for the new design,I like it very much

    • Kevin Levin Dec 11, 2008 @ 13:02

      Thanks Giuseppe.

  • Kevin Levin Dec 11, 2008 @ 11:21

    Greg and Sean, — Glad to hear you like the new look.

  • Sean D. Dec 11, 2008 @ 10:14

    This is a great theme. I wish that WP supported different themes for different pages b/c I would be lobbying you to use it on my site for my Civil War compilation CD.

  • Greg Rowe Dec 11, 2008 @ 8:16

    Great look to the site! It certainly does capture many of your prevailing themes in a very attractive and professional manner.

  • Brooks Simpson Dec 10, 2008 @ 15:58

    Grant, Grant, Grant.

  • Bob Pollock Dec 10, 2008 @ 14:33

    Kevin,

    I have to say that Lee looks out of place between Lincoln and Douglass under the U.S. flags. Should be Grant!

    In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you I am now working at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis. 🙂

    Bob

    • Kevin Levin Dec 10, 2008 @ 14:40

      I wanted it to be just a bit thought-provoking. Actually, I thought someone might ask why a Confederate flag is not included. You are probably right though that it should be Grant.

      • Chris Meekins Dec 10, 2008 @ 18:40

        Had thought about why no Confederate flag and thought to task you on that; but its your thing – and you should never mess up someone’s groove.
        Then again, you get into which Confederate flag, any of the Nationals or the ANV battle flag, etc. And it all seems a matter of personal preference.
        I like Douglass looking over Lee’s shoulder as if to serve as fact checker on both Lee and Lincoln: each one held accountable to the other and each in line to tell their story, share their memory. Add Grant certainly but don’t short change Douglass, please.

        • Kevin Levin Dec 11, 2008 @ 2:01

          I am going to stick with your interpretation as my preferred explanation. Don’t worry Douglass isn’t going anywhere. To be completely honest, I simply did not want a Confederate flag in my banner.

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