Reviews

In today’s energy and environmentally conscious world, blogs supporting the environment are cropping up all over the blogosphere.  The blog known as The Green Theme is one of those blogs and is a blog supporting products, technology, and the environment.  The Green Theme Blog is dedicated to promoting awareness of global warming and giving real, practical tips on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle. You can see this for yourself when going through the most recent bloggeries: Are We in a “Clean Tech” Bubble?, What Would you do if You Found a Million Dollars on the Beach, Make Your Own Bag, SPIN your Yard into a Farm, Fill Up Your Tank With Algae, and Adopt a Wild Salmon Fry to Save a Whale.

The blog is very well laid out in a simple and clean template which lends to its ease in navigation.  Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a very simple right sided navigation system.  Bloggeries are in pale blue text on a darker blue background, and the overall theme to the blog is in blue, which I found interesting given the name of the blog.  In the right sided navigation system you will find RSS information, a blog calendar, Categories Menu, Archives Menu, and Blogroll.   The Categories Menu is comprehensive and offers the readers categories in line with the theme of the blog such as Recycling, Enviro Notes, Energy, Cleaning, and Eco Building.   There are no advertisements on the page except a compelling video promoting the 2008 Earth Hour, which took place on March 29. Not only is this advertisement very well done but it also provides some history on the event, including that it started in Sydney in 2007. This is just another way that the site promotes awareness surrounding global warming. The video is also a nice addition to the other images on the page, of which there are many. The images are all very relevant to the bloggeries in which they appear and also make the site more aesthetically appealing.

This blog gets a 2.4/5 at the time of the review with some suggestions towards tweaking.  The activity definitely needs some work as in many cases, a month will pass before the blog is updated.  The blog appearance is very well done and in a clean template which makes the blog easy to look at, however the color scheme makes the blog difficult to read. I would suggest darkening the text or enlarging the font as this very light text is a strain for this reviewer’s eyes. I also think the appearance should be more in line with the focus of the blog, and a blue blog that is called the Green Theme Blog does not make sense to me.  The navigation is simply laid out, which adds to overall navigation, however some main elements of blog navigation are missing such as Recent Posts Menu or a Comments Menu.  The blog’s about page is also located at the very top right hand corner of the blog, and I think it could use some more visibility by being placed in the navigation system.  Further, about the About page, I think it would behoove the blogger to provide some information as to the ‘why’ of the blog as opposed to simply personal information about himself. Overall however, the blog has a great foundation and an interesting concept that is relevant today and with just a few changes, the blog could see a tremendous amount of success. I want to give it a 3 but I can’t with it’s current activity scores.

-Chrissie
Buying or Selling? Visit Blogs For Sale.

If you are looking for a blog that provides a perfect blend between a personal blog and a great story, then you will want to check out The Homeless Guy Blog.  The Homeless Guy is the perfect blog for anyone who loves human interest stories. This is a blog that has been created by Kevin Brieux, who has spent much of his life being homeless, and says ‘there is more to homeless people than being homeless’. He uses the blog to teach people about homelessness, create awareness, and give an inside look at just what life is like as a homeless person. You can see this for yourself through any of the most recent bloggeries which include: Nothing So Constant  As Change, What a Dilemma, How Much Worse will Things Get?, Train Wreck, and What’s Life Without Purpose?. 

The blog offers a clean blogspot template and this makes it very easy to navigate.  Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a right sided navigation system.  Bloggeries are in white text on blue background and the blog is bordered in grey.  In the right sided navigation bar you will find the About page, a Donation Link, a Cuss-Meter which is a cute feature showing that there is 0% profanity used on the blog. In this navigation system you will also find Twitter Updates, which is another one of Kevin’s blogs and then a feed listing of Blogging about Homelessness, which is a running feed of other blogs pertaining to the issue that readers may find interesting. The navigation system is very well organized and contains many other blog essentials such as Archives Menu, Blogroll, and another link for donation.  In the footer of the blog you will find a poll pertaining to issues of interest for the blog. 

Overall this unique concept  blog gets a 4/5 at the time of review.  It is a blog that addresses a serious issue in a serious manner while remaining funny and sarcastic at times.  The content is well written and is done in a tone that any reader would be able to relate to. Many bloggeries have no image and are just text; I’d try and include an image every post or almost every. Also maybe show one less bloggery on the front page so there isn’t as much content being shown with no toolbar. Activity scores are near perfect with bloggeries coming in every few days if not every day, and the blog contains all essentials thus making it very easy to navigate.   Thus, this blog is an excellent blog on almost every level, and only needs a few tweaks to amp up its potential even more.

– Chrissie

Buying or selling a blog? Visit blogs for sale.

The avid sports fan that is looking for a blog to whet their NFL appetite will certainly appreciate The Sports Dollar Blog.  This is a dual purpose blog in the sense that it is both a sports blog and a blog in which one can learn how to make money at home. The blog combines passion for sports with a passion for blogging and turns that into something that is a full-time blog for this team.  While the bloggers make no claims to be experts, they will provide tips, tricks and other useful information how others could do the exact same thing. You can see this for yourself through any of the most recent bloggeries which include:How to Start a New Sports Blog  – 20 Tips; Hands-on Blogging and Creative Income; NFL Blog Power Rankings Week 2; Sports Dollar’s Weekly 2008 NFL Power Rankings – Week 2; and BlogStorm’s Job Board. 

The blog is designed in a sports friendly theme with a colorful motif in a clean organized template making it very easy to navigate.  Bloggeries are left marginalized in black text on white background and there are both a right sided navigation bar and a top navigation bar in the header.  At the top you will find links to Home, About, Contact, Make Money, Advertise, Jobs, and Subscribe.  In the right sided navigation bar you can find all of the essential blog meat such as some advertising cleverly integrated into the blog design, top articles, recent articles, Yardbarker Network, Recent Comments Menu, Job Board, Recent Readers Widget, Recent Viewers Widget, Archives Menu, and an extensive Categories Menu.  The Categories Menu is very comprehensive and contains labels that include everything the blog purports to offer such as Making Money, Affilliates, NBA, NFL, and so much more.

Overall the blog is looking great, has a great read, and thus deserves a 4.3/5 for review.  I have little to offer in the way of suggestion other than increasing the consistency of bloggeries and perhaps updating on a daily basis.  From an appearance perspective, the blog is clean and well organized, and this makes it easy to navigate as well.  Navigation wise the blog offers all essential blog meat in a clean fashion that makes everything very easy to find.  The unique factor of the dual purpose of the blog also serves both the bloggers and its readers well.  The content is well written and in a user friendly voice making it a very appealing blog overall for the average sports fan, as well as for those looking to make a little money online.  Again, with more consistent activity, I would suspect that this blog would do very well over time and give it a recommend to readers looking for sports or money making blogging content

– Chrissie.

Find other sports blogs in the sports blog directory.