I’ve been a casual reader of Leo Babauta’s zenhabits for a little while. There’s some rather unique and interesting posts there.
Anyways, I’ve been inspired by the whole minimalist approach he has on his websites (find out more of what I mean at http://mnmlist.com/)
Leo outlines the basic principles behind a minimal website as:
- The text of an article, including headline
- A good-sized, readable font
- A column width optimal for reading
- Perhaps the name of the site for context, and minimal navigation in case the reader wants to find other articles
And recommends to avoid:
- ads
- cookies
- tracking
- popups
- sharing buttons
- comments
- multiple pages/slides per article
- Facebook or other social widgets
- a widget showing recent comments or tweets
- tags or related posts
- syndicated content widgets taking them to other sites so you’ll get money
- something screaming for the reader to sign up for your newsletter
Also recommends:
- minimal images (none, or only the most necessary)
- the logo of the site in CSS-styled text, not an image
- small page weight
- short urls (without .php, .asp, .aspx, .html, dates, categories or other items in the url)
I’ve got a long way to go, but I think I’m starting to take some positive steps. Time will tell.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 64
Update: Check on my progress at /mwp/
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