I'm not addicted to Forge of Empires. I can quit anytime. No really I can! Just not today.

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Site update not FoE related

 

Ok so it should be obvious to all that we're not web designers.  We don't care all that much about making things look pretty.  After some feedback about the site not looking pretty, and dated, and lame and not great on mobile we took more hours than it should have to try ALL the templates available.  Then we discovered 800 other templates and decided to stop.


So here was the goal:

  • Easy to read
  • mobile friendly
The criteria was have the text large enough where you don't have to zoom-in to read it.
Most phone won't have to side-scroll which they did previously.
Load fast.
Only show snippets and not the entire post.
Have a "read now" so people know there is more than just what the snippet says.  Believe it or not this one thing disqualified most of the templates.
Have an image for every post.  I didn't think anyone would care if there was an image or not but apparently some do so we'll do that.
Black text on white or close to white background.  Not white if possible due to eye strain especially at night.  For some reason the PC version has a light blue/purple background and mobile has pink.  Tried to fix that but it changes back.
The biggest issue was finding a dynamic template that was friendly to "read more" after a jump break.  We found two.  One template had built-in ads for the template people and gave us no control over how anything looked.
This was the other one so it was an obvious choice.  We hope it works for you because that was not a fun exercise and not one we wish to repeat.




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13 comments:

  1. I'm on mobile and it's purple not pink.

    ReplyDelete
  2. why say it's not FoE related?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because we respect the people that read this site and we're not trying to click-bait you. Imagine a world without click-bait titles, unskippable ads, smashing like buttons, subscribe, ringing the bell and go to my patreon page. That world may be gone forever but we want to be a place that isn't trying to scam you or steal your data.

      Delete
    2. If it's something that works and provides the right data, it doesn't need to be pretty. Stop wasting hours on things that don't matter and get back to the actual updates. Cut the fluff and stay on point.

      Delete
    3. The simpler it is, the more perfect it becomes—no need for flashy effects and over-processing

      Delete
    4. I want to comment on this.
      "FoE AddictMarch 12, 2026 at 2:17 PM
      Because we respect the people that read this site and we're not trying to click-bait you. Imagine a world without click-bait titles, unskippable ads, smashing like buttons, subscribe, ringing the bell and go to my patreon page. That world may be gone forever but we want to be a place that isn't trying to scam you or steal your data."

      This is year three for me using this site for FOE help and tips. I started with your guide to get higher age troops and it was by far the easiest guide and it worked. Thank you.
      I've read your comments about how you're protecting our privacy and you're not asking for money or stuff like that. You should. I want you guys to exist. You make the game easier for me. Especially with the master spreadsheet. You should put up a patreon or a tip jar or something. Everywhere else requires an account to use it and they hammer you with ads or beg for likes and whatever.
      Why do you do this if you're not making money? You seem like good people. Maybe I'm just jaded but I keep looking for the catch and there hasn't been one. Just thought I'd ask. Seriously though put up a tip jar. Maybe you guys (is it guys?) can buy a cup of coffee or something. Cheers

      Delete
    5. Thanks Marc that is very kind and we'll gladly accept the compliment but keep your money. We will have to eventually allow ads. Our bandwidth is too high to keep this a free site so that's the compromise. Blogger/google will get almost everything and we'll get something like 2 pennies a click-through. But it stays free and they won't throttle the site to make it unusable so it's fine. If it ever becomes real money we'll just donate it. We're not here for money it's for the love of the game. And the hate of the game sometimes too.
      There is no catch. We're just some dudes with one dudette that play the game that genuinely want to help and support other players. That's it. No catch.

      Delete
  3. the read more link doesn't work, sorry don't hate me now

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh I hate this so much. Thanks for letting us know. Back to the drawing board.

      Delete
  4. Keep whatever template this is. Works perfect on PC and android

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only change we plan to make is to remove the socials links with every post. Other than that this seems fine and it works.

      Delete

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