Visual Aesthetics – 8
Rev Trev has a very clean look, and the header is really optimal for the site’s content. The posts also have supplementary images that add to the visual experience. The home page can be tweaked some more, though. For example, additional visual elements can be utilized instead of simply having the download/sign up box in the upper left side.

User Friendliness – 6
In my opinion, this is the weakest point of Rev Trev. There are three posts that can be found at the bottom of the home page, but there seems to be no way to acces other posts from this page. (You may see other posts if you click on one of the posts in home page – other links are shown then.) Sections such as previous posts, archives, popular posts, tags, and so on can be added for easier navigation. More so, once you go to the home page, a box will pop up asking you to subscribe/download a free book. While this may be a marketing strategy, it can be quite intrusive, especially since the same box can be seen on the home page already.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
Rev Trev has an engaging writing style and you will find yourself wanting to read more of what he wants to share. He presents Biblical passages and ideas in really interesting and relevant ways.

Useful Info – 10
If inspiration and motivation is what you need, then Rev Trev is an excellent blog to visit. Each post targets specific topics/situations and you will definitely walk away with something that can be applied to your life.

Overall Experience - 7
Content-wise, Rev Trev is excellent. It just needs a little work in terms of the visual experience and user friendliness. Other than that, this blog gets a thumbs up!

Visual Aesthetics – 10
Decompose scores strongly on this point as its individual visual elements come together to create an excellent experience for the reader. I am very much impressed with the header, which is a collage of various people and items that the blog talks about. I think that it really captures the essence of the blog. The posts themselves also contain enough relevant images to break up the long blocks of text.

User Friendliness – 10
Navigating Decompose is a breeze. Links to relevant sections are easily found right below the header. The right column also contains additional links that the reader will find useful – archives, top posts, recent posts, categories, blog roll, and the like. More so, the pages loaded up very quickly.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
I have never been one to enjoy heavy philosophical discussion but I found myself reading through the posts in Decompose. Mike Duran has a way with words that makes complicated ideas easy enough to understand and digest. The topics are very relevant to the modern day Christian who faces various issues in his daily life.

Useful Info – 10
Sometimes I think that written works of philosophy and religion have little practical value. Decompose proves me wrong. This blog is full of philosophical and religious discussion but there is a lot of practical information that one can apply in his daily life.

Overall Experience - 10
Decompose is an excellent blog if you want to stimulate your brain. I have to say that it is not light reading but you will not regret frequenting it as you walk away knowing something more.

Visual Aesthetics – 8
I like the color scheme of Modern March – shades of gray, black, and red. Though it may seem dark, I think that it gives off an aura that there is intensity in its content. The header is also visually stimulating and appropriate to the blog’s theme. However, I feel that the posts themselves could use more photos – same thing for the blog as a whole.

User Friendliness – 10
Modern March is very easy to navigate as it is fairly new and there is not much content as to be overwhelming. All the relevant links are also easy to find. As for the loading times, there is no problem at all.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
I really enjoyed reading the posts in Modern March. The way that Brandon writes is very engaging. More so, he comes of as very real and sincere, at the same time, he does not sound too preachy. There is a lot of thought-provoking insights to be read in this blog.

Useful Info – 10
If you are looking for spiritual insights, then this blog scores perfectly in the usefulness category. The posts are not overwhelmingly theoretical – although there is a lot of theoretical bases to be found in the posts. You can actually find some ideas that you can apply in your life.

Overall Experience - 9
Modern March is a spiritual blog for the modern person. It is something that I would recommend to those who are seeking for fulfillment in the spiritual sense.

Visual Aesthetics – 7
Theologer makes use of a three-column template and this makes for a lot of content on one page. It does look quite plain to me in visual terms, though. The background is white and the font black – nothing wrong with that but there are practically no additional elements to the blog. Perhaps black and white images would be good, to keep with the color scheme. The text is too dense as well, with the tendency to make a reader feel overwhelmed.

User Friendliness – 9
Theologer is well organized, with the relevant links found in either of the two leftmost columns. The pages load up with no problem as well. However, the density of the text does take away a bit from the organization. It just looks like it is too much to handle at times.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
Roger writes well and seems to engage you in conversation with each post. Even if the topic of some of the posts are quite heavy, it is still possible to enjoy reading them.

Useful Info – 10
There is definitely a lot of useful information in the pages of Theologer – at least in relation to faith and spirituality. I believe that those who are seeking answers to certain things might actually find them here. At the very least, one is in for a very interesting read.

Overall Experience - 8
Theologer has excellent content to meet its target audience’s expectations. It would really do some good for the blog to work out a few things on the visual side, though. Sometimes, the packaging can spell the difference between one delving deeper into the pages of a blog, don’t you think?

Visual Aesthetics – 9
The pink theme is very apt for this woman-oriented blog. The fonts are clear and easy to read and despite the lack of visual aids such as photos, the arrangement is quite pleasing to the eyes.

User Friendliness – 10
The pages load up with no problem at all and the layout is very user friendly.

Reading Enjoyment – 10
I really enjoyed reading the poems and April’s insights. I think that even men would benefit a lot from reading this blog.

Useful Info – 10
There is a lot of useful information in Inspiration and Encouragement. You can glean a lot of insights that can be applied to your relationships with others and with God and how to handle your life as well.

Overall Experience - 10
A must read for everyone who needs some encouragement in life!

Technorati Tags: inspiration, encouragement, women, relationships, spirituality

Shirdi Sai Baba

Dedicated to the followers of Shirdi Sai Baba you will definitely need to be a follower or do some background research if you want to be able to appreciate what this blog has to offer.

Visual Aesthetics – 3

Everything is jumbled in this blog. The first thing you see is this big green header with phrases separated looking like they’re clickable links, which they are not. Next thing you see are the two images to the left and the right and a big empty white space in the middle. Upon scrolling down you then find a really long Google search bar with Google Ads underneath it and a list of labels under that before you get to the actual blog posts. In short this blog is badly in need of a redesign.

User Friendliness – 4

From my description above I assume that you’ve realized that this blog has big problems in terms of user friendliness. In fact I almost didn’t review it because I initially thought I got the wrong link. Unless you persevere in scrolling down you’ll get the impression that it’s one of those money-generating websites that don’t have any real content but links to other websites. The only good thing in terms of user friendliness is that does load pretty fast and the fonts are very readable.

Reading Enjoyment – 5

I have to admit that a lot of what the blog has to offer in terms of reading enjoyment was probably lost on me since I lacked the background knowledge necessary to appreciate some of the stuff on the posts. The author’s devotion and his level of introspection is inspiring. However, his entries are just way too long. This blog would make the average reader space out it just a few sentences. Advice: If you’re going to write about something that most people don’t know about you’d better make it pretty understandable and very appealing.

Useful Info – 10

When it comes to useful info this blog definitely has plenty. For those interested in knowing more about Shirdi Sai Baba this is an excellent resource where you will find not only the teachings but an honest inspection of the faith by a true believer.

Overall Experience - 5

Although I frankly didn’t enjoy reading the blog you I have to admit that it has its merit. The post entitle Preface deserves special mention as it showed the true character of this noble man. Shorter posts and a better template and much effort at organizing the blog will do much to improve it.

Technorati Tags: Shirdi Sai Baba, Hinduism, Spirituality, Personal, Faith, Belief

If you want controversy then visit the Infidel’s blog. There’s nothing like a debate-loving atheist to write posts that attract flamers. Although the author does love to post his insights on the subject of God or the absence of God there are other posts to be found of a different topic. What you’ll notice though is that almost all his posts reflect strong opinions. Yes this is one opinionated blog so that it draws people to comment even in his “lighter posts”.

Visual Aesthetics – 7

Too black and gray. The color scheme wouldn’t have been so bad if the font-size weren’t so small. The color scheme, font-size, and inconsistent font styles isn’t really pleasing to the eye nor user-friendly. Of course I adjusted the font-size but it still didn’t make the blog look good. The header also needs improvement though it does reflect the author’s interests (atheism and digicams).

User Friendliness – 7

Again the fonts really need some working on. The categories are few but pretty much sums up what you can find in the blog. It is also reflective of what’s important to the author. The Archives link doesn’t work and simply brings you back to the main page. At least it has a link to the Homepage when you go to static pages but the downside is that the link sometimes leads to a 404 page.

Reading Enjoyment – 7

Too much heavy stuff. If you want to discuss ideas though and like to feel intellectual this would be a blog to visit since a lot the visitors along with the author claim to be real intellectuals. The posts also run very long so that although I personally don’t mind reading posts with substance the posts sometimes do tend to drag. This blog needs a little variation in post length.

Useful Info – 8

The author like to discuss things and go on and on about issues and ideas. If you visit this blog you’ll likely read information regarding atheism, current events, and a semblance of economics and entrepreneurship.

Overall Experience – 7

This blog does have substance but is too opinionated and to heavy for my taste. The posts are just plain too lengthy and a lot of them drag. Sometimes you don’t have to be too wordy to present our ideas. A few words read by more people can be more effective than a plethora of words that just select few will read.

Technorati Tags: Atheism, Infidel, Debate, Digicams, Entrepreneur, Business, Philosophy

Eph2810

Humanity with a touch of divinity- this is just what Eph2810 is. The blog’s author is fond of interspersing personal stories with lessons in faith. The blog is full of insightful discussions on life and Christian living, and on matters of the heart. The author often shares inspiring stories about living with grace. True enough, the passage from Ephesians Chapter 2, verses 8 to 10 is all about being saved by grace through faith.

Visual Aesthetics – 8

The blog uses a red-themed design with a white background. While the blog is apparently published using Blogger, the author uses an alternative design (not a default template), which I find appealing and easy to the eye. Entries seem to be enclosed in their own borders, so it’s easy to distinguish one article from the other. The author is fond of attaching eye-catching graphics to each post, which I find likewise appealing, as the images blend well with the theme and with the text.

User Friendliness – 7

The blog’s readability and usability are average, but still need some improvement. The sidebar, located at the left, contains “about me” text, links and some short messages, but I find it a bit difficult to navigate the blog’s archives, as the links to monthly archives and recent articles are at the bottom part of the sidebar. The layout also lacks prominent “home” links and links to static pages, so you might have trouble navigating in case you land on static pages (from search engines or other bloggers’ links, for instance).

Reading Enjoyment – 9

Eph2810 never fails to come up with inspiring reads. If you’re feeling down, reading this blog will definitely help in lifting up your spirits. If you’re the optimistic type, then you would be in good company, as a handful of readers- many of whom are also bloggers- are fond of putting up great discussions in the comment threads.

Useful Info – 7

Eph2810 has a handful of links to other sites and blogs of similar themes, whether they be Christian-oriented or simply inspirational reads in general. The author is also fond of linking to photos and images of beautiful things, places and people.

Overall Experience – 8

Eph2810 is a blog that’s good to visit regularly. It’s a great read in terms of the inspirational messages and useful insights you can pick up. The blog is visually appealing, though not very easy to navigate. But that won’t stop one from visiting, especially for those looking that healthy dose of Christian inspiration and beauty.

Technorati Tags: eph2810, religion, inspiring, sidebar, Ephesians, grace

Listening to Clifford Geertz

This blog does have some occasionally interesting political and cultural commentary, but overall it fails to compel.

Visual Aesthetics – 5

The site sticks out as having a 1990′s feel. From the plain text header with a dull solid-green background to the grainy psychodelic image that forms the background, the visuals are more of a puttoff than a turn on.

User Friendliness – 6

This blog only has a single post on the front page without any noticeable link to “previous posts.” It leaves one with the impression that there is only one post to read. There are categories and archives, but these are way below the fold after a number of links to other sites and various user actions like bookmarking and subscribing via RSS. As a first time reader, I was quite disoriented.

Reading Enjoyment – 7

Some of the posts were quite insightful and the link are generally authoritive and worthwhile. I like the fact that this blog author has chosen a theme and stuck with it. Some of the content is original in the sense that it is introducing the reader to ideas that aren’t well discussed in the mainstream. I just wish there were more commentary, more often.

Useful Info – 6

The majority of posts are what you might call “link roundups” and if you enjoy being referred to other sites with good content, then this blog might be helpful. However, I found it annoying more often than not. When I go to a blog I prefer to see original commentary as opposed to lots of links.

Overall Experience – 6

While this blog has an occasional post to make the trip worthwhile, I really found myself having to dig very deep to find anything substantial. And if you are a new visitor to the site, the front page really doesn’t do it’s job for a number of reasons mentioned above.

Cozy Reader

Jane is a patriotic Southern American. The first thing I noticed was a banner which said “I Stand With Israel”– and on the right hand corner, another banner which said “As for me and my blog we will serve the LORD!” I think this gives you a good idea of what to expect from the blog of this proudly menopausal pastor’s wife.

Visual Aesthetics – 6

There’s a “chic-lit” feel to the basic look of this blog (maybe because of sexy young girl banner reading a book- not the dieting Jane?), which then loses its identity, only to be jumbled up with the annoyingly large amount of banners around– a strange mix of Christian, US of A and teen avatars.

User Friendliness – 6

Again, too busy for my liking. The white-colored fonts on a light-blue background also make you wonder whether her menopausal following have to don their reading glasses for their daily dose of Jane’s cloying cheer.

Reading Enjoyment – 6

I’m not a conservative, so you will understand it when I say that Jane’s posts are just not my cup of tea. She seems like a nice enough lady, but the way she sings the praises of her family (surely no-one can be that perfect?)- and shows them with “I Stand With Israel” t-shirts, guns blazing- is not for me.

Useful Info – 5

Aside from the usual “life of a middle-aged woman” posts, many of which are in the form of lists or q & a; there were only a couple of snippets of information I would consider useful.

Overall Experience – 6

Jane seems like a good sport in that she welcomes disagreement with her ideas (which I’m sure she has a lot of- outside of the South). She also apparently has quite a loyal following (among the pastors wives surely?), so the best of luck to her.