Would love feedback! #Bloggiesta on Display

So I missed Wednesday's Bloggiesta Twitter chat, like I always seem to. Work really does have a way of interfering with fun stuff ;)

I love the fact that recaps are being posted! I decided to do a quick diagnostic of my blog on how it looks. I think what looks good is a very personal thing. While I am pretty happy with my current theme (had it since May 2014), I am leaning towards trimming things down even more. I am always on the lookout for something that will improve this blog overall. So I'd love to hear your comments or feedback! Give it to me!

So on to the check list! I'll check off things I do have and think about the ones I haven't added.


What You Should Have 

• an About Me page 
• review policy rating scale - I can't bring myself to put stars on reviews, so this isn't going to happen my blog!
• contact page 
• currently reading - hmmm, more clutter though? I will think about this one
• search bar- but of course! nothing irks me more than blogs with no navigation and NO Search function!
• social media follow me icons 
• subscribe options 
• recent posts 

What NOT to Have 

• moving images 
• countdown widgets 
• too many ads - if you notice, I am scaling back drastically. I am even contemplating going ad-free. We'll see!
• videos automatically playing music 
• pop ups - I used to have one but am unsure if I've disabled it. Does anyone get a subscribe to Facebook pop-up? Let me know! 
• too many images links/images for every community you belong to! 

What should an About Me page include? - looks like I need to work on my About Page! Time for an update!

• your personality who are you? 
• what do you do outside of reading? 
• what are your hobbies? 
• what’s your bloggy background? 
• some pictures would be fun! 
• what makes you unique? 
• what type of books do you like to read? 

What makes a blog look nice and readable? 

• lots of white space 
• light backgrounds 
• no script fonts 
• no colored type (or very little) 
• breaks in text 

Sidebars and Menus 

• maybe just have one sidebar with minimal content - I have two sidebars. Does anyone find that a problem? 
• three column layouts are out! - ugh, are you looking at me? ;)
• maybe you can get away with no sidebars? - I don't know if I could. If I see a theme I love, maybe I will. 
• Maybe have stuff in a footer? - Again, depends on the theme.
• drop down menus are nice, but no more than 5 to 7 links only have one row of tabs - I am guilty, sorry. I am OCD trying to find things.
• Size? Any bigger then 700 px for your blog content area is too hard to read. 
• Headers should be small, not take up the whole front page and should be no bigger than 350px.

So, what do you guys think? I'd love to hear back. Be honest, brutally honest. I can take it! ;)