It’s time for a change of theme for this blog. I’ve been considering this for a while, but now I’m going to experiment. The first experiment may ‘work’, or I may have to test several themes.
My aim is to have a more attractive, open appearance, but hopefully not at the expense of readability and easy navigation.
So please expect the unexpected, and let me know if there’s anything that you especially like or find difficult.
Trials
- First trial is the Spun theme. Looks good, but not sure if the navigation will be easy or how the Home page will work out.
[later] Didn’t work out. Looked beautiful but navigation was difficult and important items such as Subscribe to RSS, Follow by email and Like on Facebook were not easily visible. A pity, because I really liked the look. - Second trial is the Fontfolio theme. Doesn’t look quite as good, but all the important information is visible.
So now to try enlarging the font so the lines aren’t so long. Sort of worked, but …. I think not. - Third trial is the Untitled theme. A little ordinary, but maybe I can improve it by making the text lighter grey.
- Still testing. Fourth was the Able theme. I like it best so far.
Photo Credit: TheGiantVermin via Compfight cc
respectfully Eric, I’m not a fan of the new look. fidgety to navigate. Just some feedback 🙂
Hi Ryan, thanks for your feedback. I think I’m coming to the same conclusion. Looks good, but doesn’t work so well.
Goodly change, I rather like the Able theme.
Thanks. I tried three other ones before this, but this was the best all round. The only “problem” is that the lines are about 115 characters long, and they recommend no more than about 75 for best readability. I could get it down to about that if I put in a left sidebar, but that looks a biot “funny”. So I’m still thinking about that.
Oh, another change in layout. This blog is like one of those changing acts in circuses. 😉
Yes, I have looked at all the themes available, tested how about 50 look with my content, and trialled ‘live” about 5, and every one that I really like has features I don’t want. I ma looking for an open, white, minimalist look, as you can tell from the last couple of trials but some have the sidebar hidden away (which I don’t want), some are too wide (which I don’t want because readability experts say we find maximum line lengths of about 80 the easiest to read), some fonts I don’t like much, some have unattractive widget design, some have headings that are too large and take up several lines, etc.
I really liked the look of the last one (Able theme) but it had line lengths of 110+ and a very narrow sidebar. This one has the right line lengths but the sidebar is faint and washed out. It is a free service, so I shouldn’t worry too much, but I like good design. I would buy a ‘premium’ theme if any had what I wanted, but they don’t. The only remedy would be too buy a second webspace and then I could change the details I want to.
Have you any preferences or comments? (I would appreciate any.)