24
Aug

Upgrade

by HML

GimletBlog’s theme has been in need of work for quite some time (Meaning the code under the hood.  If you don’t like the way the blog looks, you’re out of luck.)  So much had to go or be changed that I ended up creating an entirely new theme.   Most of the blog looks pretty much the same as always, but there are a few noticeable changes.

The blog header now features a random image which ought to change with each visit, when moving around the blog (for example, to continue reading a post, read posts by date or category, or leave a comment), or browser refresh.  It ought to change, but during testing the rotator program has been choosing the same image for the first two refreshes, then moves on to different images.

The width of the posting space and sidebar have been expanded, creating room for larger photos and less text wrapping.  The only problem now is that all the pre-upgrade posts look a little odd because they were written for the smaller post space.

Watch the sidebar for an updated blogroll and links of interest, coming soon.   And now that we have a theme that supports tags, we’ll start tagging posts more often to make searching for topics easier.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the new design.  Is the font size too small?  Blog too wide for your monitor?  Color scheme difficult to read?  Something not working?  Let us know in the comments.   (Compliments are also eagerly accepted.)

This entry was posted on Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 11:29 pm and is filed under housekeeping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “Upgrade”

  1. Linda Bell Carlson
    August 25th, 2009 12:43
    1

    I had to squint at the text … but then, I’m an oooold person!

  2. Mandy N
    August 25th, 2009 15:01
    2

    I find the text quite readable and paragraphs quite neat; maybe I’ve just woken up but it seems easier to navigate. Nicely done !

  3. Mandy N
    August 25th, 2009 15:03
    3

    Ooh, and you do get a nice new pretty picture too; magnificent mountains. :D

  4. HML
    August 25th, 2009 15:06
    4

    Between the time that both of you checked in, I bumped up the font sizes just a touch. I was concerned that this morning’s original font size was too small, so Linda confirmed my suspicions. I hope it’s easier to read now!

    One of the nice things about this new theme is that I could put that menu across the top of the blog, add the tag cloud and spruce up some other features on the side — all should make the blog easier to use.

    Keep refreshing the browser or moving around the blog to see the pretty pictures. Over in the Gimlet Gallery randomizer on the right it seems like all it ever shows are plumbing and drywall photos, so the header pictures are more selective. There are about 30 images in the header file. Have fun and thanks! :)

  5. hå
    August 25th, 2009 18:06
    5

    Looks good from my end. The font is big enough and I like the photo with the header.

    Hå