As promised/warned, I've started the process of updating and customizing the template for this blog. I've gotten the wider central column that I wanted. I still need to change the header photo so it isn't so intrusive, and I need a more neutral background for the text rather than this glaring white.
I've enlarged some of the photos on the recent posts to test the design. For the most part I like the images bigger - it may even save some "clicking to magnify" that was previously necessary. I'm also discovering that bigger is not always better, and that some photos don't benefit from a larger format; I may revert to more laterally-embedded smaller photos when the content is not crucial.
The bigger photos are also going to necessitate a bit more scrolling by visitors, which may be somewhat annoying. I'll wait and see. I think the text font is still o.k. The highlight colors may need some tweaking.
I won't be able to go back over the entire blog and adjust the photo sizes, which apparently has to be done manually. There are over 7,500 old posts, so that's not a practical use of my time.
Addendum: Header photo removed. It was pretty, but took up too much space and delayed getting to the content of the blog. This new format is starting to look strangely familiar.
More fiddling tomorrow.
Looks good so far. Most bloggers seem to want a big column, with small margins. I wonder why it is that most templates are the other way round?
ReplyDeleteI only got mine as I wanted because a friend was willing to spend time messing with the html, something I don't ever want to have to learn.
I like the youtube video windows much better! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the YouTube embeds have gone from 430 px width to 640, which is a substantial improvement. That'll save my always reminding people to view the better ones fullscreen.
ReplyDeleteI like the look, but for some reason it is more herky jerkey.
ReplyDeleteI normally use the space bar to page down, but this new version doesn't seem to scroll as smoothly as it did before.
I love the new format as it sits at 5:18pm Pacific Time. Wider central column is better, and I REALLY like the white background. I will agree with gbradley, though, that it does seem "jerky" when scrolling through it. The title bar is good from what I see right now; it's not obtrusive at all.
ReplyDeleteGood changes Stan! I look forward to what you've got in mind.
Love the new design. I agree about the white background, but all-in-all really refreshing and easy to read.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and yours
Enjoying the new layout! Such a pleasant surprised when I checked the blog out today. I like the wider central column a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnother reader pleased with the new format. I very much like the larger central column.
ReplyDeleteHooray!
ReplyDelete☺ It's a big improvement already!
DIG IT.
ReplyDeleteditto with the kudos above. The extra width is appreciated, especially in this age of widescreen monitors.
ReplyDeleteI like it. It's light but not glaring; broad enough to let the sentences flow while keeping the eye moving down the page.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely like what I see. Much cleaner, more modern, nice soft focus background...
ReplyDeleteLike it, but I will miss the photo of the trillium.
ReplyDeleteNice design. I tried it with IE9 and Firefox. Like gbradley I found it to be 'herky jerkey' when scrolling with the spacebar in IE9 (with or without compatibility mode on. With Firefox, it flowed smoothly. It may be an IE/embedded youtube issue, however I did see an article on scrolling (at Mozilla) that mentioned sites with a large .PNG as a background image.
ReplyDeleteI see you have an official pronunciation of your title! I had been mispronouncing it in my head all this time as tee-wiki-dibby.
ReplyDelete