Presto change-o!
Once again I have become bored with my theme. If you only read my posts in a feed reader, then you’re probably not going to be that bothered, but for everyone who reads the posts on the site, I think it’s about time for a change, don’t you?
The Ad Clerum theme I had been using (and which I had hacked about a bit) was fine when I first loaded it, but after about six months of looking at it on a daily basis I’ve had enough of it. I’ve been looking at a lot of blogs recently and I’ve come to hate all the clutter (Ad-Sense, Entrecard, etc) that typically comes with a blog that is trying hard to a) get some SEO black magic happening and b) make a living off what’s being posted. I’ve got nothing against anyone that wants to earn a living off their blog (I used to do that myself) but I can’t take all the crap that goes with it - I’m finding more and more that, having found the blog, I then have to go searching for the content in amongst all the promotion.
And I had started to feel that The New Wolfs Howl was also guilty of over-clutter, so this new theme (Code Blue) is a direct response to that feeling. I’ve tried to make it as uncluttered as possible and to focus on the content. I don’t really care about trying to jump through the hoops required for good SEO and I still don’t want to go back to taking advertising on the site, so a nice plain, uncluttered but above all readable theme is ideal.
As usual I haven’t fully tested this new theme (although I have run it through BrowserShots and most - except for Chrome and IE6 on XP - seem to be OK) so if you find anything amiss, let me know by using the Contact form. And let me know what you think about the new, minimalist look.
New Theme
It had to happen at some point; I got bored with the previous theme (which was a hacked about version of Blueline, in case you’re interested). So I’ve been taking a look around at some others that are available and I’ve plumped for this one - Ad Clerum 1.0. I like the clean-ness of its lines and the headline pictures. (There is a version 2, but I prefer version 1).
I have made one or two small changes; what is now a red body background was a grey striped pattern, but that wasn’t kind on the eyes so it had to go. I’ve also changed the post footer so that it shows both tags and categories, as well as my usual disclaimer and links. You’ll see that you can now subscribe to the RSS feed from the bottom of each post.
I’ve also changed the default comments file so that I can continue to use Brian’s Threaded Comments, which I think is a much better way of managing comments. I have, though, hacked about with Brian’s file to change the way it displays certain information. It doesn’t add anything to the functionality but I think it presents the comments in a little bit more of an informal way.
I’m also making more extensive use of Daiko’s Text Widget, which means that I’m able to turn off my side boxes for some parts of the blog; if you go deeper into the site, you’ll notice that the ads, ranks and other stuff disappear and you’re just left with the blog stuff. I have all that stuff on the home page as it helps to keep the revenue up without taking over too much, but I’ve decided that it shouldn’t be on the other pages. Hope you like the change.
Let me know what you think of the theme, and whether it works OK for your operating system / browser / screen size, either by using the contact form or by leaving a comment.
Have I found my theme?
A few days ago, I wrote a post asking what The Wolf’s Howl should be about; I felt that I hadn’t really achieved the goal I had when I started of making it about something; my subjects have ranged far and wide and not really concentrated on one area.
The last two posts have been complaints - about Apple’s UK pricing for Leopard and the BBC’s lack of support for Mac in their new iPlayer - that have bordered on rants. Indeed, a friend mentioned to me today that he’d “read my rant about the BBC”. I thought I’d been quite reasonable, but I missed that mark by quite a way it seems. The point was made that why should a broadcaster have to cater for absolutely every combination of computer and operating system? Isn’t the fact that it works with Windows - which has what, 90% of the total OS installations in the world - enough? And I suppose, being reasonable for a moment, it probably is.
And this is when I started to think that maybe I’d fond my theme; perhaps what The Wolf’s Howl will become is a place for me to post my unreasonable, unresearched, stream of conciousness rantings? That can be the common element, rather than have a common subject to post about. And the beauty of it would be, you would never know when I was serious and when I was just doing it as a wind-up, which could have humourous results. Or could bring on lawsuits. Either is good.
I can see it now - a huge long list of things that annoy and enrage me on a daily basis, all now fodder for my fevered brain to bash out onto the screen. I truly will be howling at the moon; I’ll call it BlogTherapy!
If that all sounds a bit much to take, perhaps you’re right. So I’ll try to intersperse the rants with the odd lighter moment just to bring a bit of relief to my benighted soul and lift your spirits, dear Constant Reader.
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