I’ve decided to roll out the new site theme.  There are still some things I want to change, but more on that in a moment.

First, let me ask a favor: You should already be seeing the new theme.  If you still see a graphic above the right sidebar that says “blog” in neon colors, and if you still see a site title in the header that says “xenogere / strange behavior /” above the “I do not intend to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death.” subtitle, then you’ve previously switched themes as part of this endeavor and are now stuck on the old one.  Just click here to switch to the new theme.  As long as you have cookies enabled for xenogere.com, you’ll be all set.  Of course, if you have cookies disabled for this site, you’re already looking at the new theme since you can’t switch façades without allowing cookies.

Yes, this is one of the themes I was considering when I first mentioned my sudden capricious urge to update the blog’s look and feel.  It’s the three-column design.

I decided to go with this one for a couple of reasons.  First, three columns give me a lot more room to do things without sending the sidebar plunging well below the end of the blog content.  That’s helpful.  Also, this particular design is different enough to be innovative and fresh without being overrun with unnecessary bells and whistles.

If you’ve been visiting since before the move to this domain, you’ll also recognize this layout as being nostalgic.  It looks like my old site—just not as primitive or ugly, right?  Still, it does have a certain historic feeling to it if you’ve been around long enough to know what I mean.

Now here’s the deal: I’m not completely set on changing, at least not yet.  I’m also not completely set on this new theme, at least not yet.  But I’m awfully close to being sure on both counts.  Nonetheless, I’d still like feedback on it to be certain it isn’t going to chase anyone away, or be difficult to read or navigate, or outright disgust anyone.

That said, here’s what I know needs to be fixed.

(1) Comments
I want to implement an alternating scheme so the comments are easier to identify from one another.  Right now, they all run together in a way I’m not happy with, but I’ve already implemented the mechanics of differentiating one from another—now all I need to do is finish the design elements to support it.  Once that’s done, every other comment will have a varied look so all the feedback is easier to navigate and identify.

Also on the comments, I’m not thrilled with the information line (author, date/permalink, subscription status, etc.), so I plan to tinker with that a bit more to see if I can clean it up and make it a bit more presentable.

(2) Visited links in the content area
I really don’t like the light gray used for visited links in the post column.  I think it’s too light and makes for difficult reading.  And I have better than perfect vision!  I intend to darken that color to make it easier to read/see.

(3) Post dates
I plan to extend the post date display to include the day of the week.  It’s not a major change, but it’s something I want to do.

(4) Archived Entry block
When you open an entry directly by clicking on it’s permalink, an informational block appears at top right that shows various bits of information about that post.  It’s a convenience function only, not to mention a fun experiment to see if I could do it.  Yet I still want to update that block a bit with the post title and perhaps a few other snippets.  It won’t change much, though.

(5) Post content
The font used for posts seems a bit small to me.  Perhaps that’s because I’m accustomed to the slightly larger font used on the current theme.  I’ll probably change that a tiny amount to match.

Another thing I’m not entirely comfortable with is the post data block at the end of each entry (that gray block that includes the comment, permanent, and print links).  Don’t be surprised if that changes.

(6) Formatting glitches
IE doesn’t render the site exactly as it should be.  I’ve implemented some fixes that apply specifically to that browser (I shouldn’t have to, Microsoft! Fix your crap!).  That hasn’t resolved all the hiccups, though, and I’m not sure I’m going to worry about the rest.  They’re inconsequential to me since I don’t use IE and don’t recommend it.  Besides, I develop to standards, not proprietary implementations of dysfunctional browsing software.

As I already said, the new theme requires screen resolutions of 1024×768 or higher in order for it to look its best.  It’ll work on smaller configurations, although it won’t work well.  That stems mostly from the use of three columns.  Unless I decide to toss out the new theme and try something else or stick with the old one, there’s nothing that can be done about that save to start using even smaller photographs.  I don’t plan to do that unless a resounding chorus of you tells me they’re too big anyway.

(7) Content changes
I’ve not implemented the minor content changes necessary to accommodate the new theme.  They’re in progress.  Nothing major will be done and nothing in the old theme will break.  On the other hand, a few things in the old theme will look different—sometimes even out of place—due to those modifications.

(8) Sidebars
I’ve modified both the left and right sidebars in the new theme.  I’m not sure I’m done, so there could be pending changes yet to be made.  If you don’t like the layout or want to see things shuffled around a bit, comment away.

One thing you’ll notice in the new theme is a theme switcher near the bottom of the left sidebar.  That will allow you to move back to the old theme if you wish to do so.

On that note, I’m adding the same functionality to the old theme, and I’ll also add a link in those areas to this post so it’s easy to come back to.  Why would I do that?

Because I’d like you to speak up on this post when it comes to recommendations, complaints, or other comments regarding the theme change.  If you find problems with the new them, or even if you just find something that you’re not thrilled with, leave a comment on this post.  If you ultimately hate the new theme and want me to forget about it, say so here.  And on it goes.  This post is the last stop before I either make the change permanent, drop the idea altogether, or discard my current plans and go back to looking for something else.