Saturday, 13 October 2007

Breathe-Gently.blogspot.com: Home of the Ever Changing Blog Theme.

Hi there! Great to see you, care for a slice of banana bread? No, you haven't gotten lost, this is still Aly's rambling old blog. Yes, it's another new theme ... again. I think I'm a trifle obsessive-compulsive when it comes to blog styles, because as much as I adored the stylish dotted theme, it just wasn't ME.

Fast forward to today; I had some time to kill and the services of a poor innocent blogger who happened to be online at the perfect time. The search for the perfect theme was on ... again. The temporary result; well, you're looking at it. (Ahem, feed readers, you may have to venture out and come visit me.)

The Good:
  • I adore the colours. The blue, white & black are very pretty.
  • It's easy to read.
  • It's simple and plain and more 'me'.
  • The commenting field is simple to use and nice and clear.
  • It focuses on the most recent post, which is perfect since I blog daily.
  • The links are easy to use; if you know where to look, that is.

The Bad:
  • It's very white. Some people don't like white. I kind of like white.
  • I can't modify much. In fact, what you see now is basically my limit.
  • There is no cheesy photograph. Or sidebars. Or pages. It's very post-focused.
  • It works best on Firefox, and has a tendency to get laggy in Internet Explorer.

The Interesting:
  • Click on the images on the top righthand corner, and see what happens! You see, the pages, categories & archives are there, just concealed. There is also a handy search bar.
  • To get rid of the above info, you just click the image again.
  • You can see my recent posts at the bottom of the page, including comments.
  • If you click on one of my individual posts, you are able to skim one post forward & one post backward, one at a time.

So, what are your thoughts? I really love it, but I'm biased of course. Feel free to let me know what you think; just don't be too mean. ;)
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29 comments:

  1. nancypearlwannabe13 October 2007 at 11:16

    You know I love it! It's very sleek and clean-looking. I love the top buttons and how everything is kind of hidden away. And it looks very organized, which appeals to my librarian nature. :)

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  2. Kristabella13 October 2007 at 11:17

    Hmmm.....I'm not sure.

    Seems so...empty.

    I like white. But this is a good amount of white and color. Unlike mine.

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  3. Ree13 October 2007 at 11:36

    I love the look.

    I love the colors (and the white).

    I love the funkiness of the buttons up top.

    But I would miss my doodads and doohickeys on my sidebar.

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  4. RA13 October 2007 at 12:07

    I love a lot of white and I like this general idea, especially since you do blog so frequently.

    I think the hidden pages and things are not very intuitive to a first-time reader, since if you hover over the "info" button, that's all it says. Information. I thought that meant, like, your WP profile or something so I wouldn't have clicked it without prompting. I think it's okay, but maybe you can change the hover text to be something like, "Click for more content"? I don't know.

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  5. alana13 October 2007 at 12:46

    Wah! I think my settings are messed up after pressing the useless button last night. I can't see your pretty, pretty blog! Any ideas how I can switch it back?!

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  6. Lisa13 October 2007 at 12:47

    I love it and you know it. :) I just discovered the top right buttons today and they're pretty nifty. White is clean. White is good. I miss my blog being white.

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  7. Margaret13 October 2007 at 13:04

    Well I'm not a big fan of white. Too neat and clean I guess. Life isn't that neat and clean so yeah.

    But if this is what fits you then definitely keep it. I will come back and keep reading no matter what your blog looks like.

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  8. Marianne13 October 2007 at 13:17

    This is very pretty, Aly!! Loves.

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  9. mcgee13 October 2007 at 13:57

    i think this is really pretty. and while it may take some getting used to for the first time reader, those little symbols on the top and having the past posts on the bottom are different and interesting.

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  10. elysa13 October 2007 at 14:22

    I love it, I have one suggestion on your header graphic I would add a small line of text with a little arrow that says something to the effect of "Looking for something? Try here --->" that points to the little buttons. I am a designer and I usually notice details but I completely missed those buttons since they are the same color as your header.

    One more thing - I'd recommend you using different permalinks so your url's are more clean

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  11. Chris13 October 2007 at 14:43

    I dig it! It's very nice and clean...something mine will never be!

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  12. Noelle13 October 2007 at 15:27

    I would have never figured out that button thing if you hadn't told us. Now that I know, I think it's quite cool.

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  13. Teacher A13 October 2007 at 15:27

    It's very chic. I love how clean it looks.

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  14. Tina Vaziri13 October 2007 at 16:42

    Oooh shnnaazzzzyy! I like it! I wonder if there is a way to draw more attention to the top buttons, or a way to label them? Because I wouldn't have clicked on them if you hadn't mentioned it.

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  15. Laurel13 October 2007 at 16:54

    I miss the Aly photo! But overall, I think it's super pretty. I like the white... it's sleek!

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  16. Nathan Pralle13 October 2007 at 17:13

    Colors are great, general theme is great, not fond of the collapse/uncollapse buttons at the top. I think, as someone else said, that they're very non-intuitive and aren't very promotional of yourself to the random visitor. Also, I wonder how well they do (or do not) respond to a search engine spidering your site and if you're looking to increase traffic, that's an important aspect to consider.

    A good start, though. Very nice and clean and tidy theme.

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  17. Kathy13 October 2007 at 17:43

    I LIKE it BUT I need sidebars. Where are you finding all of these? I need to experiment ( and post) more

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  18. Aurelius13 October 2007 at 22:05

    I'm intensely jealous. I love it because it's very white, clear, uncluttered, and focuses on the post - which is good because you post each day (Oh, didn't you just say that?)

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  19. Operation Pink Herring13 October 2007 at 23:36

    This is why I never change my design. I can never make up my mind!

    I love the simplistic design, but I do like having some sidebar items, like archives. I love the colors. I wish I knew more about web design.

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  20. Sephyroth13 October 2007 at 23:48

    I really like this, but I have to say that I'm partial to the theme I've gone with for my new site. ;)

    I'm a fan of folks who use different fonts, and it's not often that you see someone using Century Gothic for the font, and that slide effect at the top is pretty snazzy. I'm not usually one for the minimalist look, but I think the fonts set you apart from a lot of other minimalist themes.

    Well done!

    Sephyroth

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  21. LaLa14 October 2007 at 04:52

    I likes it.

    I love it in fact. I just wrote "I love it in face".

    One should never comment after a particularly strong Bloody Mary (Just wrote that as "Bloody Marty". Bloody Marty indeed)

    But blog. Likey.

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  22. Julz14 October 2007 at 05:51

    gah, it just ate my comment *glares*

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  23. Julz14 October 2007 at 05:51

    I think it's TOO white >_

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  24. grungedandy14 October 2007 at 06:24

    I like it, but then I swing from hectic eclectic, to smooth & simple! I’m probably a schizophrenic blogger! LoL
    And my comments get eaten all the time! So it’s fate if it goes on a blog!
    Seeya, hugya

    *G*

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  25. Erin14 October 2007 at 13:00

    I think it's pretty! Very sleek :)

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  26. Michelle14 October 2007 at 20:05

    i'm definitely a fan of negative space... but i miss seeing your smiling face :)

    hehehehe

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  27. kirby15 October 2007 at 01:38

    i'm going to confess that, while the colours are mighty attractive and the swirly pictureflowers atop your header are brillo to stare at, I'm not sold on this scheme.

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  28. Snoskred15 October 2007 at 03:50

    I liked the other one better.

    Alynda, how about you go find a theme which has the basic lay out you want, and then change the colors to suit?

    That's what I did. I can try to explain how you can do it, if you like.

    Cheers,
    Snoskred

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  29. Katie15 October 2007 at 18:53

    I know how you feel - once you start shopping around, it's hard to settle on something! That's why I don't change my theme too often, because I'll end up with a new one every day for two weeks!

    But it is fun and exciting changing the whole view of your site - it's weird seeing your posts as if they were written by someone else on a different blog due to the new layout! lol!

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