The Emperor’s New Clothes…
Yeah, I know, you’ve probably done a doubletake or three. Yes, you’re in Winston’s digs called nobodyasked… Went nuts this morning at about 6:00. Must’ve stuttered when I counted out the scoops of coffee last night. On a whim, I did a quick backup, logged into my DreamHost Control Panel, ran their one-click install of the WordPress 2.1 Upgrade, and switched themes. I have not been that productive in that short of a time span since … the last time, really.
I like the look and feel of this theme, known as fSpring, one of the f-ing series of WP themes from Fredrik Fahlstad. It has the clean, simple lines that I prefer, a lack of clutter and distraction, and colors that are near and dear to my soul. It probably really isn’t, but it is close enough to UT Orange to make me feel at home. It also solved a problem that has plagued my site for a while — the four people left on the planet that are still using Internet Explorer never saw my sidebar unless they scrolled all the way to the bottom, down to the lowest depths, beneath the last post. Then voila — there was the right-hand sidebar perfectly lined up on the left. Go figure… Better yet, go get Firefox…
One itsy-bitsy problem left to resolve. My Links, my precious BlogRoll which is my roadmap to all you dudes and dudettes — all gone. Actually, they’re there if I go into the WordPress Admin panel. And they show correctly if I use any other theme. But not with this one. Always something… I have a Bookmark Folder that has most of my blog links, so at least I have a way to get around until this is resolved. Or I can always temporarily switch to a different theme whilst I’m sneaking around your places. Or maybe I will just take a short, well deserved vacation from lurking.
In any event, please be patient with me as I fight these css and php demons. Your comments on the new look and feel will be appreciated. And anyone that has a clue leading to a fix of the missing BlogRoll in the sidebar, please step forward. You will be handsomely rewarded…
14 Comments so far
Testing comment function in new install of WP 2.1
I like the new minimalist look; clean, uncluttered, focused. Plenty of room to think and breathe and get your thoughts across. Good luck with the gremlins. Never heard of DreamHost, are you happy with their service?
I really like it Winston….especially the banner. I agree with Mick….it’s clean and uncluttered and has a very open feel to it. Orange suits you Mr. UT. I hope you find a way to get your blogroll back. I wish I could help you there.
Mick: DreamHost is a fairly large, fairly well-known hosting company that seems to specialize in hosting of blogs. Have been with them from the beginning and have always been very pleased. They have many cool features that others do not offer, and they implement them with simplicity and elegance. Pricing is also among most competitive in the industry. Highly recommended.
Mick and Joy: Thanks for positive feedback. There are several more things I want to do to it (plug-ins, etc.) after getting my blogroll back, but so far it feels right…
The look of it fits your theme of some kind of research center, and I think it looks good. Change is always good in my book. I can read it fine, but I get complaints when my print is bigger than yours that it is hard to read– might depend on the age of your readers how that works out
Hey… I really like the new look. for some reason, it seems more, well, more *you*. Please keep it! Love it! Sacrifice the blogroll if necessary! lol.
I like the look. I must prefer templates that are easy to read and stick things like categories and archives and so forth in clearly defined spaces. A good blogger should, in my opinion, make their blog easy to read and navigate. And you did just that!
By the way, you left a comment a few days back on my blog asking….”Where in Mississippi did I grow up?” I spent 11 years (1969-1980) in Clinton.
UT Orange! My favorite color! The most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen, is the sea of orange in a packed Neyland Stadium.
Love the new look, although it did certainly take my eyes by surprise
Hey Winston, I like the new look. I normally read you in google reader, but was just clicking around this afternoon.
I like using a reader but I do find that I miss the look and feel of the inidividual blogs. It’s nice to use the old-fashioned way sometimes :-).
Hope you can get your blogroll back!
Looks sharp.
<?php if (is_home()) { get_links_list(); } ?gt;
(This is the syntax used on one of the WP themes I run elsewhere. Seems like it ought to work. Find a place for it in Theme Editor/Sidebar.)
(Trying it again.)
Nope. Change that “gt;” business two comments above to a right bracket.
(I understand the need to keep stray commands out of the comment box, but sometimes it gets in your way.)
Winston, this looks great. The real question is how do *you* feel about it? Do you feel at home with the colors, patterns, lay-out etc? Good luck as you become used to it and work out how things work!