A happy webmistress is a…happy webmistress

I think I’ve finally found the whimsical.nu layout that I will keep for a while yet: this one. One that I won’t want to completely redo after two weeks, one that I don’t feel like cringing at after an appropriate time has passed. Better yet, I not only still like it, but I like improving it.

Previously making blog themes for me has been “code it, put it up, stare at it for a while, want to revamp; rinse and repeat”. Once a layout was up, it was up. That was it. I’m happy that this one isn’t. That while it’s “done”, I see places where I can improve it, not because it was bad in the first place (okay, not everything is not-bad) but because it would just plain be nicer that way.

A living layout.

Since its birth:

  1. I’ve realized that that there’s a reason blog posts are in narrow format: it’s easier to read thinner blocks of text. (It’s the same reason newspapers use columns, I suppose.) So, I’ve expanded the w.nu tray by default instead. I’ve added the “+/-” indicator to show/hide the tray (instead of just a plain “+” always). I’ve changed the tray slide-put experience to also thin the content column (as that was the whole point of it).
  2. I’ve changed the header around: now, if you’re viewing a single post or a category, you’ll see a heading specific for that (post’s) category with a short description. Otherwise, you’ll see a generic “hello there” message with a brief category list. This helps not just to place the visitor, but also say, “hey, this is a standalone category if you want to follow just this one, but there’s more if you like!”
  3. I’ve changed the look of the comments. To be honest, I still don’t like it :/ I can’t decide on what kind of look I want it to have, actually. The study didn’t translate so well with actual comments (groan). It’s clunky and inelegant. So you’ll probably see it changing a couple more times.

/bow

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