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Monday, June 27, 2011

Blog change is good

Summer is now officially here and I thought it was time to change to look of my blog.

I struggle a bit with the tools Blogger provides. Eventually I get something that is pleasing to my eye. My eye loves "green".

Picking from the pre-designed templates is sometimes difficult. I don't know how others feel about them, but to my "eye", (it is all about me, you know), some of those templates are just too busy. Beautiful but busy. Once applied to the blog it looks terrible. And then the design template sometimes uses text colors that just fade out making it hard to read. I don't understand why those text colors where selected for the design. So I spend considerable time making adjustments to the pre-selected colors to make it easy to read.

And this time I wanted to add one of my own pictures to my header. I tried several times, but I kept getting the message that my file was too big. And I had no idea how to shrink it.

Oh well, I am pleased with this design and color mix ... at least until fall. This design feels very much like summer to me. And I hope that come fall they will have some new designs to choose from on Blogger!

How often do you change your blog design? How do you feel about the blogger design choices? How much effort do you put into adjusting the text colors? Have you used any of the blog design sites that allow you to select one of their templates to apply to your blog? How well does that work?

Or is it just me? Am I blog-disabled? :-)

8 comments:

Mo said...

There was one template that I spent hours on, because it didn't display the date/time quite right. I finally gave up trying to troubleshoot and went with something easier. :)

Other than that, I fiddle with the look of my blog when I'm procrastinating on other things.

I like the grass in the background your template, it's very nice!

happyone said...

I change my blog look quite often but it takes me forever to do it. I like you, start with one and then change it to what I like.
I size pictures in PrintShop but you should be able to do that with any photo program. You can probably to that in iphoto.
I've used other design sites and I think they are too busy looking and they take longer to load.

Oh, and I like your new summer look. : )

Anonymous said...

Nice new look...so restful. I change mine all the time.

Knitty said...

I love to change my blog around, probably because I used to change furniture around at the drop of a hat and can't do that due to room designs and lack of ooomph. It doesn't take much ooomph to change my blog, but I've probably still grunted a time or two, maybe even cussed a little.

I normally work on a 14 or 15 inch monitor. When I see how my blog looks on the 17" laptop, I'm always surprised. Hubby's monitor is bigger still and some of my page looks mistakenly small.

I used to participate in a weekly meme and tried to visit all who played along. Some pages didn't appeal to me at all. Light type on dark backgrounds and elaborate fonts are difficult for many to read.

Fun graphics and photos in sidebars are fun to look at, but some templates have so much going on already, the photos compete with the background in my opinion.

I've encountered some blogs with music playing and I can't find the controls to turn the volume down or off. Blogs are personal and I wouldn't presume to tell someone what to include or delete, but I usually prefer quiet or my own music selection while reading.

Your new look definitely looks summery and that is always a good look in my opinion.

Vee said...

No, you are not blog-disabled. It's a challenge for us all. If you'd like me to help you with your photo size and get it ready for uploading, you can email me (see profile) the picture and I'll do it for you. Seriously. I enjoy doing that kind of thing.

My hubby's favorite color is green and for a long time I had green on my blog. I liked it. Very restful and calming. I, on the hand, love yellow.

I change my blog design too often I think. I know gals who keep the same thing forever and I love their blogs and always know where I am. Anyone visiting me could wonder. ☺

Noofy said...

Love the new blog, very summer like, reminds me of fields of high grass. As you know, I recently changed mine, for the first time, since I'm somewhat of a newbie to blogging. It took me awhile too. Once question I have is how to change the font. I'm stuck with the basic blogger fonts. I would prefer something different I've seen on other blogs that are not on the basic fonts. I will probably change mine again in the fall for the season change. It does take time, patience and work!

Retired Knitter said...

Wow, thanks everyone for the great feedback.

Vee, I just may take you up on your offer to fix a picture for me. Right now I am settled. But in the fall if I am still not satisfied with the options blogger offers I may see if I can do better ... with your help :-)

Chatty Crone said...

This is pretty!
I change mine when I get tired of it!