I witnessed the gross-est thing this afternoon. I saw a man spat out of his lorry window, but the mucous, or phlegm, or whatever, got stuck on the outside of the lorry door, and “the thing” was sliding down the door.. GROSS..
A couple of days ago, I asked you guys what were the “things” you looked for when choosing a blogging platform and I listed some of my criteria. And one of the reasons I chose WordPress was because of the HUGE amount of pretty themes which can be downloaded and installed for FREE. I love to browse the WordPress Theme Viewer because it has thousands of nice and not-so-nice themes and I can shortlist the themes by ticking the options on the left sidebar — 2 or 3 columns, white or black in colour, fixed or fluid width, widgetized or not, etc.
So how long does it take for you to decide whether or not you like a particular theme? Do you test run all themes and shortlist the prettier ones? It takes me only a GLANCE to tell whether or not I like a particular theme. If it doesn’t look pretty to me the moment I set my eyes on it, I’m on to the next one. But sometimes I’m such a pain when it comes to choosing a WordPress theme.
I’d prefer a 3-column theme. Both sidebars must go side-by-side, though I’m not fussy whether they’re on the left or right. The main column must not be too small. The sidebars must not be too narrow either. The font must be nice to MY eyes. The whole theme must only need minimum tweaking because I can’t spend a lot of time playing with it. Links in posts must be indicated in any way, because it makes things easier for people who are visually-impaired. And when hovered, the links must change in some ways — any way at all. Ouh, and I like colourful themes.
But one thing I’ve realized is that I’ve constantly fallen in love with themes that are orange-in-colour, but I’ve never used one. Maybe I should, one of these days :) You just watch out :D
So what are the things that you look for when selecting a WordPress theme? The RSS button must be VERY visible? It must contain at least 5 colours? Single column?
I wrote a page of
commonly-asked questions about the Blogathon, and most importantly, how you can sponsor me at The Giving Hands. And yesterday I wrote about a couple of ways in which you can sponsor me — whether you’re in Malaysia or not. Come on guys, it’s for a good cause! :)
I go for functionality first, looks second!
I want the three columns, I want the content to display “above the fold” on fairly small screens, I want the content to load before the sidebars. (Yours doen’t by the way. I see the two sidebars before the content.)
I’m trying to make up other requirements. After that, I’ll create a custom theme for my newest blog!
Yeah, wordpress is awesome. Great for SEO, aesthetic appeal, the works.
Lucia: Yeah, thanks for the feedback. I am aware that my sidebars load before my content, and I am actually learning to fix that because I am neither a designer nor a consultant. And I don’t fix these overnight :) But thanks anyway :)