Josh (the Comics Curmudgeon) is running a “Self-Clubbing Tyler [from Gil Thorpe] Lookalike Contest”, and these are the final entrants. They’re funny and creative, but the best part, I think is the prize: an action figure of the exact scene.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking for a new theme for Nfaf (or an old one I can manipulate) and I must say that I’m starting to get discouraged with the process. I’m cheap, first of all, so whatever I get has to be free. Secondly, I’m your typical obnoxious editor — I have a greater idea of style than the ability to execute. In other words, I can tell you something looks ugly, but I can’t make it pretty. Third, I’m demanding. I want a theme to use the features of WP I’m interested in, in the way I want them used, and not give me all that other garbage.
For instance, one of the things I really like about this theme (and the Qwilm! theme it’s based on — didn’t remember that until I saw Bill’s new look) is the fact that it doesn’t have a big framing border across the top.
Now, I understand headers are useful. They can help serve to anchor the user in the space, they can hold lots of useful information, and they give you an opportunity to set the tone of your blog.
However, all blogs tend to look alike, whether or not they’re using the same underlying theme (or even blogging engine). Blog design is already like car design — so standardized that people can’t tell one make/model from another except for looking at the little details.
Perhaps this is a function of function. Most websites exist to share information with other people, with text being the most common method. We’re already used to reading text from books, newspapers, pamphlets and magazines… these all have a pretty well-defined paradigm and are easily transferred to the web-as-it-is (except for decent typography). And heaven knows that we’re all pretty much used to writing text (with varying skill levels, to be sure).
But have we reached the limits of web presentation? Just refining this point and that one (choosing cloth seats over leather, or metallic blue instead of silver paint), forever repainting the walls without moving them?1
Maybe I’m obsessing too much about this. I mean, I don’t have a lot of readers, and most of them come through RSS anyway. And I am a great believer in content over presentation — but to be honest, I have clicked off of sites that could have been the absolute best for whatever topic I was trying to learn about because they were ugly. For a subjective value of ugly, of course.
So now I’m thinking, why bother with a new theme at all? Well, I don’t know. Is “because I can” a good enough reason?
It’s getting to be that time again… I’m working on a new design for Nfaf. I love the spotty one; I really like this one (the lilypad), but they’re both getting a little long in the tooth. Since I want to upgrade my WP install, and knowing that the developers made some apparently-not-well-thought-out changes to how categories are handled, this means local development first.
Normally, I’d be doing this on my laptop, where I have Apache and MySQL and PHP already running, but since I got my mom’s 20″ iMac, I’ve been loving the big screen. I don’t feel like installing all that stuff on Trouble, though, so I downloaded the way-cool MAMP, and with one-click I’ve got a usable development system.
Thanks to the folks at the WP Codex, and especially to Michael Doig for writing up the instructions.
Now to find a theme I can start with…
If you’ve seen 1776 you know the tune:
You see with Flickr, Twitter and a blog
Not one damn thing isn’t logged
With Flickr, Twitter and a blog
Nothing’s never logged
In foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Friend Web two point 0h!
I’m sure true parodists could do better. What can I say? Every time I hear “Twitter” I think of this tune.
Cupcake Photostream. That’s one for my Listly List.
