New Zealand Conservative will be getting has received a makeover for 2010.
Hopefully the transition will be painless - check back soon and let us know what you think.
Hopefully the transition will be painless - check back soon and let us know what you think.
Great clean layout.
ReplyDeleteSorry guys, don't like it. You've ditched a template that was visually interesting and unique to something rather plain.
ReplyDeleteIt might be my screen setting, but it looks very pink.
Looks great on this monitor. Clean, clear, uncluttered.
ReplyDeletenice and clean. shame about the colour as I was hoping for pink.
ReplyDeleteI just eat my lunch here :-)
ReplyDeleteI like the Wordpressy type feel to it and the width but the colours just don't gel right.
ReplyDeleteIf it didn't have the mottly left and right maybe...?
It is still lacking something unique, something fitting with the feel of this site and the people who post here.
Interestingly enough the colors come from the old layout.
ReplyDeleteI wonder Madeline and Ciaron if perchance you are using laptops?
Yup, on lappy. re colour, perhaps it's the expanseof the colour?
ReplyDeleteYep, the bones are good, but needs some graphics and something that adds the x factor. I'm using a laptop too and the colour may not be quite there, although I like the blue text font.
ReplyDeleteGreat improvement, bright and more cheerful.
ReplyDeleteThe old one was a bit more textured and homey I think; like sitting at an old desk. I guess this one will grow on me. I have been trying to do the 'magic eye' thing on the background texture but there are no hidden 3D images :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not seeing the texture thing - aside from a very thin edge either side. Are others seeing a big block or something? I'm on Firefox.
ReplyDeleteI'm running Firefox too, the main columns look pinkish, and the comments are in a sandy yellow box.
ReplyDeleteCiaron its not the browser its the laptop screen - they differentiate red better than green or blue.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this before when colors get pale - thats why I asked about you using a laptop.
I guess in this more spacious setting you notice it more.
Some color tweaking is definitely in order by the sound of it.
Zen, nah it's just that I'm on slow dialup so I get to see the background texture load first before the text.
ReplyDeleteTo check and calibrate your monitor colors (Windows) I heartily recommend the free program Calibrize.
ReplyDeleteI'm not using a laptop.
ReplyDeleteIt is still not growing on me sorry. Too many colours.
I like the sandy background, I like the blue and the browny red text. The fonts and the layout are clean too.
If it were me, I'd take that dark blue in the text and make that the background that shows up at the edges. I imagine would contrast well with the sandy colour and be more cohesive.
I'd lose the yellow background behind the comments as it is the wrong yellow toneally against the sandy background of the page. Either have no contrast there or go for vaguely off white, a paler but toneally more compatible shade than the background.
Collectively then you'd be darker coming progressively into lighter in the centre.
Then all you'd need would be a sexy banner header.
But hey, if you like it and it is clear and easy to navigate - which it is - then so what if I'm not that fussed on it.
Your content is what I come here for and as long as I can find that and communicate my responses to it easily, which I can, then I'm all good!
Thanks for the feedback Madeline. There are some things I like about the new template, and somethings that I think are not quite right, and I'm therefore viewing this new template as a work in progress. Hopefully, it's the minor tweaks around colour and positioning that will be enough to make the difference.
ReplyDeleteSo any feedback now will be helpful - keep it coming folks, both good and bad.
where does one log in?
ReplyDeleteSame as before Mr Tips - no change.
ReplyDeleteActually, small change - I had an asterisk to the right of the names which was my shortcut to the Google dashboard. I used that all the time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can put back the dashboard banner? I'll try both.
Nice, clean look, Zen. But if you are going for uncluttered look , you probably need to ditch the fuzzy brown things at the edge.
ReplyDeleteGlowing pink ones would be fun...
That's another vote for pink...I'm getting worried.
ReplyDeleteA few we tweaks based on feedback
ReplyDeleteThoughts?
Andrei, it's looking better all the time. Now, a couple of strong-coloured, bold vertical lines...
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, it's a bit hard for me to distinguish one post from the next - same with the comments. Maybe some kind of separator between posts like the last template had?
ReplyDeleteI agree, the separation between posts (not comments) could be improved, and the font and layout of the metadata different from the body text of the post.
ReplyDeleteThe box line around the commenter name is working for me..
Whaddya think of the name tags as carved in wood? Should be able to wrap a hyperlink to our post labels with this...
ReplyDeleteHey Andrei - I like the line between posts, helps a lot.
ReplyDeleteI like the blue background (which only shows at the left and right edges of the page) over the previous textured background; however, even though I love blue, maybe it's too blue for the light yellow? Maybe a colour closer to the fade out colour of the banner?
1. I think we have too much dark red. The hyperlinks might needing toning down to a softer colour, and they are the same colour as h2 (so maybe change h2).
ReplyDelete2. The description text ("By Andrei at"; "Tags") needs to be a different colour from the body text. Maybe lighter
3. "Links to this post" might need to be on separate line, or only shown on the full page, rather than the front page summary
4. The permalink to the post is on the time, probably should change the time format to include day and date.
5. I could make a "block of wood" icon to hold the comment count, then we could have the comments floated to the right of the post title and make it a point of interest?
6. The block of wood idea for the blog author names could easily be changed to another style. What do folks think of the wood theme?
Andrei - I could implement some of these tomorrow, or we could swap a few emails or phone calls and see what might work?
Horrors!!
ReplyDeleteJust tried the blog on IE 6 and the block of wood idea fails - instead of transparent edges, they are black!
What the?
Not bad.
ReplyDeleteOK, some further changes.
ReplyDelete1. Underline on hyperlinks only appears on mouse over.
2. Line separator under sidebar headings.
3. Removed date of comment from sidebar and set longer comment text.
4. Added back clock and ** shortcut to dashboard
5. Sidebar heading now navy instead of maroon (which is used as the link colour so is good to use exclusively for link identification)
6. Not sure about the wood thing, especially for IE. Might try something slimmer and cleaner.
It is looking better but I still think a slightly darker blue for that background/side colour and the header...
ReplyDeleteIgnore all the requests for pink - that would be ridiculous!