Critique my blog theme – Win a free review

December 13, 2007 by Collin LaHay
Filed under: General 

I need the “popular vote” from my readers. I had this theme custom designed and coded before I started my blog because I wanted to have a professional brand rather than use a boring freebie template. In my opinion, I thought it was a flawless design but I am getting an email every now and then saying the text is hard to read, too much orange, etc.

On the other hand, I am getting a lot of people who like it as well. I do not know if it is because of personal opinion, monitor contrast/resolution/brand, opacity, browser, or eye sensitivity but I do not want to keep a theme if it turns off a lot of readers (I do realize not everyone will like everything, I picked orange because I wanted to stand out from all the boring white blogs).

I guess what I am saying is what do you think?
(Vote in the comments please).

1. The theme is good, no change needed.

2. Pay for an entirely new theme.

3. The theme is fine, but a different color scheme would be better. (If 3, which colors?)

PS: Don’t be afraid of flaming me, I want your HONEST opinion. After all, my readers are the reason I blog anyway, so I want to hear what you have to say. If I use your advice, I will give you a free review on my blog. =)

Comments

19 Comments on Critique my blog theme – Win a free review

  1. Adam McKerlie on Thu, 13th Dec 2007 9:57 pm

    2. I think that the categories and links should be beside the adsense not underneath it. The orange isn’t too bad though. I might change it a little bit but other than the sidebar its a great theme.

  2. max on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 12:04 am

    3. Hey Collin, your Theme looks really good. I didn’t even know you didn’t blog before making this one. Your logo honestly reminds me of liquor store logo but then again, it’s simple and unique like a “mixed market”, well maybe you were trying to imply a mixed market as in liquor store sorta thing…

  3. Bathroom Hero on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 7:02 am

    4. Two shades of orange don’t seem to fit.

  4. Tyler on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 7:29 am

    5. At the top of each post, the dark orange background is harder to read than at the bottom where the orange is lighter. You could keep the background of the post entry all one color. Overall I like the orange theme.

  5. Chica on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 8:11 am

    6. I don’t think you should pay for an entirely new design, because this one fits with the website you have; rssHugger. I do think though that you have too many shade of orange. I like the shade of orange in the top menus, it’s a nice compliment to the background, but the orange for the posts just clashes with the background. It looks as if the background is the same gradient as the posts, just put in the opposite direction. I have no problem with reading any of the text anywhere either.

    *I got here through your website, I totally heart it. The design there is almost flawless. :)

  6. Sudarshan on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 8:33 am

    7. I feel that the colour is good,but there seems to be some empty spaces on the right side of the theme if you can fill them up with some useful stuffs or move the content a bit right,then it will be great

  7. Todd Cabral on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 8:48 am

    8. I like the theme, with the exception of the main area for posts. The orange background, especially where darker, does make the text hard to read. That could probably be solved by lightening up the background a bit. I like the gradient effect, so maybe start with a light orange and fade it down to somewhere near white. Otherwise I like it

  8. Nishan Stepak on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 9:48 am

    9. I am not particularly fond of orange, it is not a primary color. I find primary colors like red, blue, and green to be more attractive. Also there is not a lot of contrast between the different parts of your blog, making it harder to differentiate the parts of your site. I think black on orange type is not that easy to read either.

  9. Link on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 10:47 am

    10. I pick the missing choice #4: Keep the colors but switch some elements around.

    I agree with Sudarshan that there is a lot of wasted space on the right hand side. I’d bump everything that’s BELOW the AdSense block to the right or left of it instead. I’d also, while I’m thinking about it, invert the gradient on the post container because, as Tyler mentioned above, the dark orange background and black text is a bit hard to read on some displays.

  10. abhishek arora on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 1:39 pm

    11. In my opinion theme is ok – but color choice is poor ! it strains the eye ! there is a reason to have white background – its easy on the eye!!!

    if i were you – i would change it asap! see JC, shoe, uber affiliate ! they r far better sites !

  11. Chris Jacobson on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 2:05 pm

    12. It’s a bit hard on the eyes!

  12. turtie on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 3:07 pm

    13. agreed with others. too much orange! i like orange, but too much i think. maybe try some different color schemes. sidebar looks a little too sparse as well. look forward to seeing new changes (if any)

  13. Sarbarth on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 7:39 pm

    14. Your theme is OK but need some modification.
    Your themes color combinations is not good.
    Sidebar is not properly placed. You can widen your sidebar parallel to upper subscribe section. It will look good.
    Thats all.

  14. Vanessa on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 8:21 pm

    15. Hi, as someone that’s been known to change her mind often when it comes to exactly what I want with a theme I applaud you in having one custom made.
    Having said that a couple of things I’d point out – but they would be my personal opinion/preference only:

    The darker orange is just a touch too much – the lighter orange (like down here near the bottom of the page) is much easier on the eyes.

    Also if possible you have a lot of free space to the right of your screen I’d be inclined to make it a double column – so your categories/adsense,
    comments/archives etc – the advantage of doing that too is that when people are on a single post page (without a lot of comments) your sidebar doesn’t just seem to go on forever after the content has finished

  15. J.J. Merrick on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 9:14 pm

    16. I think it looks great. The orange does not bother me at all.

  16. Sam Freedoms Internet Marketing Controvesy Blog on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 9:33 pm

    17. Looks just fine. If anyone complains, kick ‘em in the balls.

  17. Blog Critiques Part Two | Mixed Market Arts on Fri, 14th Dec 2007 10:26 pm

    18. [...] feed or get your blog updates by email. Thanks for visiting!Thanks for all of the comments on my blog critique post. Rather than selecting a winner for a review, I am going to give everyone some link love… [...]

  18. drt on Sat, 15th Dec 2007 6:49 am

    19. Collin, the orange colors really bother me. If I have the option to choose, I’d prefer the rssHugger’s color scheme. It didn’t strain my eyes. I love rssHugger color scheme better.

  19. yaofong on Sat, 15th Dec 2007 10:23 am

    20. First of all, the color is not match..Try to reduce some orange and add more black…black+orange is a good choice…and the sidebar is a bit messy…under the sidebar is too empty…maybe you should not show too much post in 1 page…

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