The previous post dealt with the (mostly) technical aspects of themes, here we will be looking objectively at the general look and feel before going on to the preparation for customization.

First lets check the criteria:

  1. 3 or 4 columns
  2. Fixed width <1024px
  3. Clean Typography
  4. Useable structure

The Candidates:

  • Default “Kubrick” not really a candidate but our starting point… defaulttheme_allplugs_h_red.jpg
  • Stitched has all the basic criteria but works bland… stitched_1024.jpg
  • bhudda expert has all basic criteria but will require extensive css work on the color scheme as well as some editing of php files to remove unwanted external stuff from the blog… bhudda_1024.jpg
  • Quadruple matches the criteria but needs extensive graphic work to liven it up as well as fiddly css to adjust the balance between columns and content… quad.jpg
  • neo-sapiens fulfills the criteria and due to its simplicity will customize easily – a slight problem occurs at sizes below 1024px – the sidebar grippy in FF3 deforms the layout… neo_sapiens_1024.jpg
  • SlinedMOD 2.0 fulfills all the criteria but will require extensive work in all areas. graphics, css styling and hefty php template editing to remove a lot of unwanted external content… slinedmod2_1024.jpg

The five themes as a Gallery  for comparison…

  • Candidates

And the winner is…

Next post: ninety percent planning, ten percent execution…

wanna know more about the author...  countzeero - the self proclaimed EvilGenius™ behind OWN INDUSTRIES. Pixel Penetration and Code Cruelty are but two of his deadly skills. In his free time he likes to run too many blogs and twitter incessantly...