Kelly's World

I have been feeling a bit sick of my old blog theme for a while now, and finally decided it was time for a change. The new theme I found via the wordpress theme search, but I intend on changing it up a bit to make it my own. But first, a review of the changes:

The old blog layout

The new layout

The main change with the new layout compared to the old is that it feels a lot cleaner. The old one had a lot going on the page, with all the various blue headings and boxes and the header image really grabbing your attention. I would like to hope that the new one has you looking at the right places (aka my content, not a bunch of swirling lines) but with easy navigation so you can still find what you need. I also like the rough grunge look too – I think that’s very “me”.

In the near future I have some improvements I want to make:

• A custom header. As self conscious as I am, I figure my head needs to make an appearance here. Thus the canon will have to surface from its camera bag, and a photo shoot will need to take place. I expect this will take hours, followed by the requisite photoshopping to take it from a bad photo to an interesting header.
• Better navigation from post-to-post. I noticed that I’ve again lost the “previous post” and “next post” options, so I’ll have to get this working again!
• A featured image per post. If I don’t get some colour on this blog somewhere I fear it will become depressing to look at, and I don’t want that!
• A better related posts plugin. Something that really makes you want to stay on my page and read some more of what I have to offer (and hopefully what I have available is actually interesting)
• A clean up of my categories and tags, they’re pretty all over the place and there’s far too many.
• A better About page. I think it’s time I stopped hiding and spent some time letting all you readers get to know me!
• A contact me page. Again, while I want to remain as anonymous with regards to my specific identity and contact details,  I would still like to set up a form so you can contact me personally if you felt the need. However if you’re offering to send me millions of dollars provided I first give you my bank details, or if you have offers for penis enlargements, I may ignore you. Actually, I will ignore you.

Of course, while I have my own ideas for this site none of it matters if it doesn’t work for you – the audience! I would absolutely love and adore you if you took the time to let me know what you think of the new layout, and if there’s anything else you think I need to do to it. After all, I’m very much a newbie to all of this, and you can’t learn if there’s not someone willing to share some advice! So please – comment away!

In addition to installing a mobile web-friendly version of Kelly’s World, you may have also noticed I’ve changed the appearance of the site. I think it’s a lot brighter, friendlier, and most of all, simple. The old one had begun to feel a bit dated for me, hence the change.

The old site

I would love to know what you think of the site compared to the old one. I want to hear it all, both positive and negative. Go on, I can take it. I’m a big girl. Comment now!

When I was a child, I would rearrange my bedroom at least once a month. I liked the feeling of change, of something new. Of course, it annoyed my mother greatly since I would drag heavy furniture all over the carpet, effectively ruining it. That same feeling has stayed with me throughout my life, even with the most basic of items. The need for something new.

Take the common office notepad, for example. It could be that I’m just a stationery whore, or it could be an extension of my love of all things new. When my notepad is about halfway through I feel the itch. I start wasting pages, writing bigger, aimlessly drawing then telling myself I cant use that page now cause it’s ruined. All of it brings me closer to what I want: a new notepad.

It also extends to my blog; every theme I have lasts only a few months. I start out with the best of intentions, that this is “the one”. I tell myself that any future enhancements will be built upon the new theme and that it’s my “base” and not a whole product. A month goes by, then another. The theme stays the same, I never invest the time to make it something wholly amazing. Then the itch comes, and I install a new theme.

I had the itch today, and I scratched it. Welcome to the new Kelly’s world theme.

It’s called Desk Mess Mirrored 1.5.1 by Edward Caissie, and it’s available on the site for download at http://buynowshop.com/themes/desk-mess-mirrored/. I haven’t changed a thing, purely because I don’t think it needs to be changed. I love it. I showed it to a friend, and her first words were “it’s very you”.

I don’t know if this is “the one”, purely because I’m being realistic this time. What I can say, is that it has all the elements that I was hoping to do with all my former themes. Vector icons at the top, cool background, an overall interesting look to my blog. It’s not just some boring background with a bunch of text for posts over it. It’s visually appealing, and I love that.

Let me know what you think, I would love to hear your thoughts.