After using premade themes for around a year, today I decided to code my own layout. It features graphics from a couple of sources (properly credited, of course), but the template and stylesheet were written entirely by me. It features the diverse and not at all repetitive colour scheme of black, grey and white (what else?), lots and lots of rounded corners, and a radical overhaul of the home page.

I’d really appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on this new theme. In particular, I’d like some response on the following aspects (or, focus questions!):

  1. Is the new front page a good idea? Most front pages have excerpts or the entirety of the latest entries displayed; my new one doesn’t. Atop the page sits a blurb, and there are also the three most recent asides and links to the ten most recent entries. I like it, and so does my sister, but do you?
  2. What goes in the sidebar? With the redesigned front page, I found myself racking my brains to think of what I could actually put in the sidebar. As you can see, it’s quite sparse. I even visited about twenty other personal sites to see what they put in their sidebars… which didn’t help. What do I add? Do I even need to add anything?
  3. Should I make a simplified layout? At 900px wide, this theme is too wide for 800×600 resolutions (used by approximately 8% of web users). The transparent PNG images (the corners) make the layout look ugly in IE6 (used by approximately 25% of web users), as well. I could code up a one-column, sharp-cornered version and a simple “theme switcher” for those unfortunate souls suffering through either circumstance, but it would be a bother, and I don’t even know if any of my visitors use IE6 or 800×600 resolutions, despite the trend in the general population. Should I bother?

Other types of feedback are more than welcome, as well. Even one-sentence “Oh, I like it!” or “Umm… I’m not too keen on it…” answers would be welcomed. Thanks in advance if you do decide to answer!