New Theme Is Looking Very Good

October 19th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

I’ve posted below the latest screenshot of the new Eureka WordPress theme I’m developing for this site. This will be the last one I will be posting for a while as I want to start work on a live site we can all play with.

I think my designer has made a lot of good progress and I’m going to end up with a theme I really like that incorporates all the features I like. There are a few things I’m not quite happy with, but I’m not sure how to fix them so if you have any ideas then please leave a comment below.

Ok, here it is:

Eureka Mockup #8

Things I want to change/improve:

  1. Daniel from Dailyblogtips quite rightly pointed about that I don’t need the 4 feed subscribe buttons. I agree as if someone is using bloglines etc then they know what RSS is so the trusty orange RSS icon should be sufficient. I’m going to use the space to show the current feed count and just one other icon I think
  2. My designer is really keen on shading the post info section under each post. I’m going to ask him to use a pale colour instead as I think it stands out far too much, unless anyone has a better idea or an example of another site doing it better
  3. I want to make the top nav links stand out more. Someone suggested using ‘3d buttons’ - do you have an example? Any other ideas?
  4. I want to use a button for ‘Leave Comment’ as I think this looked good in earlier mockups

If you have any other ideas or suggestions then now is the time to leave them or forever hold your peace!

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About the Author

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Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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There Are 18 Responses So Far. »

  1. #1

    Comment by keikun17 on 19 October 2007:

    hows the logo contest doing?

  2. #2

    Comment by Everton on 19 October 2007:

    got about 10 more entrants to post - it closes at the end of the month

  3. #3

    Comment by Bloddard on 19 October 2007:

    This is looking great. It has a great/comfortable feel, like an online newspaper.

  4. #4

    Comment by Scott on 20 October 2007:

    I like it, has a nice media / news style to it and works in the ads in an unobtrusive way for the content.

  5. #5

    Comment by Kline on 20 October 2007:

    looking good.. its getting there

  6. #6

    Comment by Micah on 20 October 2007:

    I’m curious to see which logo you pick. When’s the next vote?
    Also, will your sponsor banners be above the fold, when the site is finished? I hear you earn a lot more if you can get the ads above the fold.

  7. #7

    Comment by horisly on 20 October 2007:

    3d buttons are well.

  8. #8

    Comment by Everton on 21 October 2007:

    @micah

    they will be a bit higher than they are now. I have a theory about sidebar ads that around the middle, opposite the end of articles gets as high a CTR though

  9. #9

    Comment by Zath on 21 October 2007:

    I’m looking forward to seeing the new set of logo entries, I’m sure that will finish off the site and give it a really good image.

    The theme itself is looking great Everton, very slick indeed, I particularly like the sidebar boxes.

    One thing that springs to my mind is that the Leave Comment bar that is highlighted - this to me stands out more than the actual Post Headings - I’d perhaps consider having it the other way round and have background shading on the post heading instead?

    In terms of the navbar at the top, how about using a similar rounded box system to that of the sidebar boxes to help make them stand out more?

  10. #10

    Comment by Everton on 21 October 2007:

    @zath

    Totally agree about the ‘leave comment’ box - it stands out far too much, when it has little value.

    I’m not sure that curved boxes at the top will work, but I’ve asked the designer to find a way to make the links stand out more. I think once he’s fixed those areas we are done.

  11. #11

    Comment by Mathew Browne on 21 October 2007:

    This new design concept is far, far better than the current one. I’d say the “leave a comment” boxes are a bit too large though

  12. #12

    Comment by Karthik on 24 October 2007:

    One word - WOW!
    Do you mind if I ask who your designer is?

  13. #13

    Comment by Everton on 24 October 2007:

    @Karthik

    SmartPixelDesign

    The latest version is looking even better - check it out!!!

  14. #14

    Comment by Karthik on 24 October 2007:

    Yup, the buttons to leave a comment looks slicker. I didn’t notice much else that was different, am I missing something? (other than highlighting the active page too)

  15. #15

    Comment by Karthik on 24 October 2007:

    Sorry for the double comment - just had to add that their design of http://chessgems.com/ is awesome too. I particularly liked the 3-d “castle”. Are you going to go with the compass as the logo?

  16. #16

    Comment by Everton on 24 October 2007:

    Just little tweaks that I think made a big difference:

    - top nav shaded and bigger
    - colours changed a bit
    -section under post improved

  17. #17

    Comment by Everton on 24 October 2007:

    I’m running a competition to design a logo

  18. #18

    Comment by videolar on 8 December 2007:

    I think I need your designer asap.

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