[development] possible theme?

[Larry Garfield]

On Thursday 31 August 2006 23:37, Farsheed wrote:
> Hey Larry.  That may have been me accidentally
> fiddling with the live site a minute ago...

Ah, now it looks non-wacky.  This is why one doesn't play with live sites, 
folks!  :-)  (He says having done so himself for smaller sites a lot 
lately...)

Comments:

- I DO consider fixed-with an aesthetic issue and therefore relevant here, and 
I hate the fixed with design.  My Konqueror windows by default open to only 
about 2/3 of my 1024x768 screen.  I only just barely get the full width of 
the body text (by about a pixel), and can't see the right sidebar at all.  If 
I maximize the window, the gutters on the side feel wasted.

- I'd like to see how it handles block on both sides.

- The left-aligned block content on the right makes it look too wide.  The 
effect is of the block region being mis-sized, a bug I've gotten often in my 
own themes. :-)

- The primary menu looks like it's dropped down below the horizontal line 
somewhat.  However, the way it overlaps, at least on my screen, makes it look 
like an alignment error rather than intentional.  It feels choppy.

- The primary menu links are styled to look like form buttons.  They're not 
form buttons, but they look like it.  That makes it very jarring when they 
don't behave like buttons.  It also looks very out of place to have six form 
buttons just floating randomly at the top of the page (see previous point).

- The search box is floating in the middle of nowhere in a huge sea of white.  
It's very out of place.

- The icons are cool.

- Pale blue text on white gives poor contrast, particularly the smaller text 
links in the sidebar.  I have to squint at the "create new account" link.

- The Drupal title gets an underline when I hover over it.  That's fine for 
body text, but for the title it feels like a detail that was missed in a 
quick and cursory design.  It lacks polish and feels amateur.

- The dark gray titles are OK because they're bolded.  The light blue slogan, 
however, is still hard to read.

- The Druplicon is farther left than the line of the content.  Especially when 
the window is small enough to have no gutter but even when maximized, that 
makes it look out of place.  Again, it looks like a placement bug due to lack 
of testing.

- A solid color footer should span the full width of the page.  Having the 
extra gaps on the side again feels wrong.

So my overall impression is that of an amateur site thrown together without 
much testing.  Something I'd write in an hour or two. :-)  That's not a good 
impression to give.  (I know you're not an amateur by any means, but that's 
the overall feel the design gives me.)

So I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with 1, "Argh, my eyes!"

-- 
Larry Garfield			AIM: LOLG42
larry at garfieldtech.com		ICQ: 6817012

"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of 
exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, 
which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to 
himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession 
of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it."  -- Thomas 
Jefferson