The attentive among you may have noticed some small changes here and there across the site. Particularly the removal of ads, and the rearranging of the sidebar on the right side there. I’ve moved a few things around to make a few of the more important items (like the search function, we’ve got a five-year archive of writing guides here!) more easy to access.

Everything’s still in it’s infancy, however. A lot of these changes are just minor, quality of life changes designed to make the site a bit more user friendly, easier on the eyes, and distinct. Which … is easier said than done. When I learned how to code a web-page, it was not only basic stuff, but it was back when HTML was new. So not all of it carries over.

But past that, I’m trying to work with the look the site already has. Having my own domain and whatnot does open up a lot of other “looks” and ready-made themes other than this one which I can slap across the site (in fact, this one is legacy support, so if I dumped it, I’m not sure I could get it back) but I’ll be fairly blunt about these other options: even the “clean” ones look cluttered and ugly compared to the current setup.

Look, I get that we’re in age when I can have parallax scrolling image layers and fancy bells and whistles on a web page. But for most of those templates, that’s pretty much all they are. They’re hiding the illusion of content behind a fancy header image and a confusing visual design that’s just … messy. It also didn’t escape my notice that almost all of them were designed and tagged for “vlogging” and instagram posting. Horizontal organizational systems, tiles … fine for showing off an art portfolio, but not for running a blog on writing.

Which means that for now, Unusual Things, is definitely sticking with its current “theme.” The look, however, is open to change, and, since we’re on the topic, that’s what I wanted to ask you readers about.

What do you like, visually, about Unusual Things? What’s confusing or not quite as ugly? Would a header image be preferable to what’s currently at the top? Does it need more drop-down menus? Smoother edges? Is the font ugly? Throw some comments up with what you think! Let your opinion be heard! I can’t promise it’ll bring about a change, especially if it’s something either out of my budget or capabilities at the moment, but I’ll at least give it a look and see what can be done. Does the sidebar bother you? Does the site need more images? A different font? Let me know. I’m touching the place up, so there’s no reason why I shouldn’t take readers thoughts into account as I try to make things look a little nicer.

Post away, people!