I began The Frustrated Gardener as an experiment. I wanted to challenge myself to keep up with technology, rekindle my deep-seated love of plants and create something beautiful and interesting for others to enjoy. Unintentionally it’s become a record of what I did when, and a means of connecting with hundreds of talented gardeners and plant lovers. Since 2012 I’ve chosen a new theme every year to keep the site fresh and maintain my own enthusiasm for blogging. Developing a good blog involves a lot of work, so it has to be fun and rewarding. After much deliberation, I have decided the time has come to change again.
Browsing through the long list of WordPress themes one stood out, a newspaper style called ‘Patch’. It uses algorithms to decide the best layout for my content. So far I am impressed by the lively design and how older post have translated seamlessly into the new format. The only tiny niggle is that the theme splits headers in awkward places, leaving fragments of a word on a separate line. I am sure this can be sorted when I get the hang of it.
A new theme always feels like a fresh start, providing me with the impetus to raise my standards and explore new subjects. Even with so many bloggers using Reader to keep up to date, I like to give those that visit my web page the best possible experience. I hope that Patch will do that. I’d love to hear what you think of the new look and if it’s been a positive change in your opinion. You can be sure it’s only the appearance that’s altered. For better or for worse The Frustrated Gardener remains the same as ever.
Photos: Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurellii’ (Abyssinian Banana) Walmer Castle Gardens
I used to have real problems downloading the old theme, given my slooooooowww internet speed. This one is much quicker. I like the clean look too. Good job!
That’s encouraging feedback, thank you. I thought it was just me that had problems waiting for the old site to load up. I am much happier with this one! Dan
To be honest, I can’t see the theme (anyone’s theme) on my iPhone. However, what I do see looks good. Vibrant colours and well-written text.
Anyway, I hope those who can benefit from the theme give you positive feedback and you continue to enjoy blogging.
Thank you Helen. Appreciate that Reader is a great leveller and that great words and pictures are all that really matter. The new theme does look really good on iPhone – much better than the old one.
I’m glad you’re happy with it!
Love the leaf!
It’s look clean and sleek, and I like the leaf. I looked back at several posts and they seem to have translated really well. And, it does load quicker. 🙂 Happy weekend.
That’s the best news coming from one of my favourite followers 🙂
quick with clean lines and the photo display is excellent . . . great choice!
Thanks Jan. That’s the kind of feedback I was hoping for, but one can never be sure 🙂
I checked the desktop view. It looks very refreshing. It is a beautiful tech garden.
Thank you Magician! I am hoping it’s not too ‘busy’ (Alex thinks so). It’s also a lot quicker, which is brilliant. D
Don’t be frustrated, enjoy your blog down here in Kiwiland. Keep up the great work of blogging.
I will! Thanks for you lovely comment 🙂
Yes it does load very quickly and looks very newspaper like and with a white background the photos stand out well. I would say the Twitter feed on side bar flashes on and off and jumps about when viewed on an iPad but not on an iPhone for some reason!
I was thinking how to alter my blog and possibly my web site to make them more suitable for mobile devices, although I think it’s a job for the autumn winter months..as I have a few gardens to design at the moment!!
Thanks Anne. I noticed the Twitter feed last night. Quite distracting. I might remove it and add it back to see if that helps. I always make the change on impulse, exactly when I should be doing something else!
On a full screen, the way the home page shows excerpts and featured images is really effective. I’m sure it will encourage people to read more of your earlier posts, which is great as so much of your content is evergreen. I like the graphic styling of the comments and the way they appear on my iPhone – they don’t get squashed into a sliver in a conversation. And on my theme, the links are too easy to miss – yours aren’t!
I just find the different font sizes at the top and in the side bar on an individual post a bit distracting on my iMac. There’s so much to tempt the eye – the body text is in a minor key compared to the large caps!
Thank you Susan. I’ll do some further experimentation with the font sizes. Watch this space! Dan
I will!
Lush!
Praise indeed!