How I updated my blog format to a less cluttered look that is enjoyable to write for and, I hope, easy to read.

Updating My Blog

“We all have a circle of knowledge, and on the

circumference is our exposure to ignorance.”

Updating My Blog

I started my first blog in 2008, just to learn how it works. After about two years of blogging under a

pseudonym, I felt brave enough to move up to WordPress and use my real name.

Updating My Blog

With a BA in English, it’s the words that appeal to me. Format is just a frame, and I didn’t give it much

thought. Found a WordPress template I liked and went with it, even the default illustration.

Updating My Blog

That worked for a while. In 2013 I upgraded to my own URL, CircleOfIgnorance.com, for a small fee.

But life got in the way and I didn’t do much writing.

Updating My Blog

Then in November 2014 I started writing again. Looking through my archived computer files I

discovered some drafts, outlines and ideas that hadn’t come to fruition.

Updating My Blog

And I started writing and editing again.

Updating My Blog

I also fell in love with Medium, posted a couple of things there, and realized my own blog didn’t look

nearly as nice as Medium’s clean, minimalist layout.

Updating My Blog

I knew what I wanted: something with the clean look of Medium, uncluttered but still having some of the bells and whistles (sidebar and widgets) of

my WordPress blog.

Updating My Blog

There were two things I needed to do:

● Find a new WordPress theme with the look I wanted.

● Create my own logo/banner for Circle of Ignorance.

Updating My Blog

Does that help you visualize my circle of knowledge with ignorance outside the circumference??

The logo for Circle of Ignorance was roughed out on paper: a half-circle emerging from the left of the screen with “Circle” inside; and the words “of Ignorance” outside the circle.

Updating My Blog

I roughed out the design using Google Draw one evening.Blue is my favorite color, but I wanted something that didn’t look too much like Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn. Maybe a little

toward the teal/turquoise/cyan side?

Updating My Blog

The dark blue circle is made by a circle overlapping a rectangle.I made the borders the same color as the fill, so there is no visible border in the finished design.It didn’t take much tweaking to find Syncopate as a font. It’s uncommon but not weird; and while it would be difficult to read in long narrative, it looks good as a title.

Updating My Blog

What took longest was “of”⸺I tried it in contrasting colors, sideways & all sorts of ways.After a lot of bad-looking attempts, I made the

font smaller, turned it into a “superscript” and drew a short white line underneath the word.

of

Updating My Blog

Adding my name was almost an after-thought.It’s rather inconspicuous in the bottom right corner,

smaller and in a light font…But it’s there if anyone wants to know who the

author of this blog is.

Updating My Blog

Then I looked at themes available on WordPress.

It had to be almost as minimalist as Medium, but with a sidebar for links I wanted to include,

like the monthly archive and top posts.

Sidebars

Sidebars are

useful for

showing

archive links,

comments,

recent or

popular posts,

links to Twitter

or RSS feeds,

calendar

widgets, author

photos, or text.

Updating My Blog

Because I’d already drawn a banner, I prefered a theme in

blue (or something compatible) that had space for a banner.

I wanted the default text a bit larger than my old blog format.

And it should work on tablets and smartphones without much

effort by me.

Updating My Blog

It’s called The Plane theme.

(That’s “Plane,” not “plain.”)

Updating My Blog

What’s Left to Do

Updating My Blog

Because the newer themes use “infinite scroll,” long posts can make it difficult to go back more than a few posts.

(Good thing I kept that sidebar with links to the archive!)

Updating My Blog

I’ve shortened existing posts using a “Continue reading” link. That seems to make the site load

faster and requires less scrolling to go back.

Updating My Blog

My “About” & “Featured Posts” pages need updating.(For some weird reason my LinkedIn button vanished, though

the link is still there if you hover over the space.)

Updating My Blog

I would love to know what readers think.

Tweet me at @Karen5Lund or contact me

on the blog.

Updating My Blog

“We all have a circle of knowledge, and on the

circumference is our exposure to ignorance.”

www.CircleOfIgnorance.com