I really loved the blog theme I’ve been using until now, “Baskerville.” I liked the multiple columns of posts that showed up on the front page – it was a very nice way of showing a lot on the screen at once in an organized fashion. However, readers I know personally complained that the post columns were awkward-looking, though, and the color scheme was pretty limited to a weird shade of green. Mind you, I love that color, but I like being able to choose from a more diverse palette from time to time.
So it was time for a change.
At first, I was very scared to use this “Scratchpad” theme. I was worried that, like many of the freebie WordPress themes I was considering, its customization options would be limited. Plus, the color scheme in this demo image (pictured below) looked pretty tacky to me.
I just wasn’t feeling that grey-blue background color. Also, did I mention that there’s a … HIGHLIGHTER (aka the evil yellow thing which permanently defiles pages)?!?!
Still, the bulletin-board, pencil-and-paper elements appealed to me, so I gave it a try. I’m pleasantly surprised at how much customization this theme offers. I was able to change the background to an image I really liked, and the available premade color schemes blend very well with just about any picture.
All in all, I am very happy with the result. I still miss the columned arrangement a lot, but what I have now is very bright, cheerful, and most importantly, writerly. 🙂
