Today’s assignment: open the Customizer and try out some new fonts and colors (and backgrounds and/or headers, if you’re still undecided).
By You explored themes, played with backgrounds and headers, and test-drove some widgets. Now it’s time to learn more about the ways colors and fonts change the feeling of your content to ensure that your blog’s looks are supporting its tone.
Note: the goal of this task is not to sell you an upgrade, it’s to help you understand the interplay between content and design so you can make decisions about how to display your work to its best advantage. Today is about play and exploration.
Today’s assignment: open the Customizer and try out some new fonts and colors (and backgrounds and/or headers, if you’re still undecided).
Why do this?
- Making a theme your own is an ongoing process that benefits from experimentation.
- Previewing different options will help you understand how your content and your site’s design are connected.
- A customized site that feels like yours is one where you’re more likely to publish regularly.
Unlike the simple printed page of a book, a blog’s design influences the tone and mood of your words (or images). Colors can be warm or cool, light or heavy, bold or subdued. Fonts can be elegant, playful, or stark. Some combinations are busy, others calming. All these elements can work with you words — or against them. Understanding how design elements interact with your content lets you look at your blog holistically, and use all the elements of a blog to tell your story the way you want it told.
First, find all your customizing options: open the Customizer by hovering over your blog’s name in the black admin bar at the top of your screen, and then clicking “Customize” in the drop-down menu (to open it from your dashboard, had to Appearance → Customize). You’ll see tabs for colors, fonts, theme options, widgets, and more, depending on your theme. Update anything to see the change in real time on your blog. Click “Cancel,” and everything returns to the way it was.
Wondering what CSS is and why it’s useful? This post will help.
Some themes come with free options, like alternate color schemes and layouts, that you’ll also be able to play with in the Customizer; you can also try creating a static home page. Custom Colors, Custom Fonts, and Custom CSS are part of the paid Custom Design Upgrade, but even if you don’t plan to purchase an upgrade, you can preview changes to get new ideas about your blog’s look.
Then, we’d like you to focus on the visual elements that make the most powerful — and immediate — impact on your site’s look. Try out a new color palette or a sleek font for your blog, and see how it changes the feel and readability of your content. You’d be shocked by how radically different your posts will read in different fonts. With colors, you can change your blog’s vibe by experimenting with different palettes, from hushed grays to in-your-face purples. If you have the Custom Design upgrade, click “Save” to lock your changes in place.
Even if you end up where you started or are only able to preview, you’ll have gained insight into the ways your content is best displayed, and how your posts and your design feed off off each other. You might come away with new ideas about your header or background, a way to use photos in your posts to create an emotion, some image widgets you’d like to change, or a sense of how to better arrange your sidebar.
This is a great day to see feedback in The Commons — getting an outsider’s perspective on the feeling your blog gives off is invaluable.
thanks for your lesson hey…..please also check out my posts
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Ok so I tried and saw that my blog looked better with the customized and went right ahead and bought the upgrade . Any feedback is appreciated ;-).
http://saturdaynightstitch.wordpress.com/
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As a designer I appreciate the way you explained how design can make your content visually pleasing. I’m doing a research on this topic!
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This is great! I’m just starting to test drive out a blog site for a PR class im taking here at college. This post is giving my already overwhelmed mind inspiration on how i can improve my blogging experience for both myself and my wandering readers alike!
Oi! Morgan
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Fantastic!! https://mammothrestoration.wordpress.com/
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this is pretty tough to do since most free themes are very limiting 😦 ive played around with a ton and never had any luck.
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