How I updated my blog, Circle of Ignorance, to a cleaner, less cluttered WordPress theme and created a simple logo banner using Google Draw.

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

2. Updating My Blog
“We all have a circle of knowledge, and on the
circumference is our exposure to ignorance.”

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Updating My Blog
And I started writing and editing again.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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?

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. Updating My Blog
It’s called The Plane theme.
(That’s “Plane,” not “plain.”)

19. Updating My Blog
What’s Left to Do

20. 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!)

21. 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.

22. 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.)

23. Updating My Blog
I would love to know what readers think.
Tweet me at @Karen5Lund or contact me
on the blog.

24. Updating My Blog
“We all have a circle of knowledge, and on the
circumference is our exposure to ignorance.”
www.CircleOfIgnorance.com