Hi All – I NEED YOUR HELP!
You may have already noticed… Debt Free Adventure looks different!
What do you think? Please take a good look around and leave a comment with some honest feedback.
Whether positive or negative, please shed some light on the changes. Every comment helps.
Why did I change the look?
If you are a fellow blogger than simply hearing the words “Thesis Theme” out to clear it up for you. If you do not have a blog of your own, or have never heard of the Thesis Theme, I will break down some of the reasons for the switch now.
- Changing themes changes the look – It stands to reason that using a new theme will render your site appearance at least slightly altered. That said, I didn’t switch to Thesis for the look, I switched for the added functionality.
- Easily upgradeable – This blog runs on WordPress.org software. That software is frequently upgraded. When the upgrades occur we run the risk of our site theme becoming incompatible. When this happens site developers will typically release a new updated version of your theme. The problem is, when that happens, you are likely to have already made custom changes – and that complicates matters. Thesis allows for custom changes yet seamless upgrades. Long story short… it makes my life easier. Period.
- More Functionality – Thesis is much more powerful than most other themes on the market today. In reality, I have been wanting to switch for a long time but kept putting it off because I knew the initial switch would be tedious and time consuming. Well, the time for change is now. As expected, the transition was slightly painful, but I can honestly say – now that the bulk of the work is done – I am very excited for the change.
- Better Navigation – I am in the process of making DFA easier to navigate while also focusing on adding value for the reader. This was difficult to do with the limitations of my old theme. Things are already shaping up in this department and it’s only going to get better.
- More Simplicity – Not only am I looking to add value, but I’m also looking to simplify the site as a whole. I know that in the the past the theme has been pretty “busy.” I’m looking to change that.
That’s it for now
I suppose I could go on and on about why I switched, but I think you get the picture. I would have LOVED to attach a video to this post, but my new Flip UltraHD video camera has not arrived in the mail yet! Blasted snail mail! 
With that said I will leave you with 2 things.
- Be on the lookout for a few soon to come video posts. I plan on doing video to help connect, and to increase my ability to get certain points across.
- I do need your help! Please look around and leave me your honest feedback in the comments.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Matt, I came to your site by way of a link from MSN Money, I think. Because you asked for comments about the changes you made to the site, I’d like to tell you, it’s kinda difficult to read parts of it . For instance, the titles don’t show up until I mouse over them, then they’ll appear in blue. The grey font is a bit difficult to read (maybe a bit too light or too thin?), on the darkish green background. Well, that’s all I have to say, so I’ll get to actually reading the posts on the site now!
I always knew you’d come to the dark side and start using thesis like the rest of us big time bloggers!
The only thing that I’m noticing is that the blue color you have for links is a bit distracting for me. That might just be a preference though.
Great job on the implementation, i’m sure you’ll be slowly making changes tweaking here and there. Good luck!
.-= Peter´s last blog ..How Much Money Do You Save By Wearing Nice Clothes? =-.
Looks fine to me! Just keep the background white, not green.
.-= Financial Samurai´s last blog ..Tuition Hike For The Poor Is Like A Tax Hike For The Rich =-.
I really dislike having to click the link to read full articles, but I think I’m one of the few…
Matt, love the look – It’s simpler and less cluttered. I like that.
.-= Jason @ Redeeming Riches´s last blog ..Does Your Money Define You? =-.
I like the look.
I hear a lot of people talking about the Thesis them, but I have never used it. What are the additional functions you reference above?
.-= David @ Inexpensive Gifts for Men´s last blog ..Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals! =-.
I too just made the transition to the Thesis theme. It’s amazing and a little bit overwhelming the flexibility that you have with this theme. I think your website looks great. I’d love to hear about what plug-ins or adjustments you made to the basic theme. I think the rest of us bloggers could benefit from your thought process during the redesign.
For instance, one of the first things I wanted to do on my site was make things easily sharable. I added the socialable plugin and added the tweet this and facebook share buttons on each post. Now I’m struggling with maybe a tipd or digg button as well but that gets too cluttered. So I will probably redesign this soon.
My site is still a work in progress, if you have any feed back it’s greatly appreciated.
.-= Evolution Of Wealth´s last blog ..When a Variable Annuity Can Work =-.
I like the green background. It sqares the content. Of course, I do use white.
In general, looks very nice. I like the Thesis them. I think I would move the tabs to under the orange stripe or maybe left align them to the edge of your content.
Question, if you don’t mind sharing, what plugin do you use for the ‘popular, comments, tag cloud’?
.-= Money Funk´s last blog ..Win $500 in the 2009 Credit Card Chaser Love/Hate Credit Cards Contest =-.
Matt, the site looks more open, and has a lot more white background. That makes it easier to read. Don’t know what it is but background colors, no matter how subtle, tend to be distracting.
Also, you’ve made the site look fresher without disturbing the “brand image”. It looks familiar, but with a fresh coat of paint and some of the old furniture taken out, so to speak.
.-= Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..Ten Common Sense Ways to Reduce Our Identity Footprint =-.
I like the sidebar on the right, better. Content is easier to read.
.-= Money Funk´s last blog ..Win $500 in the 2009 Credit Card Chaser Love/Hate Credit Cards Contest =-.
I looked at the site yesterday and did not like the blue text, but you have changed it to green. MUCH Better! I like the articles prefaced by the photos with just enough to read to pique my interest, then I can decide whether I want to read the rest of the article or not by clicking the link. You did not have the top commentators before, did you? Now it is easier to find their blogs if one wants to. I never saw green background, just the white. It is easier to read, although I never had a problem with your site before because of your bullet lists and Key thoughts in bold type.
Well it’s about time, looks great Matt. My only gripe would be the extreme font size, at least in IE8 it’s enormous.
.-= Paul @ FiscalGeek´s last blog ..The Career Diaries: The Architect =-.
Okay scratch that I think it was cockpit error a previous site inflamed IE looks much better now.
Too much clutter on the side. It reads as frantic. And you % debt free chart is way at the bottom when it should be higher. Useful info at side interrupted with adverts, etc.
Base area looks good!
Love thesis and love what you’ve done with it – it is a nice improvement Matt!
.-= ChristianPF´s last blog ..5 Ways to Show Love to Your Kids Without Spending a Dollar =-.
Matt,
Wanted to let you know the site looks great. I usually just read your posts through emails so it is nice to see your Thesis changes.
.-= Craig @ Money Help For Christians´s last blog ..Credit Cards: Our Love / Hate Relationship =-.
Much better, Matt. Much, much better!
I’ve been gradually changing my look too.
Then again, in the end, it all comes down to the content and you’ve always done just fine in that arena too.
Best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
.-= Len Penzo´s last blog ..Black Coffee: My Favorite Blogs, Money News & Opinions #24 =-.
Good job with the new look Matt!
.-= Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog´s last blog ..Save Money By Making Your Own Household Cleaners =-.
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