Thank you to all the lovely souls who took the time to look over my changed blog and comment. I cannot thank you enough for your help!
Big thank you to: The Dog Rules, Dr Wage, Dutch Goes the Photo!, Third Time Lucky!, The Runaway Palate, and, an especially big thank you to Dream Bigger, who went as far as to email me with extensive notes on what she found. Thank you all!
In the end, sadly, I had to ditch that theme because the errors that existed in it were unfixable by one unfamiliar with more complex code.
HOWEVER! I have found a theme that I think addresses the issues raised, namely:
- The hovering tabs at the top were not accessible when clicking on a lower rank link. They are stacked in my menu so that there are three parents and then 5 to 2 children below them. If you clicked on the page of parent 2, parent 1’s children no longer dropped. I am not tech savy enough to fix that without knowing how to alter the build of the theme. So, I lose. So sad. BUT, the new theme fixed that. Please click around on the tabs and see that they work.
- The stretched image and non pop of the blog title. This new theme fixed those both wonderfully I feel.
- I had to abandon the old image because it is white and, as all things have drawbacks, the new theme will not allow me to alter the colour of the text for the blog title and quote section. I am sure there is a way around this, but I chose to rise above it and pick a new background. What do you think of it? I am going for a celtic theme because I am Irish (don’t let my last name fool you…) Below are the other two images I milled over. Do you have a celtic or Irish image that you think might go better? Would you like some credit on my blog for designing some of the images? I am all for giving people credit, please submit anything you like and I will look it over!
- The small text. The text on this site is bigger. I fear it might be a might bit too large, but the readability is still good for me. What do you think?
Once again, I would love feedback on how THIS change now strikes you. I am going to keep hammering at this until the website looks and works right both for me and you wonderful people! After all, if you hate it, you won’t come back… if you don’t come back I will have to go and cry in the corner. You don’t want that now, do you???
Sticks and Stones 
First… thanks for the shout out. I am happy to help.Second… I think this looks great! I feel calm when I first come to the page. It is easy to navigate. Nice job!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It took some finagling, but I think this is a smoother theme for what and how I write. I’m glad you like it! Thank you again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the look and the larger type is easier on my older eyes – especially at 7:40 am her in BC Canada with my first bowl of matcha. I do like your header image as it gives a sense of mystery in the mist… although it makes me think Scottish rather than Irish. Why don’t you go with this theme for a day or two and see how it feels to you then?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will, thanks. Thank you for the input as well! Differentiating Scottish and Irish landscape and culture can sometimes be a bit tricky if you don’t know it well. It is Ireland though, that picture.
LikeLike
OOPS! Found something you want to check out. I tried clicking on your “win win win” image to see how that post looked with this new theme. The “win win win” becomes the header image with the text from your Lewis Carrol quote superimposed on it. A bit jarring to the eye.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And could you please fix the link you made to my blog cause it doesn’t go to my blog. I’m going to cry in the corner now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It does from my site. I just clicked it in the blog post and it took me straight there. Where did you click it from?
LikeLike
For what it’s worth, the link to your site worked correctly for me as well 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
She was talking about a link I put on a different post. That one was broke, but I got out the jackhamma and put it to bed. Can you tell I’m tired 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know, I have to stop using the “feature image” function, but that is easy enough.
LikeLike
Yup! Cleaner, clearer, everything has plenty of space… much better. The main header font is bold and eye-catching, and personally, I love the landscape you’ve chosen. It reminds me very much of the Ireland I visited last year in a way I don’t think abstract patterns or four-leaf clovers would. Stick with the one you’ve got, IMO. And I’m glad to have helped! =)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Jonathan,
you’ve done it! This is definitely the best look for your blog to date! The banner image is stunning and inviting; it also begs to have something interesting written about it…we know there’s story there!!
Well done!!
Frank
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m glad you like it and thank you for all the feedback and support!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, I just realized the comments I just left on your last post are probably more apt to have left here. Alas. Long story short: Love the new header/background image, love the white background below, love the streamlined menu. My only concern is ease (or even ability, since I can’t seem to figure it out) of navigating to Olive These Words. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had a static home page for a while and I just un-static-ed it. My posts should scroll like 90% of the other blogs on WP now. The issue for me going forward will be to streamline all my posts so that they fit into one of the headline tabs, then navigating to them will just mean using that drop down. Check it out now and see if it works better for you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m clicking from this link: https://olivierfiction.com/2016/01/31/blogger-recognition-award-one-lovely-blog/
Can’t figure out why it isn’t happening. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fixed! So sorry about that. That is the danger of pinging 10 people in a row, keeping the copy/paste straight. I tagged yours with the link from above… a thousand apologies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Forgiven! You’ve been prettying your theme and that is a time consuming process. I’m not that brave – yet.
LikeLiked by 1 person