I should mention that I look for templates all the time for my blogs. I just can’t afford to “pay” a designer or professional blog template developer to create a unique template for me and my network of blogs. A lot of the times, I go to the “usual” places, search engines, Emily Robbins, Alex King, WordPress .. etc etc ..

Not this time .. This time – I was participating in a community net-party like this one, Tuesday Night Mike Night, a few weeks ago .. and I saw this theme on the AdviceLibrary.com Blog.

By the way .. AdviceLibrary.com is an online article directory for both publishers and authors .. Check it out!

The theme is called … AdsMindedWide by Brian Sapiens of the Hi-Tech.

While I was “1-800-HART’icizing” this blog, adding my little bits here and there and started to play with the header graphic, CSS and more … my friend, the famous Joe Yanuzzi helped me out and created the above header (and about a dozen other choices too! I’d link his blog, but it’s in flux right now

HART (1-800-HART)

This is how I described the new look on HART-Empire – June 7, 2006

I was bored .. and decided that the 1-800-HART’s Picks blog deserved a new look, since it has not had a facelift since its inception.

This is an experiment in progress. Based on my statistics, only 4% of its readers were using browsers with screen views less than 1000 pixels, so I have selected one that is quite wider and more suitable for showcasing products, and for monetization.

Naturally, it just made sense to try the Ads Minded Wide Version Theme by Hi-Tech

NEW LOOK – Version 2.0

Currently, it is a work-in-progress as I tweak the code and color schemes and ads and really “1-800-HART’ize” it like I normally do for all of my websites.

OLD LOOK – Version 1.0

I mentioned .. HERE .. that I was planning to upgrade to the latest wordpress version and find a new template. Well, wordpress has been updated, but I have yet to find a suitable design I like.

I have thought about one design though .. except that it’s width is over 1000 pixels. According to my stats, only 6% of readers are using browser windows in 800×600 or smaller (?) .. so, I hope if I decide to go this route .. most will probably not notice ..

Here is a screen image of the view .. if you click .. HERE …

CAN YOU SUGGEST TO ME A BETTER DESIGN FOR 1-800-HART’s PICKS? Feel free to post some URL’s in these comments and I will take a look.