Marianna

I haven't reviewed much in the last few weeks due to being obsessed with designing a new theme. I wasn't very satisfied with the last theme I submitted as the coding was a bit sloppy, lazy and rushed... so I hope this one will have less code errors and, overall, just be better.

So... what does this theme offer? Well, considering I'm a nut when it comes to giving the user options... this theme comes packed with 22 different colour choices (most shown above). 14 are colourful on a white background, 6 have a dark background and 2 are grey. You will have the option to upload a background image, a header image and even remove the avatar square in case you want your header to take up the full top space. You can change the font colour for the blog title and/or the description.

The theme columns can be flipped and there is a "notice box" on the menu column in case you want to enter a short note to your readers that you are on holiday or taking a reviewing break or whatever you want (the box will disappear if the notice is blank). You can also select whether you want the social media images to appear when you don't use them or have them hidden.

There is an available selection of 10 header fonts, 3 quotes/description fonts, 6 post fonts and 3 small fonts (timestamps, post tags, etc.). In addition to these, which are all served by Google Fonts, I've also included the option to select web-safe fonts (Impact, Comic Sans, Arial & Verdana) to reduce load time if you're trying to minimise load times on your blog (probably only useful for those that post tons of images, if not, the Google fonts are probably fine).

All these options are available at the very bottom of the customisation frame.

I made some minor changes to what is common in most of the available themes. The bookshelf has a menu separate from the regular menu navigation area and unrated books have a slight opacity. The time line is shown as a list instead of the alternating boxes for a more compact look. The following/followers pages are designed to show active users first and then inactive users (those who haven't logged in for 30 days) at the bottom with a slight opacity to differentiate between the two groups. The comments section will always have a background for easier reading as will the added widgets under the menu column. Oh, I also changed the "currently reading" section under the menu to display books with progress larger than those that don't have a progress % (this one was the trickiest to figure out and I hope there aren't any unforeseen bugs introduced with the change).

I'll be uploading this theme for consideration on Monday. Right now I just need to scan the code a zillion times to make sure everything is good to go. It will be a free theme because, who doesn't love free? Also, I am far from being a pro designer and there is a medium-high chance the theme will have bugs I was unable to see while testing because my blog is still relatively new and without content.

If you find any bugs (once it goes live and if you do use it, obviously) please report them in the comments below or send me a message. I check BookLikes more than I do my personal email account, so I'll likely respond here faster. Anywho, I hope everyone enjoys this new theme... I had a great time creating it and learning more about the twig engine! :)