Today I created a header image for this site, to replace the temporary one I uploaded a few days ago when I first switched to WordPress.
I mentioned previously that I’m using the K2 theme. The site admin page includes a tool to upload a new image header (go to the Design tab, and Custom Image Header). It doesn’t seem to be compatible with the 2 column layout. The uploader always resizes my image, despite it being set at 780 x 200px, which I believe to be the correct size. I really want to avoid unnecessary resizing in case it results in a change to the image’s appearance.
I now know how to avoid this:
Create the header image (780 x 200px 72dpi RGB web-optimised JPG) and manually save into the directory /httpdocs/wp/wp-content/themes/k2/images/headers.
Then, in the admin panel, go to K2 Options (also under the Design tab) and the image file now appears in the dropdown under Header / Select an Image.
I played around with this site a bit over the weekend, so if you’ve been here before you’ll probably notice some changes, to the appearance if nothing else.
I’ve switched from Movable Type to WordPress - for no reason really other than having heard from several people that ‘WordPress is better’. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, and that a change might prompt me to blog more frequently – this is something I’ve been giving a lot thought to recently, as I want to be more active in developing my creative social network… but more about this another time.
So far, so good - everything prior to this weekend seems to have imported correctly, and although there have been a few headaches getting set up, Iestyn’s been really helpful and has sorted out the things I couldn’t fix (or be bothered to fix) myself. As a designer I feel I should spend some time working on the site’s appearance; I’m currently just using the K2 theme with a couple of very minor tweaks but I expect at some stage I’ll give it a more personal touch. I’m not sure yet what this will entail, as my design career to date has been spent creating stuff for other people, and I rarely give any thought to how I might design something to reflect myself.
One thing I have done since the switch is write a brief profile about myself - K2 comes with an ‘About’ tab as standard, and I felt obliged to use it (the easy option would have been to just get rid of the tab!) - if this is your first visit, or if you’ve known me for a while and have reached that awkward stage where it’s been left too late to ask me questions about who I really am, you’re welcome to come and meet me properly on the About page.