18 May A note about contrarian’s format

I admire a blog or two, or three or four, and lately, for the first time in years, a backlog of grumbles about the state of the world has been clamoring for air. The Nova Scotia election seemed an apt time to get my own blog in gear.

First gear, that is. I have a notion of what I want contrarian: the news today, oh boy! to look like, and how I want it to function. The site in its present state resembles these notions about much as a shower stall rendition of Layla resembles Derek and the Dominos.

Expect adjustments. Contrarian uses WordPress blogging software, modified by the Shades of Blue theme from StudioPress. I use its built-in customizing features, but have not yet attempted to edit its stylesheets to change things at a more basic level. Editing stylesheets is the 21st century equivalent of boring the cylinders on your little deuce coupe. I’ll get help with that bye and bye, but it will be a while before she’s ported and relieved, and stroked and bored.

The matter of comments begs explanation. I want your comments. But I don’t want them posted as addenda to each post. I want you to mail them to me at comment @ contrarian.ca. I’ll sift through and post selections. Unless you indicate otherwise, I will assume I have your permission to post your comment, and to use your name in doing so. I will not post your email address.

So why is there a “leave a comment” link at the top of each post? Because I haven’t figured out how to remove those links from Shades of Blue. Hand me that torque wrench, would you?

[UPDATE: With exceptionally able tutoring by Mike Targett at the Crown and Moose this afternoon, we managed to clear up most of the things that were bugging me about the look, feel, and function of the site: Comment invitations now display as requests for email, not direct posts; long posts jump to their own page after a couple of paragraphs; and a few other fussy details have been righted. Need a naturally gifted teacher to help you with your website? Find Mike at the Coastal Discovery Centre in Main-a-Dieu.]