Okay, I think I’m done. If you run into any problems, please let me know. Here’s what’s changed:

• Blog layouts now run from a PHP randomizer and a set of includes in index.php, rather than the old javascript redirect and .shtml indexes. Now you only need to click Reload to see another design. Lots of redundant HTML header/footer code which was needlessly duplicated through the old indexes has been reduced to simple functions in two or three common files. I’ll publish the code for y’all once I get it cleaned up and streamlined.

• The blogroll — which had gotten so overwhelmingly long that the hundred-plus blogs sometimes stretched farther than my blog posts for the week — now only displays twenty-five blogs at each load, in random order so that everyone gets some time in the sun. The whole list is still viewable on the links page, also in random order.

• Taking tips from Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think!” (very fun and informative usability guide), and somewhat along the lines of simple-but-beautiful slimmed down sites like Harrumph, HiveLogic, and 0format, I opted to drop the confusing mix of inside-content layouts, in favor of a simpler blue-and-brown scheme. (I was originally planning for a white background, but the brown title box reminded me so much of a nasty floater in a white toilet that I had to go for a more complementary shade of blue.)

• Also along the usability line of thought, I’ve made main navigation on blog pages more prominent, rather than mixed in with the sidebar links.

• A javascript styleswitcher makes fonts scalable and more readable for those of you who prefer larger text. I also added a small subroutine to styleswitcher.js which toggles CSS on or off. (Code filched from Strikeslip.)

• Monthly pages in the archive now display blog posts in proper chronological sequence, which is more logical for a sequenced compilation of past entries.

• There’s some other new stuff here and there. Look around; you’ll find it.