Blog-slimming with Mercury Retro

Back to the subject of Mercury and communication. Mercury is now moving in what astrologers call retrograde motion. A period of review and revision is advocated during such times. Casting a critical eye over the current layout of my bloggy communication, I decided that a spot of revision could be beneficial.

Chewing over possible improvements, I undertook a little research, to discover what might be the optimum length for a line of text, if it is to be easily read and understood. After visiting lots of different blogs, assessing my own feeling on the matter, I looked for opinions from experts.

I had quickly realised that a wide column of text is difficult to read on-screen, no matter how big and clear the font. This is probably due to continuous head-swivel, needed to take in the whole screen, I found that it's irritating to swivel and land on the wrong line. A narrow format is much easier to read. Some people probably prefer to use this style in order to allow plenty of space for advertisements, but seems there's much more to it !

Expert opinion confirms my own findings, and advises that a line of text ought never to exceed 65 characters (including spaces), and that 38 to 50 characters is probably the best line length for easy reading on-screen.

A quick count across my blog lines revealed that some slimming down and toning up would be desirable. But is slim and toned always best? A little voluptuousness is often acceptable. My blog is in no way obese. Plump, chubby, well-fed, perhaps. Do I want a waifish Audrey Hepburn-type blog, or should I retain the Marilyn Monroe look? Perhaps the middle way would be best, if it can be achieved.

I managed, after much exercise, to slim down to a rather more structured look, as an alternative to a change of template. Does my blog look big in this, I wonder ?