How do I customize the look of a wordpress blog?

[Beaver Bob]

messing around with these themes is a pain in the ass indeed. And I'm a programmer!

[oast]

Originally Posted by Beaver Bob

messing around with these themes is a pain in the ass indeed.

I agree. That may be the reason there are so few (comparatively) themes available.

Having said that... the same could be said for most website templates that can be bought/downloaded. The designers make it look good on their setup (or the intended browser/resolution), and that is it. Some are transferable, most are not and need to be hacked (or discarded because of the time needed to put right).

Because of the early browser wars, the HTML language is like the English language... So many different ways of saying/doing the same thing!

If possible, grab hold of one or two templates that closely resemble your site layout. Examine the code, css etc. and play around with them on your home setup or on a non-public section of your online server... making sure you remove all the pinging services in the options before adding any posts (I made that mistake on my 1st test blog)

That is the best course of action and will prepare you for any future blogs you do. Plan C would be to pay someone to do it for you.

[walrus]

You kind of get used to it after awhile but what really becomes a pain in the ass is the cross platform compatibility crap. Most WP templates are optimized for Firefox or at least not for IE. I've got a problem with one template that I've been using for months but the problem only recently cropped up....gotta spend some time trying to figure out why it's not happy in IE but looks great in firefox