Tell me what you think...

I am considering a change to my blog layout... again. Sometimes, I envy you guys who can put up a blog and then just leave the template alone... I have tried and failed miserably at that.

Generally, I like my current template. I didn't think I would like the blogroll on the left but it's grown on me. And if I ever give up Bloglines entirely, it will come in handy.

It's also maintenance free... it's generated by a script and auto-updates. But that is now a problem because I've now accumulated some ridiculous number of scripts in my HTML code. I've noticed that it's slowing down the loading of my page. If I've noticed it, I know others have as well.

So what I'm thinking about is losing some of the other scripts that run on my blog. The quotes, for instance. Anyone actually read these??? Didn't think so...

And what about the drop down menus? I thought that was cool at first because very few bloggers have them but now I find them somewhat boring, inconvenient and time-consuming. The archives drop-down is done automatically by Blogger but the Blogs I Read has to be updated manually and it is a CHORE...

What about the 'worthy causes' buttons. I know from looking at my 'outclicks' that I've influenced a few people to visit One.org or some other worthwhile site, but I doubt very few have read the Bible, the Creeds of Christianity or the U.S. Constitution just because I link to them.

So, assuming I leave the Blogroll in place and keep the general color scheme and layout, here are the choices I'm left with:

1 - Change nothing but update my woefully out of date links...

2 - Lose all the other scripts: drop-downs, quotes, buttons and doo-dads and have nothing but text-based links in my side bar...

3 - Lose some but not all of the doo-dads. For instance, keep the quotes but lose the buttons or keep the drop-downs but lose the quotes, etc...

I've spent way too much of my time (and yours) on this but please tell me what you think.

And, by casting your vote now, your name will be entered into a drawing for a free one-year subscription to the new and improved Art's Strange World.