I’ve been working to make the site even prettier lately, but now I need your opinion.

See, from a visual standpoint, I love dark backgrounds with lighter text on them. I think it looks awesome. But I recognize that some people have a harder time reading text when it looks like that (although a few people actually have an easier time, strangely enough). I’ve tried to mitigate the damage by making the background a dark gray instead of black and keeping the text a light gray instead of white — basically, it keeps the contrast more gentle instead of being obnoxious.

I’m pretty much just doing this for Halloween for the time being. That’s why there’s some orange scattered around the site instead of our trademark buzzer red. But after you’re done beating up the neighborhood kids and taking their candy (aka Nov. 1), I’ll make a decision on whether this look stays or not. And that’s where you come in.

This poll will help determine whether this is just a temporary holiday look or something we look to keep going forward. So please, let me know what you think in the poll below (or in the sidebar). After all, we want people to keep visiting the blog as much as possible — turning them away because it’s tough to read is not my intent. But bringing more in because we look awesome…that would be neat. Keep in mind that this is more about the general idea (light on dark vs. dark on light) and that specific things like how much dark/light there is can still be tweaked later. Also, you can comment below if you have more to say.

This is the most important vote you’ll face in the next month; make it count!

NOTE: Okay, so results are mixed. Can’t say I’m surprised. I’m going to switch back to the old look for now and post this below so you can compare and contrast. I still have to work on ways to make that gray text lighter, as mentioned below.